The Hidden Brain: How Our Unconscious Minds Elect Presidents, Control Markets, Wage Wars, And Save Our Lives (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
The author, a Washington Post reporter, describes a wide variety of studies that helped me make sense of incomprehensible behaviors, e.g.: .why would no one in a crowd reach out to help a woman being beaten, .why did some Twin Tower workers ignore announcements to stay in their offices and others obey on 9/11, .why do I assume bias in others but not in myself?He translated neuroscience, psychological, and behavioral research into fast-paced stories for the layperson that were compulsively readable, helping me forget that I was reading them while on a treadmill. This book reveals what is being learned about unconscious minds--our hidden brains. Written at about the same time as David Eagleman's "Incognito," which covered similar terrain, "The Hidden Brain" explains the why's behind so many of our actions that we think we've taken rationally and consciously. "Au contraire" in most cases. However, by becoming more aware of our unconscious default proclivities, we can make them conscious and use that knowledge to arrive at more genuinely rational decisions. A powerful example is given in this paragraph from p.235 of the paperback edition I read: "Neither side (in the gun debates) pays much attention to the evidence, which shows that people who have guns in their homes are at greater risk of being shot and killed than people who do not have guns in their homes. The risk does not come from homicidal maniacs or muggers or rapists. The risk comes from people using their own guns to shoot themselves or their family members.... The combined risk of accidents, suicide and domestic violence dwarfs the risk of homicide at the hands of a stranger. Each year in the United States, nearly twice as many people kill themselves as are murdered."Vedanta explains in the final chapter from which the above excerpt is taken how our hidden brains ignore evidence, give us an unfounded sense of security in insecure situations, and influence our vitriolic debate about guns in the U.S. As a psychologist, I really appreciate how Shankar Vedantam wonderfully uses examples from everyday life to explain how our unconscious mind works. Although the topics are quite complex, his writing style makes the book an easy read. I have post-it notes hanging out of the book and highlighted several powerful passages. This is information that should be woven into our educational system beginning in high school. Perhaps we might have a better informed citizenry as a result.
What do You think about The Hidden Brain: How Our Unconscious Minds Elect Presidents, Control Markets, Wage Wars, And Save Our Lives (2010)?
Marks the end of my staff lollygagging when the fire alarm rings. That's about all I got from it...
—BRIANA
It's incredible - really brings to light a lot of our unconscious biases and why we do things.
—boxybg
