Books by Milton Brener

The children's memories usually lasted until they were of school age, about seven or eight, and their lives then more connected with the here and now. On occasion they lasted until, or through, adulthood.The theses of Mr. Brener's two books, Our Quantum World and Reincarnation, and Something Survives, were that the explanation might lie in the theory of entanglement, one aspect of quantum physics. A brief explanation is included in Mr. Brener's Introduction to this book.It is sufficient to say here that his theses dealt with memories and emotions, purely mental attributes. But they did not encompass a very physical attribute that often accompanied the memories-namely, birthmarks and birth defects-similar to and sometimes identical to such marks and defects on the person, termed by the investigators as the prior personality, whose life the subject remembered.Brener's suggested explanation for this physical phenomenon in this instance is the science of epigenetics, something to be explained in the chapters of this volume.

This book counteracts the commonly accepted belief that the expressionless stereotypical human faces in prehistoric and ancient art are the result of a consciously chosen style. Brener introduces evidence from psychology, evolutionary biology and other disciplines that suggest that something more significant may be involved. Scientists have emphasized the innate, genetically based nature of our fascination with the human face and its almost limitless expressive capacity, all of which is represented in the art of the last six centuries. But little attention has been paid to the anomaly of the vacuous expressions of earlier facial representations. Brener attributes this change to a change in the functioning of the human brain, as well as the role of cultural factors. It is the evolution of both genes and culture that has resulted in a marked increase in the human ability to create and interpret facial expressions. The result of this has impacted human behavior. It has increased human empathy leading to the abolition of human sacrifice, and the beginnings of courtly love in the late 11th century. More complex and subtle facial expression, and the ability to respond to it on an emotional level, has played a major role in both of these historic behavior changes. This book is of interest to scholars interested in anthropology, art history, and/or psychology, as well as evolutionary biology.