A Mind of Its Own Cordelia Fine
book reviews: · · · · · ·
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A Mind of Its Own: How Your Brain Distorts & Deceives
Cordelia Fine
W.W. Norton
Hardcover
224 pages
July 2006
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From author Cordelia Fine comes one of the most fascinating, if not the most fascinating, books of this summer with A Mind Of It’s Own. This stunning book will open you up to how your mind acts. In extremely readable and good-humored prose, Fine describes -- via a multitude of documented experiments – just how vain and immoral the brain can be. The book itself is broken up into eight chapters: The Vain Brain, The Emotional Brain, The Immoral Brain, The Deluded Brain, The Pigheaded Brain, The Secretive Brain, The Weak-Willed Brain, and last but certainly not least The Bigoted Brain. As a bonus there is an epilogue discussing The Vulnerable Brain. Wow – that’s a lot of ground to cover. And it is ground Fine covers thoroughly all while entertaining as she delves into the psyche. From the introduction:
“But the truth of the matter – as revealed by the quite extraordinary and fascinating research described in this book – is that your unscrupulous brain is entirely undeserving of your confidence. It has some shifty habits that leave the truth distorted and disguised. You brain is vainglorious. It’s emotional and immoral. It deludes you. It is pigheaded, secretive, and weak-willed. Oh, and it’s also a bigot. This is more than a minor inconvenience. That fleshy walnut inside your skull is all you have to know yourself and to know the world. Yet, thanks to the masquerading of an untrustworthy brain with a mind of its own, much of what you think you know is not quite as it seems.”
More than its collective synapses shooting off neurons, A Mind Of Its Own is no dull medicinal chore of a book. This is a totally engrossing and entertaining look at how we think and how deceptive that brain of ours is. Clocking in at two hundred and twenty-four pages, it’s also a book that doesn’t overstay its welcome; it’s the perfect length whether at the beach or a rainy day. The meticulous research combined with the charming, conversational prose makes A Mind Of Its Own an excellent, excellent book. You may not agree with everything in this book, but two things are assured: you will have fun, and it will make you think about yourself and the people around you.
Originally published on Curled Up With A Good Book at www.curledup.com. © Bobby Blades, 2006
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