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A Mind of Its Own: How Your Brain Distorts and Deceives Paperback – 4 Jan 2007

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Cordelia Fine (Author)
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Cordelia Fine (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars 34 customer reviews
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Product details

  • Paperback: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Icon Books Ltd (4 Jan. 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1840467983
  • ISBN-13: 978-1840467987
  • Product Dimensions: 12.8 x 1.7 x 19.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 221,107 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Review

"'Fine sets out to demonstrate that the human brain is vainglorious and stubborn. She succeeds brilliantly.' Mail on Sunday 'In breezy demotic, Fine offers an entertaining tour of current thinking' Telegraph 'This is one of the most interesting and amusing accounts of how we think we think - I think.' Alexander McCall Smith 'A fascinating, funny, disconcerting and lucid book... by the end you'll realise that your brain can (and does) run rings around you.' Helen Dunmore 'Consistently well-written and meticulously researched' Alain de Botton The Sunday Times 'Fine, a cognitive neuroscientist with a sharp sense of humour and an intelligent sense of reality, slaps an Asbo on the hundred billion grey cells that - literally - have shifty, ruthless, self-serving minds of their own.' The Times 'Clear, accessible writing makes her a science writer to watch' Metro 'Fine wears her learning lightly, blending facts with humorous observations. The result is a fascinating insight into how our minds work.' Psychologies 'A witty survey of psychology experiments demonstrating the depths of our suggestibility, the irrationality of our reasoning and the limits of free will.' Focus"

About the Author

Cordelia Fine received a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience from University College London. She is now a Research Fellow at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at Melbourne University.

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Inside This Book

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsExcellent, very readable and thought-provoking
By Stuart Bruce TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on 8 Sept. 2007
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
This is an excellent book. Cordelia Fine gathers together the results of a wide variety of psychology experiments and uses them to gather together a convincing explanation of how our subconsciouses are the real masters of our mind, no matter what we think.

The book starts off a little too 'chatty' but as well as more jokey considerations such as the problems many of us have trying to tell our brains to switch off when our bodies want to go to sleep, there is some serious cause for thought here- such as the research about how our own mood has been proven to affect which moods we perceive on other people's faces, and then particularly in the chapter "The Bigoted Brain" that gives examples of how subtly influenced and 'primed' we may be by images we see of the opposite sex, or people of other skin colours to our own. It is a thought-provoking book, you should read it and feel a little bit ashamed for having a brain at all...

The book is extremely readable, thanks to a very balanced writing style and also by the way in which the more dry scientific information is all relegated into the Notes And References section at the back of the book- meaning that you can read the main text without being troubled by too many obscure names of scientists or processes, or you can read every reference to get a more information-heavy read-through.

Highly recommended.
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4.0 out of 5 starsMaking it Up As We Go
By William Holmes on 29 Oct. 2006
Format: Hardcover
Cordelia Fine's "A Mind of its Own" reminds me a lot of Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink"--it is filled with surprising and counterintuitive observations about how the brain really works. Fine's thesis is that our brains do a fine job of deluding us--making us think that we are smart, attractive, above average, considerate, unbiased and blissfully free of the shortcomings and moral defects that plague other people. It's a good thing, too--as Fine points out in one striking paragraph, "there is a category of people who get unusually close to the truth about themselves and the world. . . . They are the clinically depressed." Ignorance really is bliss!

With a witty style, Fine reviews the psychological experiments that show that our moods and judgments can be dramatically influenced by external factors like beautiful weather or by what someone just said or did to us. Our brains make up lots of excuses after the fact to explain what we did and why, or to shift blame to others, all in an effort to make it seem that we are good people who are in control of our lives. We end up being bigoted, pigheaded, immoral and emotional, even when we think we are none of those things. On the whole, it's not a very flattering picture, although Fine does point to some encouraging studies suggesting that some of the brain's worst excesses (e.g., bigotry) can be curbed by careful attention to our thoughts--of course, in other contexts, focused thought can make things worse.

This book is full of lots of "aha!" moments, but it's not a self-help guide. The message sometimes seems to be "you're not really in conrol here--try to enjoy the ride!"

That said, I draw one very important conclusion from this entertaining book: avoid spending time with scientists who are conducting psychology experiments.Read more ›
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4.0 out of 5 starsA mind of its own
By Nicky Smith on 10 Feb. 2006
Format: Hardcover
Suitable for the general reader rather than the expert (though it does provide a useful list of references), this is a light and entertaining account of findings from social psychological research on the topic of self-deception. We are told in largely non-technical language how numerous cleverly designed experiments have thrown light on the mental biases and distortions that beset our personal and social beliefs - how "vanity shields us from unpalatable truths about ourselves", how "irrationality clouds our judgment", how "emotions add a gloss of their own, colouring and confusing our opinions", and so forth. Although we can not altogether escape from these "deceptions of our wayward brains", the author concludes that knowledge of their mode of operation will help us guard against them, as will constant efforts to check the evidence on which our views are based.
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4.0 out of 5 starsA fun and informative read
By pauljam on 2 Aug. 2006
Format: Hardcover
This is a very good book - it is detailed in its use of the research literature, and the themes for each chapter are well-structured, and informative for everyone. I think that it is especially apt for managers of people. Great list of references at the back as well, for those who want to read the detail of the book's summaries. Thoroughly recommended - buy it and read it on the train.
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5.0 out of 5 starsAmusing and thought provoking book.
By C. J. R. Thompson on 21 Jun. 2007
Format: Paperback
This is an awesome book. It details how the brain (unconsciously) deceives itself and how susceptible we are to factors we are just unaware of. Amusingly written and the information it presents is just plain scary. If you thought you had an unbiased view of the world, THINK AGAIN! I cannot recommend it highly enough.
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5.0 out of 5 starsFunny and illuminating
By A. Goff on 20 Nov. 2006
Format: Hardcover
This is an excellent book. It brings together a wealth of academic research into the way our brains work and, in particular, how we can't rely on them, and I found this fascinating and in the case of some chapters genuinely helpful and illuminating. But what sets the book apart is the fact that this material is presented so clearly and readably. And it's often very funny!

This book was strongly recommended to me by a friend, who obviously thought I needed to read it, and I'm very glad I have now read it. I in turn recommended it to a friend who is a consultant psychiatrist, and in fact he'd already read it and thought it was very good too. So it works for a top brain-doctor and for a complete layman like me. Exceptional.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsloved it.

Read from cover to cover over two days, loved it.

Published 1 month ago by Phil Sharpe
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat read , excellently written.

Excellent read, although written with humour, a lot of interesting facts about the brain.

Published 3 months ago by Lizzie M
5.0 out of 5 starsFascinating insights excellently told

Love love love this book, Cordelia explains the different ways our brain deceives us with amusing and sometimes disturbing results from social experiments. Read more

Published 4 months ago by Sdub
5.0 out of 5 starsNice examples of how we behave

Nice examples of how we behave. Teaches humility to those (to me ;) thinking I am the one who's different thus falling harder into certain patterns.
So interesting...

Published 6 months ago by Titi
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

What a lot to learn!

Published 10 months ago by David T-C
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Who do you think you are? Well, this book explains who you really are. Superb.

Published 10 months ago by Raymond
3.0 out of 5 starsThree Stars

Interesting topic, was something to dip in and out of

Published 13 months ago by G. Chung
5.0 out of 5 starsAbsolutely fascinating and an easy read. It really makes one think of...

Absolutely fascinating and an easy read. It really makes one think of the function and marvel of the brain. Read more

Published 14 months ago by Kathy
4.0 out of 5 starsReally easy read book

Really easy read book, and keeps you wanting to read more.

Explains a lot in this book, and I found myself thinking back to times when I've noticed someone do something,... Read more

Published 15 months ago by Young- lecky
4.0 out of 5 starsExcellent, Enlightening and Entertaining

There's something of a catch-22 going on here, as if I say this book is rubbish and wrong, I am proving it right! Read more

Published 17 months ago by YeahYeahNoh

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