our minds and others
“We have no clear definition of consciousness—even though it must be the most important element of our own experience on the planet.
Why do we fear so much in the other this thing we so little understand in ourselves?”
books that explore and grapple with the nature of human and non-human consciousness (animal, machine, or otherwise alien).
mostly science non-fiction, speculative fiction and literary fiction.
recs very much welcome :)
created by pachinko
last updated August, 2026
Comments
quote in the description is from a fictional non-fiction book within a book in The Mountain in the Sea (that i wish i could read in full!)
consciousness science is my special interest — talk nerdy to me anytime 🤠
ikr, at some points I wanted to read that book even more than the actual one, it sounded so interesting
On nom nom nom - shall be devouring this list!!! Thank you!!
pachinkoOP
lool i live to feed!! 🧑🏻🍳🧑🏻🍳
Ehem. Can we just create a tunnel between this one and my Non-Humans & Empathy list 🤭 I’m pretty sure everything here is gonna apply…no? Love it. Please tell me more. Talk conciousness to me ~ 🥰 🤤
pachinkoOP
yess i love that list of yours!! they are definitely kin, though some of these ones do focus only on humans (sadly). our special interests are so aligned 👯
Also — continually thrilled to have more lists to suggest The End of Mr. Y by Scarlett Thomas, for. I’m certain I have more for this list once I think about it. Additionally, The Man Who Saw Everything should fit the list, albeit it’s not a book that’s evidently so for a while.
I mean there’s plenty I could recommend from my list that you could consider the consciousness. But I don’t know if that’s what you’re going for — ie Monstrilio, Bourne…etc. Have you read Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang? The short story by the same name inspired Arrival (movie) and def goes with this idea. 🤔
pachinkoOP
yes!! Arrival is one of my favourite movies ever, and i loved that short story collection. that’s a great suggestion actually
UBIK too. Although I’d more likely suggest Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
pachinkoOP
The End of Mr Y actually sounds like it might fit in my “never the same river twice” list — in that it’s different on the re-read. would you say this is true?
Oh? Why would you say that (ust curious what made you think this)? Yes, I think it may fit that list well.
pachinkoOP
I just saw part of a review that suggested going back to read the opening again after finishing the book! very intriguing, have added to my tbr :)
Oh. Neat I’ll have to go look for that one. I actually was making a zine influenced by some of the language and didn’t finish it in time before my brain forgot it all and now I fear I must reread to be in the space again to complete it haha. Certainly a fascinating read I’m thrilled to have the excuse to recommend a lot lately. Just wish I could slip my caveat in without scaring people away so they might not be scared off by the one thing I didn’t like and ignored throughout the book that keeps it from an official 5 stars for me.
I guess that’s true. One might argue you can’t talk about human conciousness without other nonhumans to compare but alas that might make them less appropriate for my list. Regardless I will be yoinking the appropriate books for the other as they show up.
I’m wondering if Tom Mustill’s How to speak whale? might fit well here? 😊
pachinkoOP
thank you for the rec!! i’m still considering whether this list will include books focused more on communication than strictly consciousness (there are a few that i’m debating) - would you say this is the case?
Yes, I was also unsure whether you’d like to focus more on the subject of consciousness or more on cognitive complexity of non-human animals. This book is about the efforts to decode animal language but it has plenty of reflections on the complexity of animal cognition and social structures, so I would say it’s more than strictly linguistics. He takes the examples of birds, dolphins and whales but also some other animals like chimpanzees if I recall correctly.
pachinkoOP
okay i’m sold! sounds fascinating. i’ve also added An Immense World by Ed Yong which explores some similar topics!
Oh amazing! This’ll go right to my tbr 😊 so excited
Love this list! The Mountain in the Sea is a fav of mine!🥳
pachinkoOP
thank you, it inspired this list!! i’m about 70% in and loving it so far :)
A whole list!! Incredible, ty for putting it together. I know he's controversial, but Martin Heidegger has an essay that feels relevant: "The Question Concerning Technology." Not necessarily advocating to be added to the list but throwing it out there in case others are interested. (It really puzzles me how someone who can write such a critical essay can also be a Nazi sympathizer 🙄).
pachinkoOP
oh interesting, thank you for sharing! i’ll definitely check that out
Would like to suggest Blood Dazzler by Patricia Smith!! It's a poetry collection about Hurricane Katrina that gives it/her a sort of consciousness and personification that is really well-done. An amazing collection and supremely underrated
pachinkoOP
ooh wow this sounds epic!! i’m not 100% sure it would fit on this list as i’m trying to keep it to books focused on consciousness itself, but i’ll definitely check it out!
Oooooohhhh 👀👀👀👀
Guess what I happened to find on the staff rec shelf at the bookstore today (I was there for book club only, I swear!) — Sy Montgomery’s The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness — and of course, I thought of this. So here I am, back already.
I remember when someone explained how bizarre it is for octopi to have conciousness (or at least I think that was what it was) based on the evolutionary chart in relation to humans and conciousness. We love these little baffling beings.
pachinkoOP
i am obsessed with octopus consciousness, and it seems like so many authors are too! Other Minds goes into a lot of detail on the evolutionary biology of them, but yes they’re so distant from us that their minds developed entirely separately
you should add the secret of secrets by dan brown!
