Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Though I have written very many scientific papers and articles, Bottleneck is my first actual book.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Bottleneck – Our human interface with reality.
I always had a passion for understanding things and distrusted explanations without evidence. I was fortunate to be part of the UK research team that brought optical fibre communications to the world. While spending four decades developing ways of squeezing ever higher information rates down optical fibres, I became fascinated by the contrastingly tiny rate that we humans can actually absorb any new information. The implications seemed so incredible that I began to research just how our senses perceive the world around us, initially using eye tracking technology. I discovered that most of what we experience is a story, a narrative constructed within our minds to make sense of our past and the present.
This book reveals the evidence for our narrow learning bottleneck, and explores the shocking implications both for technology and for ourselves. It provides scientific insights into a wealth of human experiences such as flawed memory and prejudice, and describes the huge difference between recognising what is familiar to us, and what is truly new. I have not written this to make money, nor to make my name as a writer, merely to spread an idea that I am passionate about.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write well at night. Arount 11.30 pm I feel tired and tell myself that I should have “an early night”, then 15 minutes later my night owl awakes and I am on a roll till as late as 4 am.
Athough the germ of the idea arose much earlier, I started writing the book itself about 15 years ago. I wrote using Microsoft Word, and as the book grew in size it became increasingly unweildy and I became more and more depressed. I spent as much time writing as I did trying to move things around and fixing formatting problems.
The breakthrough came two years ago when I discovered Scrivener writing software. This is designed for writers and is a combination of text editor and spreadsheet. Suddenly all my problems of working out what goes where, became simple. I would wake each morning feeling really excited about writing.
With Scrivener one compiles the output in any of a wide variety of formats, and as my first release was to be an eBook, I regularly compiled my manuscript to .mobi format and loaded it on my Kindle for proof reading. It was easy to also generate copies in .doc, epub .PDF, and .html formats, so I provided copies in the first four formats for my team of friendly editors to give me feedback. For my final eBook, I compiled to .epub then tidied up using Sigil the free eBook editor
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Whenever I am told or read about new ideas in science or philosophy, the extent that I trust the speaker or author is important to me. So I always enjoy books that reveal the personality of the writer themselves, and that is what I have tried to do within Bottleneck. I was particularly inspired by Tor Norretranders delightful book: The User Illusion. The books by the late Richard Gregory had a great influence on me, as he wrote from a gentle place and always made science accessible.
What are you working on now?
Apart from promoting the Kindle version of Bottleneck, I am busy finalising the print version for release in the near future.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have my own WordPress website (www.humanbottleneck.com) that I am gradually adding material in support of my book. I use Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn too. I signed up for the Amazon KDP promotion and am currently in the middle of a free 5 days slot which has got my book out to another 600+ readers.
I will present my work at a local Cafe Scientifique shortly. Assuming that goes well, I will take it on the road.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
I know nothing! I’m new here too.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Follow your bliss. Love what you do. Work is love made real.
What are you reading now?
The Science Delusion by Rupert Sheldrake.
What’s next for you as a writer?
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
The Oxford companion to the mind, by Richard Gregory
Author Websites and Profiles
Richard Epworth Website
Richard Epworth Amazon Profile
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