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Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes [Hardcover]

Maria Konnikova (Author)

4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (24 customer reviews)

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Book Description

Publication Date: 17 Jan 2013

What is it that separates Sherlock Holmes from his long-suffering friend and side-kick Dr John Watson? What makes Holmes such a superior detective, able to piece together clues and solve problems that seem elementary to Watson only in hindsight? And can we - most of us Watsons ourselves - ever harness a bit of Holmes's extraordinary powers of mind, not to solve crimes, but simply to improve our lives at work and home?

The answer is yes, and in Mastermind, psychologist Maria Konnikova shows us how. Using plots and passages from the wonderfully entertaining Holmes stories, she illuminates how Arthur Conan Doyle's detective embodies an ever-present mindfulness, and how this active mental disposition proves foundational to his success. Beginning with Holmes's concept of the 'brain attic' - a metaphor for the information we choose to store in the mind and how we organise our knowledge, Konnikova unpacks the mental strategies that lead to clearer thinking and deeper insights. Moving through principles of logic and deduction, creativity and imagination, Mastermind puts 21st century neuroscience and psychology in service of understanding Holmes's methods. With some self-awareness and a little practice, we can all employ these methods to develop better strategies, solve difficult problems and enhance our creative powers.

Writing for Holmes fans and casual readers alike, Konnikova has translated what so many of us love about the great detective into a remarkable guide to upgrading the mind.

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Writing for Holmes fans and casual readers alike, Konnikova has translated what so many of us love about the great detective into a remarkable guide to upgrading the mind.

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Product details

Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Canongate Books; Main edition (17 Jan 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0857867245
ISBN-13: 978-0857867247
Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.6 x 3.2 cm

Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (24 customer reviews)

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 222,984 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Review

Fascinating...A delightful tour of the science of memory, creativity and reasoning (Steven Pinker)

An entertaining blend of Holmesiana and modern-day neuroscience (New York Times)

Here is a giant helping of Daniel Kahnemann, a tincture of Atul Gawande, a whiff of Nassim Taleb, a dollop of Jonah Lehrer...and the whole assemblage served, Heston Blumenthal-style, in a deerstalker hat (Sam Leith Guardian)

Devotees of Arthur Conan Doyle's conundrum-cracker will be thrilled by this portmanteau of strategies for sharpening cognitive ability (Nature)

Serves the non-Holmes aficionado as a route into the stories without any spoilers. And for those of us who have enjoyed the intellectual might of the great detective before, it gives us a fresh insight into Conan Doyle's deductive masterpieces (We Love This Book)

Ingenious... thoughtful... covers a wide variety of material clearly and organizes it well (Wall Street Journal)

Steven Pinker meets Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in this entertaining, insightful look at how the fictional London crime-solver used sophisticated mental strategies to solve complex problems of logic and deduction...This practical, enjoyable book, packed with modern science and real-life examples, shows you how to get your inner Holmes on and is worth at least a few hours of pipe-smoking reflection in a comfortable leather chair

(Boston Globe)

Based on modern neuroscience and psychology, the book explores Holmes's aptitude for mindfulness, logical thinking and observation... (Washington Post)

With wit and real flair, Konnikova suggests that by properly harnessing the great detective's [Sherlock Holmes] methods we can significantly improve our mental ability... Konnikova offers a way to turbo-charge our mental faculties, enhancing creative thinking and developing our powers of logic (Good Book Guide)

A treatise on how the Watsons of the world can smarten up...culled from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original works and cutting-edge psych research (New York Post)

Weaving together the fictional detective's cases and modern day neuroscience... important for solving cases or simply staying sharp as we age (Psychology Today)

The book is part literary analysis and part self-help guide, teaching readers how to sharpen the ways they observe the world, store and retrieve memories, and make decisions (Scientific American)

Ms Konnikova has that rare ability to make the complex easily understandable. And enjoyable, too. The reader is enlightened, and also entertained (Business Times)

An entertaining and perhaps surprisingly practical guide to being more observant. Like Holmes, she eschews emotional responses for intellectual ones (Independent)

Book Description

An original and entertaining look at how we can use our brains to their full potential

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth a read - every single page. 6 Nov 2013

By Teodora Todorova

Format:Hardcover

This book is a fine piece of literature, although it feels more like a research paper. I liked that it introduced me to a few new concepts and it deals with them in good detail. For example, the idea of practicing something continuously until it turns into a habit and you can no longer make a mistake. Or the concept of the brain attic and how we need to make sure we are storing exactly what we need. It's a good point that if we can't find the information we need quickly, we might as well don't have it at all. It's really interesting researching into the Florida effect and finding out that there are so many of these effects that influence us on a deep psychological level. Where I live I have always felt under the influence of weather and daylight and the Florida effect deals exactly with that. So now when I feel extra lazy or extra hardworking I sort of know what it is based on. And I can choose not to give in to the laziness, which is great. I was really intrigued by the idea that just by mere observing we can see more than on average and I tried to do that - tell what somebody does by the way he dresses and acts and got it right three times. It's quite a fun game too. But also shows you that we are far too judgmental and think we know more than we do. One of the best concepts for me was how our brain learns to see reward. I think it's fascinating to be able to train your brain to feel motivated and rewarded by imagining the end goal. So the little steps towards the goal may feel slightly devoid of reward and therefore resulting in very low dopamine levels, but the brain can see past that. Read more ›

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18 of 21 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Brief Summary and Review 22 Jan 2013

By A. D. Thibeault

Format:Hardcover

*A full executive summary of this book is available at newbooksinbrief dot com.

The main argument: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's character Sherlock Holmes is as popular today as when he was created back in the late 19th century. This comes as no surprise, of course, since there is just something about Holmes' peculiar qualities--his keen observation, clever imagination, and incisive reasoning capabilities--that is both awe-inspiring and inspirational. We admire Holmes for cutting through the errors of thought that are so common to us in our daily lives (and that are reflected in Holmes' sidekick, Watson). And yet we recognize that there is nothing in Holmes' thought that is entirely out of reach for us. Indeed, his qualities are not so much superhuman as human plus: human qualities taken to their extreme. Still, human qualities taken to their extreme are intimidating enough, and we may find ourselves doubting whether we could ever really think like Sherlock--even if we put our minds to it. But for cognitive psychologist Anna Konnikova, we should think again.

Holmes' prowess, Konnikova argues, rests no so much in his mental powers as in his mental approach. Specifically, Holmes has succeeded in making his thought methodical and systematic--essentially bringing the scientific method and scientific thinking to his detective work. This is an approach to thinking which, Konnikova argues, we can all practice. More importantly, it is an approach to thinking that can extend well beyond sleuthing. Indeed, it is a general approach that can help us get at the truth in virtually any arena, as well as help us solve virtually any problem. It is simply a matter of bringing a little science to the art of thought--and it is this very thing that Konnikova aims to help us achieve in her new book 'Mastermind: How to Think like Sherlock Holmes'.

Konnikova breaks down Holmes' method into 4 parts: 1. Background knowledge; 2. Observation; 3. Imagination; and 4. Deduction. To begin with, Holmes keeps an extensive and well-organized knowledge base to help him solve new cases. What's more, he is vigilant in ensuring that he is ever assimilating new and important information that could help him in the future. Second, Holmes uses careful, mindful, and unbiased observation to glean what is important about the various characters and circumstances of each case. Next, Holmes uses the evidence that he has gathered--in conjunction with his far-reaching (though disciplined) imagination--to formulate multiple scenarios that could explain the mystery. Finally, Holmes uses his acute powers of reasoning to cut away the scenarios that just don't hold up, until ultimately there is but one scenario left: the only one that is possible, however improbable.

While this approach seems straightforward enough, it is easier said than done. Indeed, our minds can and often do go wrong at any one of the steps. Konnikova construes it like this: our minds have two distinct modes of thought. The first of these modes operates quickly and automatically. It is our default mode, in that it is the one that we rely on as a matter of course. While it may be quick and effortless, it is also very error-prone. Our second mode of thought is slower and more deliberate. It has the potential to be far more accurate than our default mode, but it takes effort, and this is effort that we often aren't willing to expend. Still, Konnikova contends that activating the second mode is worth the effort. What's more, the more we employ this mode of thought, the more habitual and the less effortful it becomes. (These modes of thought correspond to System 1, and System 2 in Daniel Kahneman's 'Thinking, Fast and Slow', though Konnikova refers to them here as our Watsonian and Holmesian systems).

At each step of Holmes' method, Konnikova points out the errors of thought that our Watsonian system is wont to draw us into (as exemplified by a series of psychological experiments). In addition, she points out numerous tricks and pointers that can help us use our Holmesian system to best advantage in order to overcome these errors (exemplified by still other psychological experiments). In the end, it is really a matter of being ever mindful and careful in our thinking, and this is something that we could all certainly do more of.

Readers of Kahneman's 'Thinking, Fast and Slow' will no doubt recognize many of the experiments talked about here. However, unlike in Kahneman's book, Konnikova makes much more of an effort to explain how we can overcome the errors of our Watsonian system (system 1). I found these efforts to be worthwhile for the most part (4 stars). Also, I found Konnikova's style easy enough to follow; however, I would not say that I was a huge fan of it: it comes across as patronizing at times, and she does engage in a fair bit of repetition. Still a good and worthwhile read. A full executive summary of this book is available at newbooksinbrief dot com; a podcast discussion of the book will be available soon. Read more ›

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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good topic but dodgy theorising 15 Dec 2013

By Matthew Leitch VINE VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

I'm a big fan of the Sherlock Holmes stories and I agree that the patterns of thinking described and illustrated in the stories are so realistic that Conan Doyle must have had real life people in mind as his inspiration. Consequently, I was interested in Maria's ideas on how Sherlock's thinking works.

However, I have to report that I didn't think she had captured the truth. The writing is rather long winded and the theory, based largely on the analogy that memory is like an attic, was taken out of its original context and not applied accurately. There were some credulous references to psychology studies now known to be a bit dodgy (e.g. not replicated despite initial excitement),

In summary, I loved the idea for the book but not the psychological theorising. If the attic analogy had not bee relied on so heavily the book might have worked better.

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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Homage to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Writing about Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson 26 Feb 2013

By Donald Mitchell HALL OF FAME TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE VOICE

Format:Hardcover

"My son, be wise, and make my heart glad," -- Proverbs 27:11 (NKJV)

Mastermind doesn't quite fit into any category that I know. It's not a book about science. If it were, there would be a lot more science in it. It's not a self-help book. If it were, there would be a great many tools to apply along with exercises. It's not a pop culture book. If it were, the references would be to some character or person more contemporary than Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.

To me, the book came closest to being that most wonderful of all books, a sincere homage designed to bring new reasons to appreciate a writer and his creations. Maria Konnikova uses scientific research and simple observations about psychology to validate the approaches used by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in writing the Holmes books and stories. Reading Mastermind made me want to re-read the whole series again. Fortunately, I have a complete set in my library.

So if you can't get enough of Sherlock Holmes and his methods, Mastermind will be a source of new reasons to enjoy those fictional outings. If, instead, you want to learn about how to make better decisions, you'll find better books elsewhere.

In recent years I've found that books about Sherlock Holmes and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle tend to be on the debunking side. I enjoyed reading a book like this one that might have been written by a zealous defense attorney with good communication skills.

Have fun!

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3.0 out of 5 stars Overall OK but tedious to read

Agree with much of what has been written by other reviewers. Good points here and there but very lengthy and laboured at times. Limited evidence to back up what is being claimed.

Published 6 days ago by S. Brown