The Idiot Brain: A Neuroscientist Explains What Your Head is Really Up To - Softcover

Burnett, Dean

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1783350814 ISBN 13: 9781783350810

Publisher: Guardian Faber Publishing, 2016

Synopsis

Why do you lose arguments with people who know MUCH LESS than you?

Why can you recognise that woman, from that thing . . . but can't remember her name?

And why, after your last break-up, did you find yourself in the foetal position on the sofa for days, moving only to wipe the snot and tears haphazardly from your face?

Here's why: the idiot brain. For something supposedly so brilliant and evolutionarily advanced, the human brain is pretty messy, fallible and disorganised. For example, your memory is egotistical. No, really. Conspiracy theories and superstitions are the inevitable effects of a healthy brain. And alcohol can actually improve your memory.**

In The Idiot Brain, neuroscientist Dean Burnett tours our mysterious and mischievous grey (and white) matter. Along the way he explains the human brain's imperfections in all their glory and how these influence everything we say, do and experience. Expertly researched and entertainingly written, this book is for anyone who has wondered why their brain appears to be sabotaging their life, and what on earth it is really up to.

**Editor's note: please read the book before testing this conclusion.

About this title

Review:

Compelling and wise and rational. You know you can trust him... a great read. (Jon Ronson)

This is a wonderful introduction to neuroscience, and deserves to be widely read. (Leyla Sanai Independent)

An entertaining romp through the science of our mental mental processes. Full of fascinating insight into the brain and the origins of our crazy behaviour. (Gaia Vince, author of Adventures in the Anthropocene)

The Idiot Brain is a helpful and often hilarious antidote to current brain hype. Accessible and entertaining, this book explains why your ever-helpful brain can rewrite your history, make you overlook a gorilla or lose an argument you should win. (Gina Rippon, Chair of Cognitive NeuroImaging, Aston University)

Book Description:

From the hugely popular Guardian science blogger, a surprising, funny and mind-bending examination of how and why the brain sabotages our behaviour.

About this edition

• Publisher: Guardian Faber Publishing
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1783350814
• ISBN 13: 9781783350810
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336