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Seven And A Half Lessons About The Brain
From the author of How Emotions Are Made , a captivating collection of short essays about your brain,in the tradition of Astrophysics for People in a Hurry and Seven Brief Lessons on Physics .
Have you ever wondered why you have a brain? Let renowned neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett demystify that big gray blob between your ears. In seven short essays (plus a bite-sized story about how brains evolved), this slim, entertaining, and accessible collection reveals mind-expanding lessons from the front lines of neuroscience research. You'll learn where brains came from, how they're structured (and why it matters), and how yours works in tandem with other brains to create everything you experience. Along the way, you'll also learn to dismiss popular myths such as the idea of a "lizard brain" and the alleged battle between thoughts and emotions, or even between nature and nurture, to determine your behavior.
Sure to intrigue casual readers and scientific veterans alike, Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain is full of surprises, humor, and important implications for human nature--a gift of a book that you will want to savor again and again.
Have you ever wondered why you have a brain? Let renowned neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett demystify that big gray blob between your ears. In seven short essays (plus a bite-sized story about how brains evolved), this slim, entertaining, and accessible collection reveals mind-expanding lessons from the front lines of neuroscience research. You'll learn where brains came from, how they're structured (and why it matters), and how yours works in tandem with other brains to create everything you experience. Along the way, you'll also learn to dismiss popular myths such as the idea of a "lizard brain" and the alleged battle between thoughts and emotions, or even between nature and nurture, to determine your behavior.
Sure to intrigue casual readers and scientific veterans alike, Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain is full of surprises, humor, and important implications for human nature--a gift of a book that you will want to savor again and again.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2020
1,635 people are currently reading
16.7k people want to read
About the author
Lisa Feldman Barrett
32books727followersNeuroscientist, psychologist, and author of popular science books, including "How Emotions are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain" and "Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 872 reviews
January 23, 2022
The book had some interesting things to say, but nothing that I hadn't read particularly unique, one passage did intrigue me though because it is so true. It is a collective agreement on how the world works, with disagreements and totally other visions too. But even those of us who come from societies that do not see the world as we do, say Amazonian tribes, or pre-colonization Maoris, can quite easily imagine this world and as with the Maoris, adapt to it and still see the world in their way. It is a long passage full of truisms, but I don't want to edit it as it reads rather well
Our Brains Can Create Reality3.5 stars, but it's nice writing gets it upgraded to a 4 (just), although truth be told, I did skim a bit.
MOST OF YOUR LIFE takes place in a made-up world. You live in a city or town whose name and whose borders were made up by people. Your street address is spelled with letters and other symbols that were also made up by people. Every word in every book, including this one, uses those made-up symbols. You can acquire books and other goods with something called “money,� which is represented by pieces of paper, metal, and plastic and is also completely made up. Sometimes money is invisible, flowing along cables between computer servers or traveling through the air as electromagnetic waves over a Wi-Fi network. You can even trade invisible money for invisible things, like the right to board an airplane early or the privilege of having another human serve you.
You actively and willingly participate in this made-up world every day. It is real to you. It’s as real as your own name, which, by the way, was also made up by people.
We all live in a world of social reality that exists only inside our human brains. Nothing in physics or chemistry determines that you’re leaving the United States and entering Canada, or that an expanse of water has certain fishing rights, or that a specific arc of the Earth’s orbit around the sun is called January. These things are real to us anyway. Socially real.
The Earth itself, with its rocks and trees and deserts and oceans, is physical reality. Social reality means that we impose new functions on physical things, collectively. We agree, for example, that a particular chunk of Earth is a “country,� and we agree that a particular human is its “leader,� like a president or queen.
August 2, 2023
3.5
Majoritatea nu putem citi articole sau tratate științifice cu adevărat, dar avem atât de multe curiozități și vrem să înțelegem măcar o parte dintre descoperirile știintelor. Așa că eu găsesc foarte utile cărțile de popularizare, când sunt realizate responsabil și țin seama de informații academice consistente, pe care le simplifică pentru cititorul profan, dar fără a deveni un fast food toxic și ușor de consumat de oricine, de dragul popularității. E un echilibru foarte fragil și cred ca această carte îl reușește.
Anexa numită "Știința din spatele științei" mi-a demonstrat cât de greu mi-ar fi fost sa citesc o lucrare atât de tehnică cap-coadă. Dar ar fi fost mai utilă ca note de dubsol, cred.
Am aflat multe lucruri noi pentru mine și unele m-au marcat (cum ar fi informația că embrionul începe să formeze neuroni la scurt timp dupa concepție: nu mi-a schimbat opțiunea pro-choice, dar m-a făcut să îi dau mult mai multă greutate, responsabilitate). A demontat niște mituri, precum cel despre creierul triun (nu, nu avem trei creieri, cel "reptilian" primitiv, sistemul limbic specializat pe emoții și ultimul dezvoltat și cel mai "deștept", neocortexul, ba chiar avem încă multe gene comune cu alte specii, de exemplu rozătoare, chiar în neocortex; creierul nostru s-a adaptat, pur și simplu, la alt mediu și s-a reorganizat pentru a supraviețui în acesta). Iar emisfera stângă logică și cea dreaptă creativă sunt la fel de valide știintific ca testele de personalitate din reviste. Adică deloc. Sunt metafore, respectiv simplificări prin categorizare. La fel, neuronii nu sunt specializați, fiecare poate îndeplini mai multe funcții: de exemplu, dacă legi pe cineva la ochi timp de câteva zile și începi sa îl înveți limbajul Braille, neuronii cu rol în transmiterea informațiilor despre văz încep sa se specializeze pe simțul atingerii.
Cu "povestirea" în limbaj generalist a unor astfel de studii, LFB face inteligibile noțiuni foarte tehnice. Idei foarte complexe sunt explicate simplu - de exemplu, cele două procese fundamentale prin care se dezvoltă rețeaua neuronală care este, de fapt, creierul nostru, la nou-nascuți: procesul de întărire (a dendritelor și axonului din componența neuronului pe legăturile cel mai des folosite, adica cel mai des apelate de îngrijitorul bebelușului sau de bebeluș însuși, prin adaptare la mediu) și cel de simplificare (legăturile nefolosite mor în circa doua zile și aici este citat exemplul tragic al copiilor neglijați de îngrijitori din orfelinatele ceaușiste și problemele neurologice dezvoltate de ei).
Cam așa sună lecțiile din volum și cred că sunt foarte utile (+ prezentate incitant) oricărui cititor obișnuit, fără background științific. Mi-a plăcut și că autoarea a fost onestă în legătură cu procesul de simplificare pe care a trebuit să îl facă. Apropo de onestitate, LFB reușește sa explice credibil și argumentat, în mai puțin de o pagină, legătura dintre stresul cronic și afecțiunile fizice, fără a exagera rolul stresului și fără a nega importanța factorului genetic, cum face Gabor Mate pe câteva sute de pagini. Tocmai pentru că simplificările ei nu vizează reducerea la alb și negru, ci doar traducerea unor noțiuni complexe și a unor studii consistente, pe care ea chiar pare sa le le stăpânească.
Majoritatea nu putem citi articole sau tratate științifice cu adevărat, dar avem atât de multe curiozități și vrem să înțelegem măcar o parte dintre descoperirile știintelor. Așa că eu găsesc foarte utile cărțile de popularizare, când sunt realizate responsabil și țin seama de informații academice consistente, pe care le simplifică pentru cititorul profan, dar fără a deveni un fast food toxic și ușor de consumat de oricine, de dragul popularității. E un echilibru foarte fragil și cred ca această carte îl reușește.
Anexa numită "Știința din spatele științei" mi-a demonstrat cât de greu mi-ar fi fost sa citesc o lucrare atât de tehnică cap-coadă. Dar ar fi fost mai utilă ca note de dubsol, cred.
Am aflat multe lucruri noi pentru mine și unele m-au marcat (cum ar fi informația că embrionul începe să formeze neuroni la scurt timp dupa concepție: nu mi-a schimbat opțiunea pro-choice, dar m-a făcut să îi dau mult mai multă greutate, responsabilitate). A demontat niște mituri, precum cel despre creierul triun (nu, nu avem trei creieri, cel "reptilian" primitiv, sistemul limbic specializat pe emoții și ultimul dezvoltat și cel mai "deștept", neocortexul, ba chiar avem încă multe gene comune cu alte specii, de exemplu rozătoare, chiar în neocortex; creierul nostru s-a adaptat, pur și simplu, la alt mediu și s-a reorganizat pentru a supraviețui în acesta). Iar emisfera stângă logică și cea dreaptă creativă sunt la fel de valide știintific ca testele de personalitate din reviste. Adică deloc. Sunt metafore, respectiv simplificări prin categorizare. La fel, neuronii nu sunt specializați, fiecare poate îndeplini mai multe funcții: de exemplu, dacă legi pe cineva la ochi timp de câteva zile și începi sa îl înveți limbajul Braille, neuronii cu rol în transmiterea informațiilor despre văz încep sa se specializeze pe simțul atingerii.
Cu "povestirea" în limbaj generalist a unor astfel de studii, LFB face inteligibile noțiuni foarte tehnice. Idei foarte complexe sunt explicate simplu - de exemplu, cele două procese fundamentale prin care se dezvoltă rețeaua neuronală care este, de fapt, creierul nostru, la nou-nascuți: procesul de întărire (a dendritelor și axonului din componența neuronului pe legăturile cel mai des folosite, adica cel mai des apelate de îngrijitorul bebelușului sau de bebeluș însuși, prin adaptare la mediu) și cel de simplificare (legăturile nefolosite mor în circa doua zile și aici este citat exemplul tragic al copiilor neglijați de îngrijitori din orfelinatele ceaușiste și problemele neurologice dezvoltate de ei).
Cam așa sună lecțiile din volum și cred că sunt foarte utile (+ prezentate incitant) oricărui cititor obișnuit, fără background științific. Mi-a plăcut și că autoarea a fost onestă în legătură cu procesul de simplificare pe care a trebuit să îl facă. Apropo de onestitate, LFB reușește sa explice credibil și argumentat, în mai puțin de o pagină, legătura dintre stresul cronic și afecțiunile fizice, fără a exagera rolul stresului și fără a nega importanța factorului genetic, cum face Gabor Mate pe câteva sute de pagini. Tocmai pentru că simplificările ei nu vizează reducerea la alb și negru, ci doar traducerea unor noțiuni complexe și a unor studii consistente, pe care ea chiar pare sa le le stăpânească.
July 6, 2020
3 STARS ★★★✩�
� Overall.
Disclaimer: I really want to be blown away by science books. I don't expect to be enlightened to the point of ascension, I just thoroughly enjoy having fun facts to randomly mention when I'm socialising. This book was not quite what I was looking for but still good enough for a couple of hours of scientific input.
Lisa mainly drew my attention to me how absolutely "pathetic" human infants are. While other species can walk within minutes of their birth and have fully developed brains, we cannot even control our own limbs. Even fully grown we are less capable of certain tasks than even simple bacteria.
I also learned that all creatures share the same basic construction plan for our brain but each with different components and individual proportions.
� The structure is as follows.
THE HALF LESSON - Your Brain Is Not for Thinking
LESSON NO 1 - You Have One Brain (Not Three)
LESSON NO 2 - Your Brain Is a Network
LESSON NO 3 - Little Brains Wire Themselves to Their World
LESSON NO 4 - Your Brain Predicts (Almost) Everything You Do
LESSON NO 5 - Your Brain Secretly Works With Other Brains
LESSON NO 6 - Brains Make More than One Kind of Mind
LESSON NO 7 - Our Brains Can Create Reality
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Appendix: The Science Behind the Science
Index
Author's Note
_____________________
3 STARS. Decent read that I have neither strongly positive nor negative feelings about. Some thinks irked me and thus it does not qualify as exceptional.
_____________________
Many thanks to the author Lisa Feldman Barrett, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley for providing me with this eArc in exchange for an honest review.
This book is for you if� you’re not the kind of science reader that wants his texts to be overly sensational. You will still notice that the author tries to excite her readers with some magnificent facts.
� Overall.
Disclaimer: I really want to be blown away by science books. I don't expect to be enlightened to the point of ascension, I just thoroughly enjoy having fun facts to randomly mention when I'm socialising. This book was not quite what I was looking for but still good enough for a couple of hours of scientific input.
Lisa mainly drew my attention to me how absolutely "pathetic" human infants are. While other species can walk within minutes of their birth and have fully developed brains, we cannot even control our own limbs. Even fully grown we are less capable of certain tasks than even simple bacteria.
I also learned that all creatures share the same basic construction plan for our brain but each with different components and individual proportions.
� The structure is as follows.
THE HALF LESSON - Your Brain Is Not for Thinking
LESSON NO 1 - You Have One Brain (Not Three)
LESSON NO 2 - Your Brain Is a Network
LESSON NO 3 - Little Brains Wire Themselves to Their World
LESSON NO 4 - Your Brain Predicts (Almost) Everything You Do
LESSON NO 5 - Your Brain Secretly Works With Other Brains
LESSON NO 6 - Brains Make More than One Kind of Mind
LESSON NO 7 - Our Brains Can Create Reality
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Appendix: The Science Behind the Science
Index
Author's Note
_____________________
3 STARS. Decent read that I have neither strongly positive nor negative feelings about. Some thinks irked me and thus it does not qualify as exceptional.
_____________________
Many thanks to the author Lisa Feldman Barrett, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley for providing me with this eArc in exchange for an honest review.
April 30, 2025
In 196os in Romania communists forbade contraception in order to make population grow faster. Because of the number of the children, many of them ended up in orphanages. The babies had only a little care. Nurses were coming to them to give them food, to help them with basic needs. The children weren't exposed to a warm and constant care. They didn't love, nobody love them. As a result their brains were smaller and they were emotionally different. They struggled with learning. Poverty makes the same problems. The prevention is cheaper than fighting with such results decades later.
When you are thirsty and you drink a glass of water, you immediately feel that thirst is gone. How is this possible given that water needs 20 minutes to reach your blood stream? It's because your brain has ability to predict. When your brain feels water inside your body, it knows everything will be all-right.
This is a short book and it's rather for neophytes. The writer fights a few myths and there are some interesting tidbits.
When you are thirsty and you drink a glass of water, you immediately feel that thirst is gone. How is this possible given that water needs 20 minutes to reach your blood stream? It's because your brain has ability to predict. When your brain feels water inside your body, it knows everything will be all-right.
This is a short book and it's rather for neophytes. The writer fights a few myths and there are some interesting tidbits.
November 29, 2020
This little gem rekindled my interest in non-fiction and was a pleasant science "snack" to finish the year (also one of the few times I read a book that was just published, as it was randomly picked up by my boyfriend in a bookstore).
Barrett explains some basic concepts about our brain and how it is responsible for human behavior in a very humorous tone, through a prose that is not only pleasant but also very easy to read.
That being said, this book feels sometimes too easy, because it is clearly aimed at layman confronted with the subject for the first time, which resulted, in my opinion, in too many repetitions of the same idea through different analogies, and in an overall "baby tone" that irritated me occasionally.
That plus the system chosen for the end notes (it can't be that hard or distracting for people to have footnote numbers in the text itself, can it) justifies my rating. But it does not stop me from recommending this book, especially since the author, a scientist, is not afraid of dabbling in political subjects directly related to the subject at hand, which I thought was commendable.
The 7 lessons go as follows, for anyone interested:
0) Half lesson, as the author called it: Your brain is not for thinking: Your brain main function is survival.
1) You have one brain (not three): The triune brain paradigm is, at this point, just a scientific myth (yes, those exist too)
2) Your brain is a network: No specific part of the brain houses specific functions, but the whole brain performs these functioning as a super evolved and flexible network
3) Little brains wire themselves to the world: Not surprisingly, babies' brain form themselves largely with the help of outside stimuli
4) Your brain predicts (almost) everything you do: Your brain functions not reactively, but predictively, contrary to what we might think (I love this idea, unknown to me before: it's like all of us carry a seer in the top of our head, predicting the future and reacting to it, similarly to the Oracle from the Matrix)
5) Your brain secretly works with other brains: We're cooperative animals in more than one way, and sometimes we are not even aware of how we influence one another
6) Brains make more than one kind of mind: There's no universal "human mind" type, as every brain is unique and complex enough to create completely different minds and personalities for every person
7) Our brains can create reality: Our brains are also so complex, namely because of their capacity to think in abstract terms, that we created social constructs which govern our every-day life, and that we treat as if they were as real as physical reality (money, corporations, etc.)
Barrett explains some basic concepts about our brain and how it is responsible for human behavior in a very humorous tone, through a prose that is not only pleasant but also very easy to read.
That being said, this book feels sometimes too easy, because it is clearly aimed at layman confronted with the subject for the first time, which resulted, in my opinion, in too many repetitions of the same idea through different analogies, and in an overall "baby tone" that irritated me occasionally.
That plus the system chosen for the end notes (it can't be that hard or distracting for people to have footnote numbers in the text itself, can it) justifies my rating. But it does not stop me from recommending this book, especially since the author, a scientist, is not afraid of dabbling in political subjects directly related to the subject at hand, which I thought was commendable.
The 7 lessons go as follows, for anyone interested:
0) Half lesson, as the author called it: Your brain is not for thinking: Your brain main function is survival.
1) You have one brain (not three): The triune brain paradigm is, at this point, just a scientific myth (yes, those exist too)
2) Your brain is a network: No specific part of the brain houses specific functions, but the whole brain performs these functioning as a super evolved and flexible network
3) Little brains wire themselves to the world: Not surprisingly, babies' brain form themselves largely with the help of outside stimuli
4) Your brain predicts (almost) everything you do: Your brain functions not reactively, but predictively, contrary to what we might think (I love this idea, unknown to me before: it's like all of us carry a seer in the top of our head, predicting the future and reacting to it, similarly to the Oracle from the Matrix)
5) Your brain secretly works with other brains: We're cooperative animals in more than one way, and sometimes we are not even aware of how we influence one another
6) Brains make more than one kind of mind: There's no universal "human mind" type, as every brain is unique and complex enough to create completely different minds and personalities for every person
7) Our brains can create reality: Our brains are also so complex, namely because of their capacity to think in abstract terms, that we created social constructs which govern our every-day life, and that we treat as if they were as real as physical reality (money, corporations, etc.)
May 27, 2021
Really interesting!
January 6, 2022
Seven and Half Lessons About The Brain is a short and delightful book on the new (and not so new) findings of human brain research. Sorry to disappoint you, but your brain (and mine) is not built for thinking. According to Professor Lisa Feldman Barrett, its purpose is to budget your energy and its ultimate goal is to make sure you survive long enough to pass on your genes. The idea of the triune brain is outdated. So, you don’t have a lizard brain, a mammalian brain and a human brain, just one human brain, which is a vast network of interconnected neurons. You are born with a brain that is much less wired to the world than the brains of other baby animals, which makes you more vulnerable but also gives you an advantage of better adaptation. Your brain predicts everything you do, just not so accurately. Your brain is not built for accuracy but for keeping you alive.
For better or for worse, we are social species and that means a lot to our brains. Words do hurt, physically. “The best thing for your nervous system is another human. The worst thing for your nervous system is also another human. This situation leads us to a fundamental dilemma of the human condition. Your brain needs other people in order to keep your body alive and healthy, and at the same time, many cultures strongly value individual rights and freedoms. Dependence and freedom are naturally in conflict. How, then, can we best respect and culminate individual rights when we are social animals who regulate one another’s nervous system to survive?�
The writing is clear and humorous. My youngest child who is in middle school came home one day with a personality test, so I showed him the following paragraph: “You may have seen personality tests that collect information about you and assign you to a little box. A great example is the Myers-Brigs Type Indicator, or MBTI, which sorts people into sixteen little boxes labeled with different personality types to classify you and supposedly help you get ahead in your career. Sadly, the MBTI’s scientific validity is pretty dubious. This test and its many cousins typically work by asking what you believe about yourself, which research suggests may have little to do with your actual behavior in daily life. Personally, I prefer the Hogwarts Sorting Test, which has only four boxes and is far more rigorous. (I’m a Ravenclaw.)� Needless to say, he prefers Hogwarts Sorting Hat too.
For better or for worse, we are social species and that means a lot to our brains. Words do hurt, physically. “The best thing for your nervous system is another human. The worst thing for your nervous system is also another human. This situation leads us to a fundamental dilemma of the human condition. Your brain needs other people in order to keep your body alive and healthy, and at the same time, many cultures strongly value individual rights and freedoms. Dependence and freedom are naturally in conflict. How, then, can we best respect and culminate individual rights when we are social animals who regulate one another’s nervous system to survive?�
The writing is clear and humorous. My youngest child who is in middle school came home one day with a personality test, so I showed him the following paragraph: “You may have seen personality tests that collect information about you and assign you to a little box. A great example is the Myers-Brigs Type Indicator, or MBTI, which sorts people into sixteen little boxes labeled with different personality types to classify you and supposedly help you get ahead in your career. Sadly, the MBTI’s scientific validity is pretty dubious. This test and its many cousins typically work by asking what you believe about yourself, which research suggests may have little to do with your actual behavior in daily life. Personally, I prefer the Hogwarts Sorting Test, which has only four boxes and is far more rigorous. (I’m a Ravenclaw.)� Needless to say, he prefers Hogwarts Sorting Hat too.
May 17, 2021
I was expecting to learn something new, but didn't. This book is superficial, overly simplistic, tedious, and is peppered with the author's political opinions. My brain kept trying to skim over huge swaths of this book.
January 25, 2021
Why this book. Selected by a reading/discussion book I’m in, as a good follow up to Descarte’s Error. One member of our group pointed us to a Lisa Feldman Barrett Ted Talk which impressed us all, then an interview with her on youtube, and as a group, we decided then to read this book. Good idea.
Summary in 3 sentences; Lisa Feldman Barrett begins with a brief explanation of the evolution of the brain from a mini-worm amphioxus 550 million years ago, through many evolutionary iterations, until one of evolution’s branches and sequels, led to the human brain. She then spends the next 7 1/2 chapters debunking myths about how the brain works, and instructing us in the fundamental biological processes that govern our cerebral functions. And she makes clear that understanding these functions and processes are key to understanding why we are like we are, why and how people interact with each other and their environments like they do, and she offers a few ideas for how we can use that understanding to take some steps that could help us improve our lives.
My impressions. A really well done overview of the role that our brain’s biology plays in how we think, behave, and live. It is a short (125 pages), easy, enjoyable read. Professor Barrett takes some of the cutting edge insights about the human brain and mind (they are not the same) and shares them with us in language and conceptual descriptions that are easily understandable and accessible to someone with a high school education or better, but not necessarily a strong (or any) background in neuroscience or biology. She distills the insights of neuroscience and biology about the brain into insights that are useful for the rest of us.
There is a lot to understand here � she presents her case simply and clearly, but the implications are mind bending. She makes clear that we ARE biological creatures and the biology of the brain that we are born with very much influences how we perceive ourselves, the world, our relationships with others, and how we live. That is such an important insight � and I’m not even altogether sure what to do with it. This book is a great primer on the brain and catalyst for reflection � as I try to understand how these insights should change and enhance my understanding of my own potential, my relationships to the people in my life and my environment, my “spirituality,� my moods, how I live. Rereading my review of Sam Harris’s book Waking Up tells me that Waking Up would be a good companion book to 7 1/2 Lessons.
A few of the Key insights I got from the book:
Body Budget. A new concept for me, that makes sense. One of the brain’s key functions is to manage what she call the “body budget� and the brain spends or saves our mental and physical energy, similarly to how we spend and save money.
Like a muscle, we keep our brains healthy by challenging them � this develops and strengthens neuro-networks, which if not used, atrophy. Novelty, facing new challenges, learning new things strengthens the brain and its neuro-networks. The brain, like one’s physical muscles, is a “use it or lose it� organ. But a constant diet of novelty and “resilience-building� experiences without adequate rest and recuperation can create a chronic stress that is damaging to the brain.
I kinda already knew this (from reading Descarte’s Error,) but LFB reinforces the point in terms that are easier for me to digest: that the brain is a complex network of inter-dependent parts that work together in mysterious ways to give us our experience, AND the rest of the body is in on the conspiracy, sending and receiving signals that are outside our consciousness.
—�-
A brief summary of the 7 1/2 lessons � each Lesson gets its own chapter.
The Half-Lesson � your brain is not for thinking: this chapter walks us thru how the brain has evolved over the last half billion years. She debunks the myth that our brain is for thinking � no, she says, its for optimizing our adaptation to our environment to help us better survive and pass our genes on to the next generation.
Lesson 1: You have one brain, (not three) This chapter debunks the mythology of many metaphors about the brain.
Lesson 2: Your Brain is a network: This chapter like the others elaborates on its title. She describes the “network� as integrated, functioning as a single whole, and is not separate sections functioning independently.
Lesson 3: Little Brains wire themselves to their world: This chapter is about the developing brain of the baby and child. Her main point is in the title � the brain adapts itself � wires� itself � to the world it finds itself in.
Lesson 4: Your brain predicts (almost) everything you do: What we see, feel do in any situation is usually a result of predictions that our brain makes as a result of past experience.
Lesson 5: Your brain secretly works with other brains: We know that we are social animals but this chapter reinforces how our social interactions actually “tune and prune� our brains and the various manifestations of this “herd instinct� we have which is built into our DNA. We adapt ourselves unconsciously in many ways to the social environment we live in, even mirroring what we see, because we need and find a connection to other people in order to live. This behavior is “choreographed� by our brains, outside of our daily awareness.
Lesson 6; Brains Make More than One Kind of Mind: Interesting chapter in that it goes into the difference between “brain� and “mind.� She tells us that “…a particular human brain in a particular human body, raised and wired in a particular culture, will produce a particular kind of mind�.We come into the world with a basic brain plan that can be wired in a variety of ways to construct different kinds of minds.�
Lesson 7: Our brains can create reality: “We live in a world of social reality that exists only inside our human brains.”p111 “Social Reality� is unique to humans and she attributes this reality to the 5 Cs: Creativity, Communication, Copying, Cooperation, Compression.
Epilogue: The Epilogue is a brief (2 page) overview, beginning with a list of 7 misunderstandings that most people have about themselves and “reality� based on misunderstanding of how the brain functions. She concludes that there is much still to learn about the brain. But first, we must understand that the structure and functions of the brain itself are the source of our human strengths and foibles, and, as she concludes, are what “make us simply, imperfectly, gloriously human.� p125.
If you would like to read my complete review of this book go to:
Summary in 3 sentences; Lisa Feldman Barrett begins with a brief explanation of the evolution of the brain from a mini-worm amphioxus 550 million years ago, through many evolutionary iterations, until one of evolution’s branches and sequels, led to the human brain. She then spends the next 7 1/2 chapters debunking myths about how the brain works, and instructing us in the fundamental biological processes that govern our cerebral functions. And she makes clear that understanding these functions and processes are key to understanding why we are like we are, why and how people interact with each other and their environments like they do, and she offers a few ideas for how we can use that understanding to take some steps that could help us improve our lives.
My impressions. A really well done overview of the role that our brain’s biology plays in how we think, behave, and live. It is a short (125 pages), easy, enjoyable read. Professor Barrett takes some of the cutting edge insights about the human brain and mind (they are not the same) and shares them with us in language and conceptual descriptions that are easily understandable and accessible to someone with a high school education or better, but not necessarily a strong (or any) background in neuroscience or biology. She distills the insights of neuroscience and biology about the brain into insights that are useful for the rest of us.
There is a lot to understand here � she presents her case simply and clearly, but the implications are mind bending. She makes clear that we ARE biological creatures and the biology of the brain that we are born with very much influences how we perceive ourselves, the world, our relationships with others, and how we live. That is such an important insight � and I’m not even altogether sure what to do with it. This book is a great primer on the brain and catalyst for reflection � as I try to understand how these insights should change and enhance my understanding of my own potential, my relationships to the people in my life and my environment, my “spirituality,� my moods, how I live. Rereading my review of Sam Harris’s book Waking Up tells me that Waking Up would be a good companion book to 7 1/2 Lessons.
A few of the Key insights I got from the book:
Body Budget. A new concept for me, that makes sense. One of the brain’s key functions is to manage what she call the “body budget� and the brain spends or saves our mental and physical energy, similarly to how we spend and save money.
Like a muscle, we keep our brains healthy by challenging them � this develops and strengthens neuro-networks, which if not used, atrophy. Novelty, facing new challenges, learning new things strengthens the brain and its neuro-networks. The brain, like one’s physical muscles, is a “use it or lose it� organ. But a constant diet of novelty and “resilience-building� experiences without adequate rest and recuperation can create a chronic stress that is damaging to the brain.
I kinda already knew this (from reading Descarte’s Error,) but LFB reinforces the point in terms that are easier for me to digest: that the brain is a complex network of inter-dependent parts that work together in mysterious ways to give us our experience, AND the rest of the body is in on the conspiracy, sending and receiving signals that are outside our consciousness.
—�-
A brief summary of the 7 1/2 lessons � each Lesson gets its own chapter.
The Half-Lesson � your brain is not for thinking: this chapter walks us thru how the brain has evolved over the last half billion years. She debunks the myth that our brain is for thinking � no, she says, its for optimizing our adaptation to our environment to help us better survive and pass our genes on to the next generation.
Lesson 1: You have one brain, (not three) This chapter debunks the mythology of many metaphors about the brain.
Lesson 2: Your Brain is a network: This chapter like the others elaborates on its title. She describes the “network� as integrated, functioning as a single whole, and is not separate sections functioning independently.
Lesson 3: Little Brains wire themselves to their world: This chapter is about the developing brain of the baby and child. Her main point is in the title � the brain adapts itself � wires� itself � to the world it finds itself in.
Lesson 4: Your brain predicts (almost) everything you do: What we see, feel do in any situation is usually a result of predictions that our brain makes as a result of past experience.
Lesson 5: Your brain secretly works with other brains: We know that we are social animals but this chapter reinforces how our social interactions actually “tune and prune� our brains and the various manifestations of this “herd instinct� we have which is built into our DNA. We adapt ourselves unconsciously in many ways to the social environment we live in, even mirroring what we see, because we need and find a connection to other people in order to live. This behavior is “choreographed� by our brains, outside of our daily awareness.
Lesson 6; Brains Make More than One Kind of Mind: Interesting chapter in that it goes into the difference between “brain� and “mind.� She tells us that “…a particular human brain in a particular human body, raised and wired in a particular culture, will produce a particular kind of mind�.We come into the world with a basic brain plan that can be wired in a variety of ways to construct different kinds of minds.�
Lesson 7: Our brains can create reality: “We live in a world of social reality that exists only inside our human brains.”p111 “Social Reality� is unique to humans and she attributes this reality to the 5 Cs: Creativity, Communication, Copying, Cooperation, Compression.
Epilogue: The Epilogue is a brief (2 page) overview, beginning with a list of 7 misunderstandings that most people have about themselves and “reality� based on misunderstanding of how the brain functions. She concludes that there is much still to learn about the brain. But first, we must understand that the structure and functions of the brain itself are the source of our human strengths and foibles, and, as she concludes, are what “make us simply, imperfectly, gloriously human.� p125.
If you would like to read my complete review of this book go to:
December 17, 2021
This book is probably too simplistic for those science-y people, but I am not one of them, so I gave it ⭐⭐⭐⭐�. Informative, brilliant and entertaining. Also witty.
April 16, 2021
A really good popular-neurology book, a topic I usually struggle with. Dr. Barrett writes with unusual clarity, paring down to the essentials for us to understand the human brain. Here's the short review to start with, at Kirkus:
From my sparse notes:
Tuning and pruning: a vital part of the development of young brains. Tuning is what happens to frequently-used neurons: they are better-connected and more efficient than seldom-used ones. There is a "use it or lose it" process in human brains: unused neurons wither and are removed, saving the high metabolic cost of keeping them. A healthy child needs an active care-giver, usually the parents. Orphans who are just "warehoused" are badly damaged.
And here's a good longer review that goes into more detail: /review/show...
Excerpt: .... the structure and functions of the brain itself are the source of our human strengths and foibles, and, as she concludes, are what “make us simply, imperfectly, gloriously human.�
A first-rate book, well-written and delightfully brief. Highly recommended.
From my sparse notes:
Tuning and pruning: a vital part of the development of young brains. Tuning is what happens to frequently-used neurons: they are better-connected and more efficient than seldom-used ones. There is a "use it or lose it" process in human brains: unused neurons wither and are removed, saving the high metabolic cost of keeping them. A healthy child needs an active care-giver, usually the parents. Orphans who are just "warehoused" are badly damaged.
And here's a good longer review that goes into more detail: /review/show...
Excerpt: .... the structure and functions of the brain itself are the source of our human strengths and foibles, and, as she concludes, are what “make us simply, imperfectly, gloriously human.�
A first-rate book, well-written and delightfully brief. Highly recommended.
November 19, 2024
this was a short, but accessible and enjoyable read that highlights interesting facts and debunks several myths about the brain. by using simple analogies, it explains some of the brain's complexities and provides great insight into how our brains work and why we function the way we do, all despite its limited length. i think this book would work well for anyone who is not familiar with neuroscience and is looking for a brief, entertaining introduction to the topic!
November 19, 2021
This can be a great start for anyone interested in the latest paradigms in neuroscience. Even though the ideas presented here are not intuitive at all, 7.5 Lessons About The Brain is easy to read and quite entertaining.
Lisa Feldman Barrett does well in explaining her current views about the brain, backed by neuroscience and shared by many others in the field (though not all). I would recommend reading the appendix as well, since it talks more about what ideas are commonly accepted vs which are more speculative, which may not be easy to see at a first glance reading the rest of the book.
It's easy to sum up the content of the book since it is organized in "lessons", the first one being the half lesson which lays the foundation for the rest:
1. Your Brain is not For Thinking
In the first chapter which makes up the "half lesson", the author talks about the evolution of the brain and thus lays the framework for the rest of the book: The brain evolved in order to keep the body alive and able to reproduce. Its main function is not to think, feel, dream etc. but to keep your body functioning as well as possible.
2. You have One Brain (Not Three)
Here Barrett presents her convincing arguments against the triune brain idea, which oversimplifies the functions of the brain and says it is made up of three evolutionary layers: the ancient, reptile brain that works with instinct; the mammalian brain which works with emotions; and the human brain or neocortex, which is supposedly responsible for rational thought and said to be superior to others. However, this idea is outdated and is just wrong: all mammals and share the same biological outprint for the brain. The genes in the cortex are not "newer" than the ones in the other regions and humans are not the only animals with a large cortex. We cannot single out the cortex or deeper parts of the brain when it comes to cognition, learning, social thinking etc. This ties in nicely to the next chapter, which is:
3. Your Brain is a Network
The brain does not consist of clearly defined regions that have specialized functions coming together like lego blocks. Metaphors like left brain being more rational and analytical while the right brain being more imaginative or creative, or Daniel Kahneman's System 1 vs System 2 thinking are just metaphors for different modes of brain functioning and do not really correspond to different regions in the brain. The brain has many networks that sometimes overlap, and is in itself a network of networks.
4. Little Brains Wire Themselves to Their World
Humans are born early and the brain's wiring keeps changing in the early years. It is overly connected than usual and some connections are lost while others are strengthened throughout the years. The number one factor in determining which connections are lost and which are strengthened is the baby's social reality: the bonding with her mother, its immediate environment, the sensory stimuli it receives etc. This chapter also explains that poverty and isolation has serious long-term effects on the brain and the person's health in general.
5. Your Brain Predicts (Almost) Everything You Do
This chapter focuses on the predicting brain idea. The idea that the brain creates a model of the world based on past experience and predicts pretty much everything before it happens, rather than merely reacting to it. This is similar to the ideas presented in Anil Seth's "reality as a controlled hallucination" TED talk, or David Eagleman's Incognito, as well as the author's previous book, How Emotions are Made.
6. Your Brain Secretly Works with Other Brains
We learn from each other since infancy. And this learning is not just learning facts, we construct our entire reality based on the social input we receive. We also regulate each other's "body budgets" by our words and actions.
7. Brains Make More than One Kind of Mind
There are almost no universal, innate features when it comes to the mind. Cultural norms, traditions, our social reality define everything from food habits to how we perceive emotions and thoughts. Variation is the norm. This increases our chances as a species to survive and thrive in different environments.
8. Our Brains can Create Reality
Our reality is mostly a social reality: We create meaning together with other people, we wire each other's brains and regulate each other's well-being via social communication, teaching and learning. We give different meanings to objects and events, make up concepts such as money and countries which don't exist in the "physical world".
This chapter sums up the ideas presented about social reality, plasticity, predicting brain and talks about the ethical conclusions we can draw from these ideas. Our minds are products of our own culture and experiences, but we are not mere machines reacting to everything. We have the choice to change our predictions and behave differently in the future.
Lisa Feldman Barrett does well in explaining her current views about the brain, backed by neuroscience and shared by many others in the field (though not all). I would recommend reading the appendix as well, since it talks more about what ideas are commonly accepted vs which are more speculative, which may not be easy to see at a first glance reading the rest of the book.
It's easy to sum up the content of the book since it is organized in "lessons", the first one being the half lesson which lays the foundation for the rest:
1. Your Brain is not For Thinking
In the first chapter which makes up the "half lesson", the author talks about the evolution of the brain and thus lays the framework for the rest of the book: The brain evolved in order to keep the body alive and able to reproduce. Its main function is not to think, feel, dream etc. but to keep your body functioning as well as possible.
2. You have One Brain (Not Three)
Here Barrett presents her convincing arguments against the triune brain idea, which oversimplifies the functions of the brain and says it is made up of three evolutionary layers: the ancient, reptile brain that works with instinct; the mammalian brain which works with emotions; and the human brain or neocortex, which is supposedly responsible for rational thought and said to be superior to others. However, this idea is outdated and is just wrong: all mammals and share the same biological outprint for the brain. The genes in the cortex are not "newer" than the ones in the other regions and humans are not the only animals with a large cortex. We cannot single out the cortex or deeper parts of the brain when it comes to cognition, learning, social thinking etc. This ties in nicely to the next chapter, which is:
3. Your Brain is a Network
The brain does not consist of clearly defined regions that have specialized functions coming together like lego blocks. Metaphors like left brain being more rational and analytical while the right brain being more imaginative or creative, or Daniel Kahneman's System 1 vs System 2 thinking are just metaphors for different modes of brain functioning and do not really correspond to different regions in the brain. The brain has many networks that sometimes overlap, and is in itself a network of networks.
4. Little Brains Wire Themselves to Their World
Humans are born early and the brain's wiring keeps changing in the early years. It is overly connected than usual and some connections are lost while others are strengthened throughout the years. The number one factor in determining which connections are lost and which are strengthened is the baby's social reality: the bonding with her mother, its immediate environment, the sensory stimuli it receives etc. This chapter also explains that poverty and isolation has serious long-term effects on the brain and the person's health in general.
5. Your Brain Predicts (Almost) Everything You Do
This chapter focuses on the predicting brain idea. The idea that the brain creates a model of the world based on past experience and predicts pretty much everything before it happens, rather than merely reacting to it. This is similar to the ideas presented in Anil Seth's "reality as a controlled hallucination" TED talk, or David Eagleman's Incognito, as well as the author's previous book, How Emotions are Made.
6. Your Brain Secretly Works with Other Brains
We learn from each other since infancy. And this learning is not just learning facts, we construct our entire reality based on the social input we receive. We also regulate each other's "body budgets" by our words and actions.
7. Brains Make More than One Kind of Mind
There are almost no universal, innate features when it comes to the mind. Cultural norms, traditions, our social reality define everything from food habits to how we perceive emotions and thoughts. Variation is the norm. This increases our chances as a species to survive and thrive in different environments.
8. Our Brains can Create Reality
Our reality is mostly a social reality: We create meaning together with other people, we wire each other's brains and regulate each other's well-being via social communication, teaching and learning. We give different meanings to objects and events, make up concepts such as money and countries which don't exist in the "physical world".
This chapter sums up the ideas presented about social reality, plasticity, predicting brain and talks about the ethical conclusions we can draw from these ideas. Our minds are products of our own culture and experiences, but we are not mere machines reacting to everything. We have the choice to change our predictions and behave differently in the future.
May 14, 2023
جالب بود.
خوانش: فرهاد ارکانی
خوانش: فرهاد ارکانی
August 16, 2022
Mi-a plăcut foarte mult și mi s-a părut tare utilă. Mai ales întrucât m-a făcut să-mi dau seama că anumite lucruri pe care le știam eu despre creier sunt de fapt greșite/false.
Aici am scris mai în detaliu despre ea:
Aici am scris mai în detaliu despre ea:
January 19, 2023
I would definitely not recommend this book to anyone who has even the slightest scientific background. I don’t doubt that Lisa Barrett is an excellent scientist but the book aims at a crowd that is not familiar with (neuro/psychological) science and is very repetitive.
March 19, 2022
3* quite basic stuff,
- 1* pentru traducere
- 1* pentru traducere
February 28, 2021
This is an excellent quick read on the current state of knowledge of our amazing brain, by psychology professor and emotions researcher Lisa Feldman Barrett.
The foundation of this set of essays is Barrett's belief that our brain evolved to do one primary thing: "budget" the resources of our body. Its primary mission is to feed us when we're hungry and thirsty, keep us out of danger and otherwise enhance our survival. All of the brain's other impressive capabilities are fringe benefits, if you will, of that central purpose.
But that doesn't mean that our brains are just there to meet our basic physical needs. To enhance our ability to survive and thrive, we also need to be able to live in human communities and interact well with others. Our brains are designed to be nurtured and enriched by that human contact, first by our parents and then by others with whom we are linked. Those interactions shape our brains and its connections as deeply and thoroughly as hunger, thirst, fear and lust.
In humans, all of that culminates in the creation of a social reality that we are guided by. Everything from our language to our money to our government to our borders are inventions of human societies that we have agreed to abide by, to one degree or another. This social reality, embedded in culture, can then be passed on to future generations, just as much as the raw inheritance of our DNA.
I particularly liked Barrett's last chapter, in which she talks about the five C's of human brains: The first four -- creativity, communication, copying and cooperation -- allow us to learn from each other and function as societies. The last one -- compression -- is both a physical and mental ability. Our ever refined neuronal connections depend on compression, or extracting the essence from all of the sensations and thoughts we process, and that essence is what allows us to think abstractly, using analogies, metaphors and other brain abilities.
For both a primer on brain evolution and function, and for the ideas it stimulates, this book is well worth it.
The foundation of this set of essays is Barrett's belief that our brain evolved to do one primary thing: "budget" the resources of our body. Its primary mission is to feed us when we're hungry and thirsty, keep us out of danger and otherwise enhance our survival. All of the brain's other impressive capabilities are fringe benefits, if you will, of that central purpose.
But that doesn't mean that our brains are just there to meet our basic physical needs. To enhance our ability to survive and thrive, we also need to be able to live in human communities and interact well with others. Our brains are designed to be nurtured and enriched by that human contact, first by our parents and then by others with whom we are linked. Those interactions shape our brains and its connections as deeply and thoroughly as hunger, thirst, fear and lust.
In humans, all of that culminates in the creation of a social reality that we are guided by. Everything from our language to our money to our government to our borders are inventions of human societies that we have agreed to abide by, to one degree or another. This social reality, embedded in culture, can then be passed on to future generations, just as much as the raw inheritance of our DNA.
I particularly liked Barrett's last chapter, in which she talks about the five C's of human brains: The first four -- creativity, communication, copying and cooperation -- allow us to learn from each other and function as societies. The last one -- compression -- is both a physical and mental ability. Our ever refined neuronal connections depend on compression, or extracting the essence from all of the sensations and thoughts we process, and that essence is what allows us to think abstractly, using analogies, metaphors and other brain abilities.
For both a primer on brain evolution and function, and for the ideas it stimulates, this book is well worth it.
March 15, 2022
I may be biased because of an innate curiosity, and I’m definitely in a state of high arousal after checking the news about the war in Ukraine (March 15th 2022); a lot higher than in the previous few years of the pandemic which were not exactly a walk in the park either, but I need to write this down in bold: it is your civic duty to attend to this book and go through these 20 minute lessons one by one. They are short, the text is witty and full of examples, and there is a very important point being made in each one of them.
Your mileage may vary, though, and a very important caveat is that you might not understand the reasoning behind some of the things presented here, even though they are the most likely explanation for your behaviour. The good part is that there’s quite a lot of info in the appendix, with even more references for the very thorough among you.
Your brain is amazing and it’s there to help you make the best of yourself. It’s not built on top of an older, reptilian brain, but a unique blueprint for our species. It’s not a deduction or an induction machine, but a probabilistic one. It doesn’t react to stimuli, but adjusts its output based on stimuli. It already knows how it will react, it just waits for a confirmation. It doesn’t recognize temperature, light, shapes or words, but it predicts them and continuously checks if the predictions are right. It’s literally all alone in a dark, secluded place, with no external input but some electrical signals, but it conjures up all the stunning and also all the terrible things that we witness everyday.
Most importantly, it should be constantly attended to, better cared for and appreciated more. To know yourself is hard, but it’s the least you can do in order to be a better human being.
Your mileage may vary, though, and a very important caveat is that you might not understand the reasoning behind some of the things presented here, even though they are the most likely explanation for your behaviour. The good part is that there’s quite a lot of info in the appendix, with even more references for the very thorough among you.
Your brain is amazing and it’s there to help you make the best of yourself. It’s not built on top of an older, reptilian brain, but a unique blueprint for our species. It’s not a deduction or an induction machine, but a probabilistic one. It doesn’t react to stimuli, but adjusts its output based on stimuli. It already knows how it will react, it just waits for a confirmation. It doesn’t recognize temperature, light, shapes or words, but it predicts them and continuously checks if the predictions are right. It’s literally all alone in a dark, secluded place, with no external input but some electrical signals, but it conjures up all the stunning and also all the terrible things that we witness everyday.
Most importantly, it should be constantly attended to, better cared for and appreciated more. To know yourself is hard, but it’s the least you can do in order to be a better human being.
July 1, 2024
ชอบปกหนังสือมากก� ตอนสะท้อนแสงแดดจะเป็นสีรุ้งเกราะเพชรเจ็ดส� มณีเจ็ดแสง
หลังจากอ่านเล่มนี้ก็รู้ตัวว่าไม่ได้อ่านเรื่องสมองจริงจังมานานแล้� ความรู้ตกยุคไปเหมือนกันแฮ�
ผู้เขียนแบ่งเรื่องเล่าเกี่ยวกับสมองเป็นเจ็ดบทเรียนครึ่� เริ่มตั้งแต่วิวัฒนาการยันหน้าที่การทำงานในปัจจุบั�
การเล่าเรื่องอ่านสนุ� อ่านง่ายมากก ไม่วิชาการจ๋� � ยกตัวอย่างชัดเจน สาระครบถ้ว� กลมกล่อมกำลังด� มีความ empathy อยากสร้างโลกที่น่าอยู่ซ่อนอยู่ในสาระนั้น
ยกตัวอย่างเรื่องสมองในเล่� เช่�
- สมองไม่ได้วิวัฒนาการมาเพื่อคิ� แต่เพื่อเอาชีวิตให้รอ� เพื่อจัดการสมดุลทรัพยากรร่างกาย
- สมองสัตว์ทุกชนิดเริ่มต้นจากวิวัฒนาการเดียวกั� พัฒนาตามลำดับขั้นตอนเดียวกันแต่ต่างกันที่เวลาแต่ละขั้นตอ� เพราะฉะนั้นลบทฤษฎีสมองมนุษย์แบ่งเป็นสามชั้นในหัวทิ้งไ� (ส่วนเอาตัวรอดแบบสัตว์เลื้อยคลา�, สมองส่วนอารมณ์ลิมบิกจากสัตว์เลี้ยงลูกด้วยนม, เปลือกสมองใหม�)
- เปลือกสมองมนุษย์ไม่ได้ใหญ่ไปกว่าสัตว์เลี้ยงลูกด้วยนมชนิดอื่นเมื่อเทียบกับขนาดสมอ�
- การถูกทอดทิ้งและความยากจนมีผลอย่างมากต่อพัฒนาการในสมองทารก และจริ� � แล้ว ค่าใช้จ่ายในการหาทางยุติปัญหาความยากจนมีราคาถูกกว่าค่าใช้จ่ายที่ต้องใช้รับมือผลกระทบของความยากจนในอี� 10 ปีต่อม�
- สมองพยากรณ์เกือบทุกอย่างที่เราทำ สมองตั้งค่าเชื่อมโยงไว้ให้ตอบสนองก่อนที่เราจะรู้ตัว เช่� ใกล้ถึงเวลาสอบเราจะเริ่มเหงื่อแตก ใจสั่น ถ้าเราไม่ชอบเราสามารถปรับแต่งการพยากรณ์ของสมองเราได�
ยังมีเรื่องสนุ� � น่ารู้เกี่ยวกับสมองอีกเยอะในเล่� แถมม� reference หนังสือให้ไปอ่านต่อเพียบ ใครชอบเรื่องสมอ� แนะน�!!!
หลังจากอ่านเล่มนี้ก็รู้ตัวว่าไม่ได้อ่านเรื่องสมองจริงจังมานานแล้� ความรู้ตกยุคไปเหมือนกันแฮ�
ผู้เขียนแบ่งเรื่องเล่าเกี่ยวกับสมองเป็นเจ็ดบทเรียนครึ่� เริ่มตั้งแต่วิวัฒนาการยันหน้าที่การทำงานในปัจจุบั�
การเล่าเรื่องอ่านสนุ� อ่านง่ายมากก ไม่วิชาการจ๋� � ยกตัวอย่างชัดเจน สาระครบถ้ว� กลมกล่อมกำลังด� มีความ empathy อยากสร้างโลกที่น่าอยู่ซ่อนอยู่ในสาระนั้น
ยกตัวอย่างเรื่องสมองในเล่� เช่�
- สมองไม่ได้วิวัฒนาการมาเพื่อคิ� แต่เพื่อเอาชีวิตให้รอ� เพื่อจัดการสมดุลทรัพยากรร่างกาย
- สมองสัตว์ทุกชนิดเริ่มต้นจากวิวัฒนาการเดียวกั� พัฒนาตามลำดับขั้นตอนเดียวกันแต่ต่างกันที่เวลาแต่ละขั้นตอ� เพราะฉะนั้นลบทฤษฎีสมองมนุษย์แบ่งเป็นสามชั้นในหัวทิ้งไ� (ส่วนเอาตัวรอดแบบสัตว์เลื้อยคลา�, สมองส่วนอารมณ์ลิมบิกจากสัตว์เลี้ยงลูกด้วยนม, เปลือกสมองใหม�)
- เปลือกสมองมนุษย์ไม่ได้ใหญ่ไปกว่าสัตว์เลี้ยงลูกด้วยนมชนิดอื่นเมื่อเทียบกับขนาดสมอ�
- การถูกทอดทิ้งและความยากจนมีผลอย่างมากต่อพัฒนาการในสมองทารก และจริ� � แล้ว ค่าใช้จ่ายในการหาทางยุติปัญหาความยากจนมีราคาถูกกว่าค่าใช้จ่ายที่ต้องใช้รับมือผลกระทบของความยากจนในอี� 10 ปีต่อม�
- สมองพยากรณ์เกือบทุกอย่างที่เราทำ สมองตั้งค่าเชื่อมโยงไว้ให้ตอบสนองก่อนที่เราจะรู้ตัว เช่� ใกล้ถึงเวลาสอบเราจะเริ่มเหงื่อแตก ใจสั่น ถ้าเราไม่ชอบเราสามารถปรับแต่งการพยากรณ์ของสมองเราได�
ยังมีเรื่องสนุ� � น่ารู้เกี่ยวกับสมองอีกเยอะในเล่� แถมม� reference หนังสือให้ไปอ่านต่อเพียบ ใครชอบเรื่องสมอ� แนะน�!!!
April 29, 2023
کتاب بدی نبود ولی در حد کتابای ایگلمن منو راضی نکرد.
چهار هم ندادم چون یه کتاب جدید راجب مغز گرفتم که حدس میزنم اون بهتر از این و کمتر از ناشناخته باشه.
یه ریویو ترکیبی با کتاب شوپنهاور میخوام واسش بنویسم
چهار هم ندادم چون یه کتاب جدید راجب مغز گرفتم که حدس میزنم اون بهتر از این و کمتر از ناشناخته باشه.
یه ریویو ترکیبی با کتاب شوپنهاور میخوام واسش بنویسم
April 30, 2024
This is short (125 pages, plus notes) for a book about an organ which has upwards of 120 billion neurons); but then, the author does state quite clearly at the outset that, “I wrote this book of short, informal essays to intrigue and entertain you. It’s not a full tutorial on brains.� So fair enough.
The general idea is to correct some popular misunderstandings, and it covers: what the brain does, its main job (and that’s not, primarily, thinking); its overall structure and how it is organised; how the brain of a newborn differs from, and eventually becomes, that of an adult; how the brain works, very broadly speaking, by making predictions about the world; the brain as a social entity; the extent to which minds can vary (particularly from one culture to another); and finally, how brains create our day-to-day experience.
A lot to cover maybe, but Seven and a Half� is worth the read and sets straight a number of misconceptions, “facts� which are either out of date or just plain wrong. Such as: the “triune brain� idea (i.e. instincts, then emotions, then rationality) which is not just out of date, but decades out of date; or that the mind is continually “at war with itself� (instinct + emotion versus rationality): also nonsense. Then there’s the so-called “limbic system�, supposedly the source of the emotions: it doesn’t exist. Then there’s “left-hemisphere (logical, analytical) versus right-hemisphere (intuitive, holistic)�: pure rubbish. Or that it’s “nature versus nurture� in the development of infant brains: a pointless distinction. And what about the idea that there’s something fundamental called “human nature� which all of us, everywhere, share? There isn’t.
Overall? This is well-written, and for anyone new to brain science who is reading their very first book on the subject, I reckon 7½� would be a good one to read second—just to set straight any lingering popular myths still being perpetuated by the first one.
The general idea is to correct some popular misunderstandings, and it covers: what the brain does, its main job (and that’s not, primarily, thinking); its overall structure and how it is organised; how the brain of a newborn differs from, and eventually becomes, that of an adult; how the brain works, very broadly speaking, by making predictions about the world; the brain as a social entity; the extent to which minds can vary (particularly from one culture to another); and finally, how brains create our day-to-day experience.
A lot to cover maybe, but Seven and a Half� is worth the read and sets straight a number of misconceptions, “facts� which are either out of date or just plain wrong. Such as: the “triune brain� idea (i.e. instincts, then emotions, then rationality) which is not just out of date, but decades out of date; or that the mind is continually “at war with itself� (instinct + emotion versus rationality): also nonsense. Then there’s the so-called “limbic system�, supposedly the source of the emotions: it doesn’t exist. Then there’s “left-hemisphere (logical, analytical) versus right-hemisphere (intuitive, holistic)�: pure rubbish. Or that it’s “nature versus nurture� in the development of infant brains: a pointless distinction. And what about the idea that there’s something fundamental called “human nature� which all of us, everywhere, share? There isn’t.
Overall? This is well-written, and for anyone new to brain science who is reading their very first book on the subject, I reckon 7½� would be a good one to read second—just to set straight any lingering popular myths still being perpetuated by the first one.
August 26, 2021
Really enjoyed this quick little book, which looks at the recent information on brains and also clears up some old (and popular) metaphors and myths. This latest learning is presented with clarity and humor - both welcome!
This book was said to be inspired by Rovelli's , which I really liked. Some reviewers criticized it for being too brief, for not having enough information. Did they read the appendix or visit the authors website with all the supporting info? I'm thinking not. Some reviewers criticized the author for some politics. Her mentions of evolution no doubt scared some off, her mention of a recent tyrant perhaps offended others. Cancel much?
My only minor criticism is the too-frequent use of the term "body budget". This probably comes from the authors other writings, and definitely makes the point that the goal of the brain is management not philosophy. I will find out just how much it shows up in other writing, because I plan to read more from this author - soon.
This book was said to be inspired by Rovelli's , which I really liked. Some reviewers criticized it for being too brief, for not having enough information. Did they read the appendix or visit the authors website with all the supporting info? I'm thinking not. Some reviewers criticized the author for some politics. Her mentions of evolution no doubt scared some off, her mention of a recent tyrant perhaps offended others. Cancel much?
My only minor criticism is the too-frequent use of the term "body budget". This probably comes from the authors other writings, and definitely makes the point that the goal of the brain is management not philosophy. I will find out just how much it shows up in other writing, because I plan to read more from this author - soon.
June 14, 2021
I gotta stop reading these 3-hour audiobooks. They're short, and I like short books, but this one (along with "7 Lessons About Physics", which I also read, and which was Lisa Feldman Barrett's inspiration) was too short to be able to do anything interesting. A lot of the sentences were like "the evidence says that previous generations' thoughts about the brain are false" without ever saying what the evidence is.
I guess the best purpose for a book like this is that it serves as an encapsulation of
nuroscientists' and psychologists' thoughts at a particular moment in time. I think I might have gotten more from it if it was called "A Concise Resource for Future Historians to Understand how People in 2021 Thought About The Brain."
I should probably read "How Emotions Are Made". It looks really good.
I guess the best purpose for a book like this is that it serves as an encapsulation of
nuroscientists' and psychologists' thoughts at a particular moment in time. I think I might have gotten more from it if it was called "A Concise Resource for Future Historians to Understand how People in 2021 Thought About The Brain."
I should probably read "How Emotions Are Made". It looks really good.
December 10, 2020
كتاب قصير جيد. يصلح كمقدمة قصيرة لمن يرغب في القراءة عن الدماغ البشري والعقل. لكن لا جديد فيه للمهتم المتابع.
December 11, 2020
Wow. I loved this book so much. It was brilliant, mind opening, hilarious, and it gently pushes the reader in so many right directions. Can’t wait to read her other book.
April 23, 2021
I honestly can’t work out why the author bothered writing this book. There is nothing new or interesting in it. Learned nothing.
April 17, 2024
8/10 stars
My full review on my .
A lightweight, engaging, accessibly written and educational book about the brain. I don’t remember who recommended it to me, but thanks to whoever that was � I really enjoyed this little gem. Feldman Barrett builds her argument methodically and scrupulously, from facts that have perhaps become general knowledge and are not overly enticing anymore, but takes them all in the direction that is much more original or even possibly a bit controversial � showing the brain as a neural net that is constantly in the process of forming, she emphasises the social and cultural aspects of cognition, consciousness, intelligence, and learning.
I think the most interesting aspect of this book is how, for such a slight, light tome, it can stay with you long after you stopped reading � I have been catching myself on considering my own routines and habits and analysing them in the light of what I’ve learned from Feldman Barrett’s lessons. I very much appreciated the emphasis on the socio-cultural aspects of brain formation, from the value of forming meaningful bonds with others to how the fact that the reality we live in is socially constructed affects our brains and how its social construction is possible in the first place thanks to our brains� peculiar capacities. She talks about topics as varied as gene-culture co-evolution, nature-nurture dichotomy, habit forming, Myers-Briggs pop-psychology tests, and culture as a niche construction. But her book is also a pretty good source of general knowledge about the brain and the mind, something that everyone should learn about � the fallacy of the triune brain idea (a theory that our brains are divided into three separately evolved parts, instinctual (so called reptile brain), emotional (“mammal brain�) and rational (the neocortex), claimed to be unique to humans), or the fact that the brain operates on the principle of prediction, not direct experience � “Scientists are now fairly certain that your brain actually begins to sense the moment-to-moment changes in the world around you before those light waves, chemicals, and other sense data hit your brain.� This last tidbit is particularly interesting in the light of the discussion about the existence of free will and choice and while the authors stops short of declaring herself on one of the sides, her take on it is definitely thought-provoking.
[...]
Recommended.
My full review on my .
A lightweight, engaging, accessibly written and educational book about the brain. I don’t remember who recommended it to me, but thanks to whoever that was � I really enjoyed this little gem. Feldman Barrett builds her argument methodically and scrupulously, from facts that have perhaps become general knowledge and are not overly enticing anymore, but takes them all in the direction that is much more original or even possibly a bit controversial � showing the brain as a neural net that is constantly in the process of forming, she emphasises the social and cultural aspects of cognition, consciousness, intelligence, and learning.
I think the most interesting aspect of this book is how, for such a slight, light tome, it can stay with you long after you stopped reading � I have been catching myself on considering my own routines and habits and analysing them in the light of what I’ve learned from Feldman Barrett’s lessons. I very much appreciated the emphasis on the socio-cultural aspects of brain formation, from the value of forming meaningful bonds with others to how the fact that the reality we live in is socially constructed affects our brains and how its social construction is possible in the first place thanks to our brains� peculiar capacities. She talks about topics as varied as gene-culture co-evolution, nature-nurture dichotomy, habit forming, Myers-Briggs pop-psychology tests, and culture as a niche construction. But her book is also a pretty good source of general knowledge about the brain and the mind, something that everyone should learn about � the fallacy of the triune brain idea (a theory that our brains are divided into three separately evolved parts, instinctual (so called reptile brain), emotional (“mammal brain�) and rational (the neocortex), claimed to be unique to humans), or the fact that the brain operates on the principle of prediction, not direct experience � “Scientists are now fairly certain that your brain actually begins to sense the moment-to-moment changes in the world around you before those light waves, chemicals, and other sense data hit your brain.� This last tidbit is particularly interesting in the light of the discussion about the existence of free will and choice and while the authors stops short of declaring herself on one of the sides, her take on it is definitely thought-provoking.
[...]
Recommended.
August 26, 2024
Esageratamente semplicistico e molto superficiale nelle argomentazioni. Per di più, capisco l’intenzione di mantenere il contenuto accessibile, ma, se già la base di partenza è così approssimativa, strutturalmente non ha senso anche introdurre frequenti digressioni sociali - la cui funzione ufficiale è calare il concetto scientifico all’interno di una circostanza reale, mentre, all’atto pratico, sono soltanto occasioni per l’autrice per esprimere le sue opinioni politiche. In aggiunta, questo breve saggio è costellato di ripetizioni, non necessarie alla comprensione, vista la facile fruibilità dei concetti. Sicuramente rivolto a lettori privi di pregresse conoscenze in materia (neanche proprio minime), per un’infarinatura senza sforzi. Io l’ho ascoltato come audiolibro, e devo dire che si presta molto al medium.
August 25, 2023
معلومات عامة ممتعة وحقائق علمية عن الدماغ البشري
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