Brain Bugs: How the Brain's Flaws Shape Our Lives

From Barnes & Noble

Few people know as much about the miracles of the human brain as the author of this book. As a professor at UCLA's Departments of Neurobiology and Psychology and the Brain Research Institute, Dr. Dean Buonomano studies the intricacies our cognitive functions as his fulltime occupation. That said, he knows more than most that thanks to the quirks of evolution, our brains have "bugs" analogous to software flaws that blur our memories, skew our judgment, and give us a false sense of certainty. Brain Bugs is much more than a good excuse; it's a fascinating in-depth look at one thing that makes everything else approachable. Editor's recommendation.

Sam Harris

Joseph LeDoux

Christopher Chabris

Library Journal

Kirkus Reviews

Putting the analogy of the computer to good use, Buonomano (Neurobiology and Psychology/UCLA) makes the case that "our lives are governed by brain bugs" of which we are unaware, although unfortunately there are no "patches, updates or upgrades" to easily remedy the situation.

While digital computers surpass the human brain when it comes to processing information and performing numerical calculations, our brains operate by pattern recognition, which simultaneously accounts for their strengths and their weaknesses. A trivial example is the use of CAPTCHA authentication software, which bars web robots from spamming websites. The author compares the "approximately 90 billion neurons linked by 100 trillion synapses in the human brain" to the "approximately 20 billion Web pages connected by a trillion links." The key, however, is not the brain's numerical advantage but our ability to extract meaning from the context in which words appear—e.g., the difference between the household pet and the computer mouse. Human learning occurs by association as new synapses are weakened, strengthened or newly formed between neurons that fire simultaneously. This leave us vulnerable to marketers, as was the case when ads showcased celebrities smoking cigarettes. Similarly, the way a question is framed can bias the response, and a lie repeated often enough is fixed in our memory. Buonomano suggests that while we associate cause and effect for things that occur within seconds, over longer periods are judgment becomes weaker. For example, we often fail to save enough for retirement, and the lure of instant gratification makes us vulnerable to manipulation in our purchases and our political choices.

Intriguing take on behavioral economics, marketing and human foibles.