Neuroscientist Nikolay Kukushkin reveals how consciousness evolved out of the natural world, from the birth of the cell to the majesty of our modern minds.
Science says that you are nothing but a chemical reaction—a collection of atoms and molecules, like rocks, paperclips, and everything else in the physical universe. But if that’s so, where is the place in this world for your consciousness? In a word, why does it feel so special to be you?
Like the Zen Buddhist riddle pondering the imponderable—the sound of a single hand clapping—One Hand Clapping asks the seemingly unanswerable question of how the human mind came to exist within the material world. In search of an answer, neuroscientist Nikolay Kukushkin takes readers on a billion-year journey through time from the roots of our existence to the advent of Homo sapiens, reimagining the story of our evolution. The result is an exhilarating book that embeds our consciousness within a single, unified story of life on Earth.
Illuminated by Kukushkin’s revolutionary account of what makes us what we are, the so-called “hard problem” of consciousness—the mystery by which our first-person feelings arise from the brain—evaporates like a dream. Instead, the book reveals the deep continuity between our consciousness and nature itself.
A work of ambitious intellectual scope, One Hand Clapping is distinguished as much by its originality as by the breadth of its imaginative reach—drawing from neuroscience, evolution, philosophy, and a rich tapestry of cultural references, all brought to life by the author’s own whimsical illustrations. Told with the drama and daring of a mythical epic, it reaches deep into our oceanic past to show for the first time how the entire course of Earth’s history, from the earliest nonliving particles, ultimately led to the formation of our own minds.
In a time of technological confusion, Kukushkin’s book is an ode to the human being—an unfolding of Nature itself, blessed with the gift to contemplate the world and to hear the sound of one hand clapping.
About the Author
Dr. Nikolay Kukushkin is a Russian-born neuroscientist based in Brooklyn, NY, and is the author of the widely acclaimed One Hand Clapping, originally published in Russian in 2020. The book won the most prestigious book prize for Russian nonfiction, the Enlightener (Prosvetitel) Award, as well as the Alexander Belyaev Medal, awarded to the best Russian-language nonfiction and science fiction. Kukushkin is a clinical associate professor at New York University’s Liberal Studies, and a research fellow at NYU’s Center for Neural Science, where he studies the role of time patterns in memory formation. This book is loosely based on his acclaimed course at NYU, “Life Science.” He holds degrees from St. Petersburg State University (Russia) and Oxford University, and received post-doctoral training at the Department of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School. He has authored and co-authored multiple publications in prestigious scientific journals (Neuron, PNAS, Nature Medicine) including a recent groundbreaking paper in Nature Communications demonstrating canonical memory in non-neural cells. Prior to leaving Russia he had spent much of his life facing political turmoil, from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 when he was 3 years old, to the poverty and instability of 1990s, to the rise of authoritarianism in the 2000s and 2010s, which culminated in the ongoing invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Praise For…
“One Hand Clapping” reclaims the story of life from a cold, indifferent universe and brings it back into the warmth of the fire circle, where stories make sense of mysteries and offer guidance for how to live. — Sadie Dingfelder
“It is a thrilling paradox to have the human mind read this work and learn its own origin, yet Kukushkin conquers it with ease… an instant classic.” — Library Journal, Starred Review
Modern scientists tend to shy away from attributing rationality or creativity to biological or chemical systems, and from notions of agency or direction in life. Kukushkin reminds us the ancients had no such issues. And recently, among some biologists, there has been a resurgence of the idea that evolution happens, in some sense, “on purpose”.
Scientists may fear this sounds like pseudoscience, or the "intelligent design" of religious groups. But we may need to revisit concepts we find uncomfortable by association—particularly when tackling existential questions like the origins of life and mind. — Thomas Lewton
“Brilliant, bold, and beautifully articulated, One Hand Clapping is the best of biological thought. Starting with the origins of life, Kukushkin deftly solves the chicken-and-egg problem, moves gracefully to the notion of emergence, and concludes with a compelling account of ourselves as curious creatures, co-constructing our cultural niches — and all that entails for being you and me.” — Karl J. Friston, Professor of Neuroscience, University College London
“Dazzling and breathtaking…. Be prepared to abandon your pre-conceptions as Kukushkin takes readers on an audacious journey across the eons of life on Earth to arrive at one of the most thorough and yet provocative accounts for what makes humans the species we are. One Hand Clapping takes the scientific concepts of function, emergence, and recursion to new levels, freeing them from the tedium of simply technical explanations into jaw-dropping moments of insight that will leave you shaking with revelation. Do your brain a favor and read this masterpiece.” — Bruce Hood, author of The Self Illusion and The Science of Happiness
“This wide knowledge allows [Kukushkin] to take the reader on a billion-year journey, from the creation of DNA and the foundation of all living things, to the fact that humans’ ability to question our place in the world reveals our deepest connection to nature, rather than its opposite. … We think that possibly the theologians would see themselves here too with recurring echoes drawn from a variety of religious traditions – ‘in the world and not of it’ and that sort of thing.” — Richard Lofthouse
“One Hand Clapping is a fun, engaging journey from the origins of life to the consciousness of human minds. Kukushkin sees the magic in the world and helps the reader see it, too. But not the impenetrable magic that wallows in mystery—instead, the kind of magic that leads to better questions, and deeper insight. Highly recommended to anyone who wants to better understand the world of molecules and why we are simultaneously in that world, but also, paradoxically, beyond it.” — Michael Levin, Distinguished Professor of Biology and Director of the Allen Discovery Center, Tufts University
