The Mind: Leading Scientists Explore the Brain, Memory, Personality, and Happiness

by John Brockman

Overview

"Theway Brockman interlaces essays about research on the frontiers of science withones on artistic vision, education, psychology and economics is sure to buzzany brain." —Chicago Sun-Times on This WillChange Everything

Markingthe debut of a hard-hitting new series from Edge.org and Harper Perennial,editor John Brockman delivers a cutting-edge master class covering everythingyou need to know about The Mind. With original contributions by theworld’s leading thinkers and scientists, including Steven Pinker, George Lakoff, Philip Zimbardo, V. S. Ramachandran, and others, The Mind offers aconsciousness-expanding primer on a fundamental topic. Unparalleled in scope,depth, insight and quality, Edge.org’s The Mind isnot to be missed.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062101563
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	08/16/2011
Series:	Best of Edge Series
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	NOOK Book
Pages:	288
File size:	763 KB

About the Author

The publisher of the online science salon Edge.org, John Brockman is the editor of Know This, This Idea Must Die, This Explains Everything, This Will Make You Smarter, and other volumes.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

1 Organs of Computation Steven Pinker 1

2 Phïlosophy in the Flesh George Lakoff 11

3 Parallel Memories: Putting Emotions Back into the Brain Joseph Ledoux 31

4 Sexual Selection and the Mind Geoffrey Miller 49

5 Rescuing Memory Steven Rose 63

6 How Is Personality Formed? Frank Sulloway 79

7 Mirror Neurons and Imitation Learning as the Driving Force Behind "the Great Leap Forward" in Human Evolution V. S. Ramachandran 101

8 A Self Worth Having Nicholas Humphrey 113

9 You Can't Be a Sweet Cucumber in a Vinegar Barrel Philip Zimbardo 129

10 The Neurology of Self-Awareness V. S. Ramachandran 147

11 Eudaemonia: The Good Life Martin Seligman 153

12 What Are Numbers, Really? A Cerebral Basis for Number Sense Stanislas Dehaene 169

13 The Assortative Mating Theory Simon Baron-Cohen 181

14 Toxo: The Parasite that Is Manipulating Human Behavior Robert Sapolsky 191

15 Amazing Babies Alison Gopnik 201

16 Signatures of Consciousness Stanislas Dehaene 217

17 How Can Educated People Continue to Be Radical Environmentalists? David Lykken 239

18 Moral Psychology and the Misunderstanding of Religion Jonathan Haidt 251

Editorial Reviews

If you want a quick introduction to some of the smartest and most interesting thinkers around—read this book.

Scientific American

This engaging collection comes from the online science salon Edge.org, where editor Brockman's (This Will Change Everything: Ideas That Will Shape the Future) 18 interviews with 16 scientists originally appeared. Interviewees include Steven Pinker, V.S. Ramachandran, Alison Gopnik, Philip Zimbardo, Frank Sulloway, and George Lakoff; their respective topics are computation, mirror neurons and self-awareness, infants, cruelty and evil, birth order and personality, and philosophy. The style is conversational, lively, and informal. Especially interesting are Gopnik's amazing babies, Lakoff's linguistics, Joseph LeDoux's discussion of emotion, Geoffrey Miller on sexual selection (including how it can affect our art and music choices), and Jonathan Haidt's conversation on morality. Darwin is frequently cited, Freud hardly ever. Interview dates range from 1997 to 2009, with only four from the last five years. The editor ignores the amount of time that has elapsed since the interviews took place, e.g., the decade-old contribution on mirror neurons asserts that the subject is "unreported." Missing from the book, among others, are Antonio Damasio, Judith Rich Harris, and Eric Kandel. VERDICT A lively and useful but somewhat dated introduction to diverse aspects of brain and behavior research, accessible to a general audience.—E. James Lieberman, George Washington Univ. Sch. of Medicine, Washington, DC

Library Journal

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