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BOOK PEEK: Incognito By David EaglemanRobert Lufkin MD Amazon Influencer Store

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Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain Paperback – Illustrated, May 15, 2012

by David Eagleman (Author)

4.5 3,288 ratings

Goodreads Choice Award nominee

See all formats and editions

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If the conscious mind--the part you consider to be you--is just the tip of the iceberg, what is the rest doing?

In this sparkling and provocative book, renowned neuroscientist David Eagleman navigates the depths of the subconscious brain to illuminate its surprising mysteries. Why can your foot move halfway to the brake pedal before you become consciously aware of danger ahead? Is there a true Mel Gibson? How is your brain like a conflicted democracy engaged in civil war? What do Odysseus and the subprime mortgage meltdown have in common? Why are people whose names begin with J more like to marry other people whose names begin with J? And why is it so difficult to keep a secret?

Taking in brain damage, plane spotting, dating, drugs, beauty, infidelity, synesthesia, criminal law, artificial intelligence, and visual illusions, Incognito is a thrilling subsurface exploration of the mind and all its contradictions.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A Boston Globe Best Book of the Year

“Original and provocative. . . . A smart, captivating book that will give you a prefrontal workout.”
—Nature

“A popularizer of impressive gusto . . . [Eagleman] aims, grandly, to do for the study of the mind what Copernicus did for the study of the stars. . . . Incognito proposes a grand new account of the relationship between consciousness and the brain. It is full of dazzling ideas, as it is chockablock with facts and instances.”
—The New York Observer

“Eagleman engagingly sums up recent discoveries about the unconscious processes that dominate our mental life. . . . [He] is the kind of guy who really does make being a neuroscientist look like fun.”
—The New York Times

“Although Incognito is fast-paced, mind-bending stuff, it’s a book for regular folks. Eagleman does a brilliant job refining heavy science into a compelling read. He is a gifted writer.”
—Houston Chronicle

“Eagleman has a talent for testing the untestable, for taking seemingly sophomoric notions and using them to nail down the slippery stuff of consciousness.”
—The New Yorker

“Incognito does the right thing by diving straight into the deep end and trying to swim. Eagleman, by imagining the future so vividly, puts into relief just how challenging neuroscience is, and will be.”
—The Boston Globe

“Appealing and persuasive.”
—The Wall Street Journal

“Your mind is an elaborate trick, and mastermind David Eagleman explains how the trick works with great lucidity and amazement. Your mind will thank you.”
—Wired

“A fun read by a smart person for smart people. . . . It will attract a new generation to ponder their inner workings.”
—New Scientist

“Fascinating. . . . Eagleman has the ability to turn hard science and jargon into interesting and relatable prose, illuminating the mind’s processes with clever analogies and metaphors.”
—Salt Lake City Weekly

“Touches on some of the more intriguing cul-de-sacs of human behavior.”
—Santa Cruz Sentinel

“Startling. . . . It’s a book that will leave you looking at yourself—and the world—differently.”
—Austin American-Statesman

“Sparkling and provocative. . . . A thrilling subsurface exploration of the mind and all its contradictions.”
—The Courier-Journal

“After you read Eagleman’s breezy treatment of the brain, you will marvel at how much is illusory that we think is real, and how we sometimes function on autopilot without consciously knowing what is happening. . . . This is a fascinating book.”
—The Advocate

“A pleasure to read. . . . If a reader is looking for a fun but illuminating read, Incognito is a good choice. With its nice balance between hard science and entertaining anecdotes, it is a good alternative to the usual brainless summer blockbusters.”
—Deseret News

“Incognito is fun to read, full of neat factoids and clever experiments. . . . Eagleman says he’s looking to do for neuroscience what Carl Sagan did for astrophysics, and he’s already on his way.”
—Texas Monthly

“Eagleman presents difficult neuroscience concepts in an energetic, casual voice with plenty of analogies and examples to ensure that what could easily be an overwhelming catalog of facts remains engaging and accessible. . . . The ideas in Eagleman’s book are well-articulated and entertaining, elucidated with the intelligent, casual tone of an enthusiastic university lecturer.”
—TheMillions.com

“Written in clear, precise language, the book is sure to appeal to readers with an interest in psychology and the human mind, but it will also please people who just want to know, with a little more clarity, what is going on inside their own skulls.”
—Booklist

“A stunning exploration of the we behind the I. Eagleman reveals, with his typical grace and eloquence, all the neural magic tricks behind the cognitive illusion we call reality.”
—Jonah Lehrer, author of How We Decide

“A fascinating, dynamic, faceted look under the hood of the conscious mind. . . . Equal parts entertaining and illuminating, the case studies, examples and insights in Incognito are more than mere talking points to impressed at the next dinner party, poised instead to radically shift your understanding of the world, other people, and your own mind.”
—Brain Pickings

“Eagleman engagingly sums up recent discoveries about the unconscious processes that dominate our mental life.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“Fascinating. . . . Eagleman has the ability to turn hard science and jargon into interesting and relatable prose, illuminating the mind’s processes with clever analogies and metaphors.”
—Salt Lake City Weekly

“A great beach read.“
—Philadelphia City Paper

“Incognito feels like learning the secrets of a magician. In clear prose, Eagleman condenses complex concepts and reinforces his points through analogies, pop culture, current events, optical illusions, anecdotes, and fun facts.”
—Frontier Psychiatrist

“One of those books that could change everything.”
—Sam Snyder, blog

“Buy this book. The pithy observations, breezy language and wow-inducing anecdotes provide temporary pleasure, but the book’s real strength is in its staying power.“
—Science News

“A whirlwind, high-definition look at the neural underpinnings of our everyday thinking and perception . . . fascinating.”
—Brettworks.com

“Eagleman embodies what is fascinating, fun, and hopeful about modern neuroscience.”
—Brainstorm.com

“After you read Eagleman’s breezy treatment of the brain, you will marvel at how much is illusory that we think is real, and how we sometimes function out autopilot without consciously knowing what is happening. . . . This is a fascinating book.”
—The Advocate

“Funny, gripping and often shocking . . . Eagleman writes great sentences of the sort that you might be inclined to read to those in your general vicinity.”
—bookotron.com

“Incognito reads like a series of fascinating vignettes, offering plenty of pauses for self-reflection. Eagleman’s anecdotes are funny and easily tie to the concepts he explains. Moreover, his enthusiasm for the subject is obvious and contagious.”
—Spectrum Culture

“Incognito is popular science at its best . . . beautifully synthesized.” —Boston Globe Best of 2011

About the Author

DAVID EAGLEMAN is a neuroscientist, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a New York Times bestselling author. His books have been translated into 27 languages. Eagleman heads the Laboratory for Perception and Action at Baylor College of Medicine, and is the founding Director of the Initiative on Neuroscience and Law. He is the author and presenter of the PBS series The Brain.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

There’s Someone In My Head, But It’s Not Me

Take a close look at yourself in the mirror. Beneath your dashing good looks churns a hidden universe of networked machinery. The machinery includes a sophisticated scaffolding of interlocking bones, a netting of sinewy muscles, a good deal of specialized fluid, and a collaboration of internal organs chugging away in darkness to keep you alive. A sheet of high-tech self-healing sensory material that we call skin seamlessly covers your machinery in a pleasing package.

And then there’s your brain. Three pounds of the most complex material we’ve discovered in the universe. This is the mission control center that drives the whole operation, gathering dispatches through small portals in the armored bunker of the skull.

Your brain is built of cells called neurons and glia—hundreds of billions of them. Each one of these cells is as complicated as a city. And each one contains the entire human genome and traffics billions of molecules in intricate economies. Each cell sends electrical pulses to other cells, up to hundreds of times per second. If you represented each of these trillions and trillions of pulses in your brain by a single photon of light, the combined output would be blinding.

The cells are connected to one another in a network of such staggering complexity that it bankrupts human language and necessitates new strains of mathematics. A typical neuron makes about ten thousand connections to neighboring neurons. Given the billions of neurons, this means there are as many connections in a single cubic centimeter of brain tissue as there are stars in the Milky Way galaxy.

The three-pound organ in your skull—with its pink consistency of Jell-o—is an alien kind of computational material. It is composed of miniaturized, self-configuring parts, and it vastly outstrips anything we’ve dreamt of building. So if you ever feel lazy or dull, take heart: you’re the busiest, brightest thing on the planet.

Ours is an incredible story. As far as anyone can tell, we’re the only system on the planet so complex that we’ve thrown ourselves headlong into the game of deciphering our own programming language. Imagine that your desktop computer began to control its own peripheral devices, removed its own cover, and pointed its webcam at its own circuitry. That’s us.

And what we’ve discovered by peering into the skull ranks among the most significant intellectual developments of our species: the recognition that the innumerable facets of our behavior, thoughts, and experience are inseparably yoked to a vast, wet, chemicalelectrical network called the nervous system. The machinery is utterly alien to us, and yet, somehow, it is us.

THE TREMENDOUS MAGIC

In 1949, Arthur Alberts traveled from his home in Yonkers, New York, to villages between the Gold Coast and Timbuktu in West Africa. He brought his wife, a camera, a jeep, and—because of his love of music—a jeep-powered tape recorder. Wanting to open the ears of the western world, he recorded some of the most important music ever to come out of Africa. But Alberts ran into social troubles while using the tape recorder. One West African native heard his voice played back and accused Alberts of “stealing his tongue.” Alberts only narrowly averted being pummeled by taking out a mirror and convincing the man that his tongue was still intact.

It’s not difficult to see why the natives found the tape recorder so counterintuitive. A vocalization seems ephemeral and ineffable: it is like opening a bag of feathers which scatter on the breeze and can never be retrieved. Voices are weightless and odorless, something you cannot hold in your hand.

So it comes as a surprise that a voice is physical. If you build a little machine sensitive enough to detect tiny compressions of the molecules in the air, you can capture these density changes and reproduce them later. We call these machines microphones, and every one of the billions of radios on the planet is proudly serving up bags of feathers once thought irretrievable. When Alberts played the music back from the tape recorder, one West African tribesman depicted the feat as “tremendous magic.”

And so it goes with thoughts. What exactly is a thought? It doesn’t seem to weigh anything. It feels ephemeral and ineffable. You wouldn’t think that a thought has a shape or smell or any sort of physical instantiation. Thoughts seem to be a kind of tremendous magic.

But just like voices, thoughts are underpinned by physical stuff. We know this because alterations to the brain change the kinds of thoughts we can think. In a state of deep sleep, there are no thoughts. When the brain transitions into dream sleep, there are unbidden, bizarre thoughts. During the day we enjoy our normal, wellaccepted thoughts, which people enthusiastically modulate by spiking the chemical cocktails of the brain with alcohol, narcotics, cigarettes, coffee, or physical exercise. The state of the physical material determines the state of the thoughts.

And the physical material is absolutely necessary for normal thinking to tick along. If you were to injure your pinkie in an accident you’d be distressed, but your conscious experience would be no different. By contrast, if you were to damage an equivalently sized piece of brain tissue, this might change your capacity to understand music, name animals, see colors, judge risk, make decisions, read signals from your body, or understand the concept of a mirror—thereby unmasking the strange, veiled workings of the machinery beneath. Our hopes, dreams, aspirations, fears, comic instincts, great ideas, fetishes, senses of humor, and desires all emerge from this strange organ—and when the brain changes, so do we. So although it’s easy to intuit that thoughts don’t have a physical basis, that they are something like feathers on the wind, they in fact depend directly on the integrity of the enigmatic, three-pound mission control center.

The first thing we learn from studying our own circuitry is a simple lesson: most of what we do and think and feel is not under our conscious control. The vast jungles of neurons operate their own programs. The conscious you—the I that flickers to life when you wake up in the morning—is the smallest bit of what’s transpiring in your brain. Although we are dependent on the functioning of the brain for our inner lives, it runs its own show. Most of its operations are above the security clearance of the conscious mind. The I simply has no right of entry.

Your consciousness is like a tiny stowaway on a transatlantic steamship, taking credit for the journey without acknowledging the massive engineering underfoot. This book is about that amazing fact: how we know it, what it means, and what it explains about people, markets, secrets, strippers, retirement accounts, criminals, artists, Ulysses, drunkards, stroke victims, gamblers, athletes, bloodhounds, racists, lovers, and every decision you’ve ever taken to be yours.

* * *
In a recent experiment, men were asked to rank how attractive they found photographs of different women’s faces. The photos were eight by ten inches, and showed women facing the camera or turned in three-quarter profile. Unbeknownst to the men, in half the photos the eyes of the women were dilated, and in the other half they were not. The men were consistently more attracted to the women with dilated eyes. Remarkably, the men had no insight into their decision making. None of them said, “I noticed her pupils were two millimeters larger in this photo than in this other one.” Instead, they simply felt more drawn toward some women than others, for reasons they couldn’t quite put a finger on.

So who was doing the choosing? In the largely inaccessible workings of the brain, something knew that a woman’s dilated eyes correlates with sexual excitement and readiness. Their brains knew this, but the men in the study didn’t—at least not explicitly. The men may also not have known that their notions of beauty and feelings of attraction are deeply hardwired, steered in the right direction by programs carved by millions of years of natural selection. When the men were choosing the most attractive women, they didn’t know that the choice was not theirs, really, but instead the choice of successful programs that had been burned deep into the brain’s circuitry over the course of hundreds of thousands of generations.

Brains are in the business of gathering information and steering behavior appropriately. It doesn’t matter whether consciousness is involved in the decision making. And most of the time, it’s not. Whether we’re talking about dilated eyes, jealousy, attraction, the love of fatty foods, or the great idea you had last week, consciousness is the smallest player in the operations of the brain. Our brains run mostly on autopilot, and the conscious mind has little access to the giant and mysterious factory that runs below it.

You see evidence of this when your foot gets halfway to the brake before you consciously realize that a red Toyota is backing out of a driveway on the road ahead of you. You see it when you notice your name spoken in a conversation across the room that you thought you weren’t listening to, when you find someone attractive without knowing why, or when your nervous system gives you a “hunch” about which choice you should make.

The brain is a complex system, but that doesn’t mean it’s incomprehensible. Our neural circuits were carved by natural selection to solve problems that our ancestors faced during our species’ evolutionary history. Your brain has been molded by evolutionary pressures just as your spleen and eyes have been. And so has your consciousness. Consciousness developed because it was advantageous, but advantageous only in limited amounts.

Consider the activity that characterizes a nation at any moment. Factories churn, telecommunication lines buzz with activity, businesses ship products. People eat constantly. Sewer lines direct waste. All across the great stretches of land, police chase criminals. Handshakes secure deals. Lovers rendezvous. Secretaries field calls, teachers profess, athletes compete, doctors operate, bus drivers navigate. You may wish to know what’s happening at any moment in your great nation, but you can’t possibly take in all the information at once. Nor would it be useful, even if you could. You want a summary. So you pick up a newspaper—not a dense paper like the New York Times but lighter fare such as USA Today. You won’t be surprised that none of the details of the activity are listed in the paper; after all, you want to know the bottom line. You want to know that Congress just signed a new tax law that affects your family, but the detailed origin of the idea—involving lawyers and corporations and filibusters— isn’t especially important to that new bottom line. And you certainly wouldn’t want to know all the details of the food supply of the nation—how the cows are eating and how many are being eaten—you only want to be alerted if there’s a spike of mad cow disease. You don’t care how the garbage is produced and packed away; you only care if it’s going to end up in your backyard. You don’t care about the wiring and infrastructure of the factories; you only care if the workers are going on strike. That’s what you get from reading the newspaper.

Your conscious mind is that newspaper. Your brain buzzes with activity around the clock, and, just like the nation, almost everything transpires locally: small groups are constantly making decisions and sending out messages to other groups. Out of these local interactions emerge larger coalitions. By the time you read a mental headline, the important action has already transpired, the deals are done. You have surprisingly little access to what happened behind the scenes. Entire political movements gain ground-up support and become unstoppable before you ever catch wind of them as a feeling or an intuition or a thought that strikes you. You’re the last one to hear the information.

However, you’re an odd kind of newspaper reader, reading the headline and taking credit for the idea as though you thought of it first. You gleefully say, “I just thought of something!”, when in fact your brain performed an enormous amount of work before your moment of genius struck. When an idea is served up from behind the scenes, your neural circuitry has been working on it for hours or days or years, consolidating information and trying out new combinations. But you take credit without further wonderment at the vast, hidden machinery behind the scenes.

And who can blame you for thinking you deserve the credit? The brain works its machinations in secret, conjuring ideas like tremendous magic. It does not allow its colossal operating system to be probed by conscious cognition. The brain runs its show incognito. So who, exactly, deserves the acclaim for a great idea? In 1862, the Scottish mathematician James Clerk Maxwell developed a set of fundamental equations that unified electricity and magnetism. On his deathbed, he coughed up a strange sort of confession, declaring that “something within him” discovered the famous equations, not he. He admitted he had no idea how ideas actually came to him—they simply came to him. William Blake related a similar experience, reporting of his long narrative poem Milton: “I have written this poem from immediate dictation twelve or sometimes twenty lines at a time without premeditation and even against my will.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe claimed to have written his novella The Sorrows of Young Werther with practically no conscious input, as though he were holding a pen that moved on its own.

And consider the British poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. He began using opium in 1796, originally for relief from the pain of tooth - aches and facial neuralgia—but soon he was irreversibly hooked, swigging as much as two quarts of laudanum each week. His poem “Kubla Khan,” with its exotic and dreamy imagery, was written on an opium high that he described as “a kind of a reverie.” For him, the opium became a way to tap into his subconscious neural circuits. We credit the beautiful words of “Kubla Khan” to Coleridge because they came from his brain and no else’s, right? But he couldn’t get hold of those words while sober, so who exactly does the credit for the poem belong to? As Carl Jung put it, “In each of us there is another whom we do not know.” As Pink Floyd put it, “There’s someone in my head, but it’s not me.”

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage; Reprint edition (May 15, 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0307389928
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0307389923
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.2 x 0.6 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #28,982 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #28 in Popular Neuropsychology
- #62 in Biology (Books)
- #65 in Cognitive Psychology (Books)

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David Eagleman

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David Eagleman is a neuroscientist at Stanford University, an internationally bestselling author, and a Guggenheim Fellow. He is the writer and presenter of The Brain, an Emmy-nominated PBS/BBC television series that asks what it means to be human from a neuroscientist's point of view. Eagleman’s research encompasses time perception, vision, synesthesia, and the intersection of neuroscience with the legal system. He is the author of many books, including Livewired, Sum, Incognito, The Brain, and The Runaway Species. You can find David on the podcast Inner Cosmos, which recently hit the #1 science podcast in America.

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Customers find the book engaging and thought-provoking. They appreciate the insightful content and examples that make the complex subject understandable. Readers describe the writing style as clear and easy to read. Many find it entertaining, thrilling, and delightful. The content is easy for readers without a science background to follow and understand. However, opinions differ on the content, with some finding it interesting and well-written, while others feel there are too many facts and experiments that lose their interest.

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225 customers mention "Readability"225 positive0 negative

Customers find the book engaging and easy to follow. They appreciate the author's knowledge of human history and neuroscience. The book is thought-provoking and full of fascinating information about consciousness. Readers appreciate the footnotes, which they read ahead in. Overall, it's a pleasant and enjoyable read that explores neuroscience research in an insightful way.

"...There is a significant disconnect between Eagleman’s fascinating, humorous, and well explained exploration of the functions of the unconscious mind..." Read more

"...The strategy to why David Eagleman is successful in keeping the reader interested is because of the way he uses everyday language that is not out of..." Read more

"...This is a great read and will definitely leave readers with a broader understanding of the brain." Read more

"...previous experience with neuroscience topics, this book can serve as an excellent refresher...." Read more

152 customers mention "Insight"152 positive0 negative

Customers find the book insightful and accessible. They appreciate the examples from daily life that support the main idea. Readers say it provides a rich background of research and explores the functions of the brain in an engaging way. Overall, they find the book to be a great resource for learning about how the brain works.

"...disconnect between Eagleman’s fascinating, humorous, and well explained exploration of the functions of the unconscious mind in the first half of..." Read more

"...scientific explanations for them, all the while being relatable to a common audience...." Read more

"...I rate this book a 4/5 for it's detailed information, real life examples and cases, plentiful illustrations, providing a clear point of how the..." Read more

"...who are not studying neuroscience, this is an excellent book to gain a basic understanding of how the brain works...." Read more

114 customers mention "Writing quality"97 positive17 negative

Customers find the book's writing clear and easy to read. They appreciate the engaging style and well-laid-out arguments. The book is described as a collection of short stories with minimal technical jargon. Readers praise the author's gift for writing and his ability to present data in an engaging way.

"...of useful, innovative, and surprising information that is creatively presented in an easy to understand manner while still retaining its accuracy..." Read more

"...This book is written like a collection of short stories, and is very slim on technical jargon so the reader will not feel too encumbered or..." Read more

"...His interactive writing style and engaging voice pulls you through thought-provoking passages and really gets you to wonder, how much of me is truly..." Read more

47 customers mention "Entertainment value"44 positive3 negative

Customers find the book entertaining and engaging. They describe it as a thrilling, delightful read with humor thrown in.

"...There is a significant disconnect between Eagleman’s fascinating, humorous, and well explained exploration of the functions of the unconscious mind..." Read more

"...of his topics in an interactive fashion, engaging the reader with simple stimulating activities that continue to intrigue and draw the reader in...." Read more

"...is a good deal to admire in this book: it is crisply written and engaging, and Eagleman has as especially strong knack for finding telling examples...." Read more

"...Incognito provides a fun read about the many mysteries of the mind...." Read more

29 customers mention "Ease of use"29 positive0 negative

Customers find the book easy to follow and understand. They appreciate the conversational style and quick, easy ways to experience the concepts. The book is not too technical or elementary, making it accessible for readers without a science background. Readers appreciate how the author clearly explains complex concepts and provides amazing analysis of the human brain. Overall, they describe the book as challenging yet interesting.

"...surprising information that is creatively presented in an easy to understand manner while still retaining its accuracy and thought provoking quality...." Read more

"...Overall I rate this book a 4/5 for it's detailed information, real life examples and cases, plentiful illustrations, providing a clear point of how..." Read more

"...He expresses complicated theories in a straightforward manner and explains in detail many complex processes of neuroscience in a captivating way,..." Read more

"...brain, as stated in the book, weighs about three pounds and is extremely complex...." Read more

10 customers mention "Visual quality"10 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's visual quality. They find the optical illusions and examples engaging. The book provides a clear understanding of the brain's functions without their knowledge. Readers appreciate the forward-looking cues and illustrations that provide a clear point of view.

"...for it's detailed information, real life examples and cases, plentiful illustrations, providing a clear point of how the little understanding we..." Read more

"...The last chapter is a good summary and forward looking cues...." Read more

"...Read "Sum", which is a beautiful masterpiece. I'm going to read everything he's written, and I'll be on the lookout for his future work. 10 stars!" Read more

"...He beautifully and simply gives an understanding of just how much the brain does without your knowledge -and why it's best left alone...." Read more

23 customers mention "Content"14 positive9 negative

Customers have differing views on the book's content. Some find the first five chapters engaging with examples and stories about different brain mechanisms. They appreciate the author's narration and profound explanation of the complexity of the brain. Others feel there are too many facts and experiments, as well as assumptions based on limited research that lose their interest. There are also complaints about too many anecdotes in a chapter that leave readers disconnected from the content.

"...create a bright narrative on how the brain works and the early chapters are fascinating."..." Read more

"...However, I felt at some parts that there were too many anecdotes in a chapter and I felt disconnected from the overall concept...." Read more

"...Not only does the author include a plethora of interesting stories/snippets of different brain mechanisms, but also, provides neurologically and..." Read more

"...The last chapter is a good summary and forward looking cues...." Read more

11 customers mention "Value for money"3 positive8 negative

Customers find the book not worth the money. They say the last half is boring and doesn't hold their attention. The book falls short of its potential and is not practical for criminals.

"...The prefrontal workout as rehabilitation for criminal is not practical and would probably be better suited to the setting of a behavior health..." Read more

"...In simple words, the last half was boring and didn't hold my attention." Read more

"...Well worth the money - and taking notes." Read more

"...It doesn't worth the money and time." Read more

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Nicole Fledderman
There’s No Hiding the Success of Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain
Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2013
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Introduction

The success and popularity of David Eagleman’s newest book Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain is no secret. This humorous yet stimulating book explores the exciting world of our unconscious mind and all its contradictions. Eagleman is a prominent neuroscientist and director of the Laboratory for Perception and Action at Baylor College of Medicine, where he also directs the Initiative on Neuroscience and Law. Eagleman is best known for his publications on time perception, synesthesia, and neuroscience law.

Book Summary

Incognito can be divided into two main parts. The first half of the novel focuses on the workings of our unconscious brain. One of the most important points that Eagleman emphasizes throughout the entire novel is that the majority of our thoughts and behaviors are the result of unconscious processes that are either inaccessible to our conscious mind or function more efficiently when our conscious mind does not interfere. These unconscious processes are largely the result of evolution, learned experiences, genetics, and the influences of our environment.

Our unconscious mind also plays a huge role in our perception of reality. Our perception of reality is often an illusion because we see with our brain and not our eyes. This means that we see only because our brain is able to interpret the information about the light waves detected by our eyes. Our unconscious brain modifies our perception of reality based on past experiences and often fills in missing information.

The role of the conscious mind is to learn how to solve new problems. Through practice the conscious mind teaches the unconscious brain how to solve the problem so well that it rewires the brain; as a result, that solution or behavior is more efficiently produced by the unconscious mind. The conscious mind controls our unconscious subprograms by distributing control and resources and allowing communication between different areas of the brain. Our conscious mind is active when the something goes wrong with these subprograms or events violate our expectations. It also serves as a mediator between many of the rival teams that make up our unconscious including the left versus right hemisphere and the rational versus emotional systems. While the role of the conscious mind is an important one, its role seems small in comparison to all the behaviors our unconscious brain is responsible for.

In the second half of Incognito, Eagleman explains the implications of the revelations about the unconscious that were the focus of previous chapters. The main implication according to Eagleman is that what we have learned about the unconscious brain conflicts with the way our justice system judges and sentences criminals. Currently, our legal system is based on the assumption that as humans we have free will and thus, are fully responsible for our actions. We are judged based on this assumption; unless it is proven that something impaired our mind’s control over our body while performing the criminal action. This presents a problem when we consider the way our brain works. Since, the majority of our thoughts and behaviors are the result of unconscious processes in the brain; this leaves very little room, if any, for the concept of free will. Additionally, not all brains are created equal because we cannot choose our genetics or the environment where we are raised, both of which are involved in shaping our unconscious brain.

Eagleman argues that the question of free will should not matter in legal sentencing because research has shown that we are not as in control of our actions as we would like to think. He further argues the question of blameworthiness--the extent to which the criminal is to blame and the extent to which his biology is to blame--no longer makes sense either. This is because scientists now realize there is no distinction between our biology and decision-making. Additionally, as technology improves and we become better able to detect how behavior is caused by the microscopic details of our brain, more and more lawyers and criminals will appeal to the defense of biological mitigators, and more criminals will be judged not blameworthy. Consequently, the defense that the criminal’s actions were due to biological processes over which the criminal had no control is no longer valid. It is safe to assume that all criminals have something anomalous about their brain even though our current technology is not always sophisticated enough to detect anything.

The solution Eagleman proposes is not to stop punishing criminals, but to change the way we punish them. He supports personalized sentences based on the likelihood of re-offense with those more likely of re-offense serving longer sentences. He further argues more emphasis should be on rehabilitation. Eagleman explains a new rehabilitation strategy called the prefrontal workout. The goal is to improve impulse control and through practice strengthen the neural circuits involved in long-term decision-making. Eagleman states that criminals should only be punished when their behavior is capable of being changed, or modified. If their behavior is not capable of being changed, then they should not be punished, but instead be taken into the care of the government. Overall, Eagleman suggests a legal system based our knowledge of the neural system that focuses on rehabilitation rather than punishment.

Eagleman concludes by stating that while the revelation that our conscious mind is not at the center of who we are may seem like a dethronement of ourselves, this is not a something to be viewed negatively. Dethronement opens up the possibility of new discoveries, a better understanding of mankind and ourselves as individuals, as well as improved social policy.

Evaluation

I would strongly recommend Incognito to anyone who is interested in neuroscience, both novices and experts. While I have only started studying neuroscience this year, I was familiar with a fair amount of the topics discussed in Incognito such as how easily our perception can be tricked. At the same time, I learned about a great deal of interesting things that were new to me. For example, I had no idea about the extent to which our brains will go to provide a coherent narrative or seek patterns and explanations where none exist.

The information presented is strongly grounded in massive amounts of neuroscience research that when synthesized provide an excellent overview of numerous aspects and views regarding the unconscious. It contains a great wealth of useful, innovative, and surprising information that is creatively presented in an easy to understand manner while still retaining its accuracy and thought provoking quality. Eagleman achieves this difficult feat of balancing simplicity with validity by using a variety of unique comparisons to our everyday world. Most importantly his style of writing is interactive and actively engages the reader by providing quick easy ways for the reader to experience firsthand what he is discussing while simultaneously demonstrating the truth of his claims.

Eagleman proposes alterations to our legal system that are more compatible with our new understanding of the unconscious. While I agree with Eagleman’s proposed shift of focus from punishment to rehabilitation, he fails to fully explain the specifics regarding how we would actually go about implementing these changes. For example, while Eagleman makes it clear that free will and blameworthiness should not matter, he is not clear whether anything other than evidence and the jury’s determination of whether the accused committed the act should matter.

Nor, does Eagleman clearly explain how we should or even could go about gaining popular approval from the people of America. He simply acknowledges that while it will be hard to make the shift from retribution to rehabilitation, that as a society we have been capable of changing social policy based on better understanding in the past. He compares his proposed to changes to the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1968. This comparison belittles the struggle and hard won victory of the African American people, while inflating the severity of the perceived problem with the setup of the legal system. I believe this is one of the poorest comparisons he could have made and it is most definitely the worst comparison in the entire book.

Additionally, the practicality of Eagleman’s proposed prefrontal workout is limited. First, the prefrontal workout is still in the early stages of research. It is not known how effective it is on improving impulse control or if it is effective for a wide range of people. Second, the technology required for the prefrontal workout is very expensive because it requires the use of real time feedback brain imaging. Many prisons will not be able to afford to buy such expensive brain imaging machines with their budgets. Also, this rehabilitation strategy would require prisons to be able to hire personnel who are trained to use brain imaging as well as properly lead the rehabilitation. The prefrontal workout as rehabilitation for criminal is not practical and would probably be better suited to the setting of a behavior health hospital.

There is a significant disconnect between Eagleman’s fascinating, humorous, and well explained exploration of the functions of the unconscious mind in the first half of Incognito and his well-meaning, but poorly proposed alterations to the legal system. In spite of Eagleman’s failure to explain how we would go about implementing his proposed alterations to the justice system, he does thoroughly explain and support his reasons for believing such changes are necessary. Overall, the first part of the book which explored the role of the unconscious mind was better explained, supported, and just more enjoyable in general than Eagleman’s proposal to make the legal system more compatible with neuroscience.

Even with Eagleman’s inadequate proposal in mind, I still urge anyone interested in neuroscience or psychology to read Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain. The brilliance of the first half of the book far outweighs the shortcomings of the second half. Incognito is the perfect balance of wit and intellect. You will be shocked and amazed when you learn how much your unconscious brain does without your knowledge.

Conclusion

I strongly believe even those who consider themselves experts in neuroscience will learn a thing or two from Incognito, especially since it talks about some of the most current research being done. Furthermore, the range of topics covered is so vast that it is hard to imagine anyone could already know everything mentioned. But, even if there is someone who knows it all, I still recommend reading Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain because David Eagleman relates neuroscience to some of very strange and humorous questions. After all who doesn’t want to know: How is it possible to get mad at yourself? Or why Topsy the elephant was electrocuted by Tomas Edison in 1916?

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BryanW
Exploring the Human Mind
Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2012
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It takes a special amount of finesse for a person to convey to someone that the way they think is not necessarily correct. It is a challenge that all expository writers face, especially when dealing with something as personal as the human brain. David Eagleman, neuroscientist and writer at Baylor College of Medicine, uses his extensive research to tell his audience that the brain relies heavily on an unconscious part of the mind that works behind the scenes to carry out functions and thoughts that we are unaware of. The way he presents it is in a way that uses provocative questions and a bit of humor in his explanations. The strategy to why David Eagleman is successful in keeping the reader interested is because of the way he uses everyday language that is not out of the average reader's vocabulary.
In his book Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain, David Eagleman tackles many questions that people tend to have concerning the brain. The book is organized into chapters that break down into subchapters, which makes it easy for the reader to follow. His train of thought is evident throughout the book as he explains how he connects two seemingly different subjects. He brings up controversial topics such as religion and questions of identity and offers scientific explanations for them, all the while being relatable to a common audience. Eagleman explains to the reader that discoveries lead us to conclude that biology plays a bigger role in our actions than we previously thought. This catches the reader off guard because it is such an abstract concept. The way he presents information is thought out in a way that would not terribly offend anybody because he addresses both materialistic and mentalistic points of view. I believe that it is important for people to know that things are hardly ever black and white: there is usually a middle ground concerning major issues.
He starts his argument by demonstrating simple illusions that show the reader that what you experience is almost entirely based on perceptions and assumptions made by the brain. He says, "[the brain] computes on a need-to-know basis" (Eagleman 28). Eagleman suggests that the brain runs on assumptions because of how we assume that our peripheral vision is better than it actually is. He gives many examples of visual illusions in order to lead into his idea that the brain does a lot of behind the scenes work. These visual illusions and tricks were, at least for me, baffling because they demonstrate the inner workings of the brain that we may take for granted. Eagleman does a great job by luring the reader into the book with these interesting phenomena. The flow from chapter to chapter was seamless. At the end of each idea was a statement connecting it to the next, which goes with one of his central ideas that the brain has both internal and external connections that are made.
Throughout the book, he emphasizes that our actions are a combination of our environment and our chemical make-up, or nature and nurture. Eagleman tells the reader that the mind is able to be changed, demonstrating a fundamental concept of neuroscience. I think it is crucial that people understand the brain as an ever-changing, adapting part of the human body. He brings up a number of studies that show how the brain can become more efficient to complete tasks faster and easier (73). He is constantly giving the reader lessons that involve the plasticity of the brain. It is important to take what he says about the brain and apply it to how we look at other aspects of life, and not only sciences, but to society and government as well.
Eagleman goes into moral dilemmas that involve crime and punishment. He leads into this controversial topic by explaining Freud's idea of the unconscious mind. Eagleman claims that our minds have their own hardware that is built into it so we have little choice in what we like, how we act, or even who we love. This idea of his is hard to read, especially if the reader has a significant other, but he does not discredit the power of love, he only offers an explanation of it.
One example that he gives is how people with a certain type of gene tend to exhibit more criminal behaviors (Eagleman 158). An idea that I agree with is that he proposes the criminal punishment system should change because many criminals have neurological tendencies to do illegal acts. He says that punishment should be more geared towards a way to rehabilitate the criminals with such predispositions instead of punishing them. This is because the punishment does not do as much good as an active rehabilitation. He is sensitive to those who need psychological help and his ideas of reform in the criminal punishment system are revolutionary. People should read this book to better understand the human condition.
In the end of his book, Eagleman approaches his main idea: that who we are essentially is dependent on our brain. He brings up the phenomenon of Phineas Gage, a railroad worker who had an accident that left him without part of his frontal lobe (201). This is an appropriate story to support his assertion because after Gage's accident, his personality was completely changed. Even though the story was gruesome to think about, I believe that the previous examples slowly built up the reader's tolerance to real-life situations. Therefore, it was appropriate for Eagleman to include this anecdote.
Some readers that are immigrants may find some of his findings disturbing because he suggests that people who feel like they do not fit in are more likely to develop schizophrenia (211). He probably could have been more sensitive about this subject because people with these feelings of being an unwelcome outcast may just be thrown into more doubt and fear. There are other examples that may give other groups of people a sense of fear because of a certain "predisposition" that they have. People tend to be sensitive to their personal shortcomings, and the evidence proposed in this book does not give confidence to those people who are insecure. However, Eagleman is merely giving facts and his goal is not to make people insecure, but to inform and make people think. This is why the book is successful.
In conclusion, David Eagleman demonstrates the mysteries of the brain by using many examples that people can relate to. He challenges popular ways of thought by using a scientific and logical approach that is supported by evidence of countless studies and experiences that he presents. His main goal was to get the common reader to think more critically about the different causes of actions and thoughts that happen inside the brain. Another goal that he accomplished was to get the reader to look at humans as a societal group and realize that society changes. He taught me that things should be questioned and to not rule out an explanation until you can fully explain it yourself. This is a life lesson, not just one of the neuroscience field, and this is why I rate this book five out of five stars.

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Luan Vieira
Accessible language.
Reviewed in Brazil on February 21, 2023
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Accessible language for a very complex and rich subject, def hit the top 3 books that I read during the Pandemic, exactly why I bought a hard copy.

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Sami
Brilliant
Reviewed in France on May 31, 2021
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This book is a must to understand how our brains function at a neurocircuitery level. And as the author mentionned at the end : looking at the pieces of a machine doesn't mean that we understand it fully. There is a lot more to learn and understand.

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Rodrigo
Una nueva y fascinante manera de ver el cerebro y la manera en que actuamos
Reviewed in Mexico on August 7, 2019
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Desde cosas tan sencillas como esquivar ramas de arbol al caminar con apenas un vistazo, hasta comportamientos completamente fuera de lo normal en personas con daño cerebral. David Eagleman nos enseña a cuestionarnos cuanto de nuestro comportamiento esta basado en la "fuerza de voluntad" y cuanto es en realidad un comportamiento inconsciente fundamentado en nuestros genes y nuestras experiencias de vida. Un libro recomendado para todo aquel que se atreva a cuestionar sus ideas sobre lo bueno, lo malo, y que tan responsables y conscientes somos en realidad de nuestros actos.

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KOLBUY
Very informative
Reviewed in India on September 8, 2020
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Language is simple for a layman to follow and enjoy. Few technical terms are used which are amply explained for the benefit of the readers. Came to know and understand numerous aspects about the brain which are missing from most other books in this genre.

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Robin Ottawa
Fantastic book for amateurs who want to understand the ins and outs of having a brain
Reviewed in Canada on October 14, 2018
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I think this is the perfect book for someone with some science background who wants to get a good overview of the situation and issues related to having a brain. (We all think we know what it's like but much is hidden in plain sight!) I sent it as a gift to my high-school teacher relative and they loved it.

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