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Me, Myself, and Why: Searching for the Science of Self
As diverse as people appear to be, all of our genes and brains are nearly identical. In Me, Myself, and Why, Jennifer Ouellette dives into the miniscule ranges of variation to understand just what sets us apart. She draws on cutting-edge research in genetics, neuroscience, and psychology-enlivened as always with her signature sense of humor-to explore the mysteries of human identity and behavior. Readers follow her own surprising journey of self-discovery as she has her genome sequenced, her brain mapped, her personality typed, and even samples a popular hallucinogen. Bringing together everything from Mendel's famous pea plant experiments and mutations in The X-Men to our taste for cilantro and our relationships with virtual avatars, Ouellette takes us on an endlessly thrilling and illuminating trip into the science of ourselves
348 pages, Paperback
First published January 28, 2014
59 people are currently reading
2,156 people want to read
About the author
Jennifer Ouellette
8books66followersJennifer Ouellette is the author of The Calculus Diaries: How Math Can Help You Lose Weight, Win in Vegas, and Survive a Zombie Apocalypse, due out August 31, 2010. She is also the author of The Physics of the Buffyverse (2007) and Black Bodies and Quantum Cats: Tales from the Annals of Physics (2006), both published by Penguin. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, Discover, New Scientist, Salon, Symmetry, Nature, and Physics Today, among other venues. She blogs at Discovery News, and maintains the group science blog Cocktail Party Physics.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
December 23, 2013
I received an electronic copy of this from the publisher via NetGalley. I usually don't have that hard a time assigning stars for a review. Personally, I considered this a three star reading 'experience', but would easily recommend this book highly for other readers not familiar with the topic, so am giving it four stars.
Enjoying following Jennifer Ouellette on social media, I jumped at the chance to read her new book, an explorative overview into 'the self'. Overall the book is a success as a scientifically accurate, but lighthearted education on an incredibly complex topic that extends from hard science to the realms of philosophy and theology. For anyone familiar with Ouellette the style of the book will be instantly recognizable, a combination of awe-filled curiosity, an appreciation for learning and understanding, and a talent for communicating complexities in simple fashion, complete with analogies and references from the classical to the pop culture.
For those that do have a scientific slant of curiosity but don't know much about these topics of self - from genetics (nature) to environment (nurture) that define us to the neurological systems that form our thoughts - this book is the perfect broad overview, and offers a gigantic bibliography of materials to turn to for further information. Ouellette's coverage of these topics works so well for the general reader because of her relation of the science in terms of personal stories and pop anecdotes.
For me personally the book was a relatively quick read, and not as fascinating as I had hoped, but this is mostly due to the fact that most of the material covered was familiar to me already. Thus, for those out there who are already fairly well-read on the topics presented here, you may be disappointed that Ouellette doesn't delve into deeper detail on the aspects of our current scientific understanding of self. At the end, readers are left with the general conclusion that the mind and the self arises from the combined interplay of a host of factors biological and nonbiological to emerge as consciousness that we are still struggling to precisely define and understand.
Thus, if you are expecting a cut and dry revelation of novel and epic proportions, well, that just doesn't exist. What you will find is an excellent primer on our current understanding of what makes 'me' me, and may open your eyes to fuller empathy that all individuals are truly unique, and to judge anyone without being 'in their shoes' biologically and completely is a horrible sin indeed.
Even if you yourself know most of Ouellette covers in this book, we all certainly know people who don't have any idea, or who may not have even thought about themselves. This book would be the perfect introduction to themselves.
Enjoying following Jennifer Ouellette on social media, I jumped at the chance to read her new book, an explorative overview into 'the self'. Overall the book is a success as a scientifically accurate, but lighthearted education on an incredibly complex topic that extends from hard science to the realms of philosophy and theology. For anyone familiar with Ouellette the style of the book will be instantly recognizable, a combination of awe-filled curiosity, an appreciation for learning and understanding, and a talent for communicating complexities in simple fashion, complete with analogies and references from the classical to the pop culture.
For those that do have a scientific slant of curiosity but don't know much about these topics of self - from genetics (nature) to environment (nurture) that define us to the neurological systems that form our thoughts - this book is the perfect broad overview, and offers a gigantic bibliography of materials to turn to for further information. Ouellette's coverage of these topics works so well for the general reader because of her relation of the science in terms of personal stories and pop anecdotes.
For me personally the book was a relatively quick read, and not as fascinating as I had hoped, but this is mostly due to the fact that most of the material covered was familiar to me already. Thus, for those out there who are already fairly well-read on the topics presented here, you may be disappointed that Ouellette doesn't delve into deeper detail on the aspects of our current scientific understanding of self. At the end, readers are left with the general conclusion that the mind and the self arises from the combined interplay of a host of factors biological and nonbiological to emerge as consciousness that we are still struggling to precisely define and understand.
Thus, if you are expecting a cut and dry revelation of novel and epic proportions, well, that just doesn't exist. What you will find is an excellent primer on our current understanding of what makes 'me' me, and may open your eyes to fuller empathy that all individuals are truly unique, and to judge anyone without being 'in their shoes' biologically and completely is a horrible sin indeed.
Even if you yourself know most of Ouellette covers in this book, we all certainly know people who don't have any idea, or who may not have even thought about themselves. This book would be the perfect introduction to themselves.
April 17, 2017
Something between a paid commercial of 23andme.com, promoting LTGB rights and taking LSD....probably at the same time or in a sequence.
Nevertheless is well written book, with a bit of background study and is doing an excellent work popularizing our current understanding of genetics and neuroscience.
As for the LSD and Ecstasy, just wait until your kid will provide this book as an excuse, so avoid giving this book to under 21 years old.
Nevertheless is well written book, with a bit of background study and is doing an excellent work popularizing our current understanding of genetics and neuroscience.
As for the LSD and Ecstasy, just wait until your kid will provide this book as an excuse, so avoid giving this book to under 21 years old.
March 9, 2014
As usual I received this book for the sum of nothing in exchange for a review. This time from NetGalley. Also as usual I give my scrupulously honest opinions below.
The best summary I can give of this book is that it's broad but not necessarily deep. It starts with Mendel and his peas, makes its way through LSD experiments and brain chemistry, stops for a while in virtual reality and ends up in philosophy. It is all over the place and doesn't spend much time in any one area. This is a book best taken at a chapter every night as your first reading of the evening while you're still wide awake.
To the positive, the book is very easy to digest. Even the most complex ideas (and what's more complicated than the brain) are brought down to earth in a way that anyone can understand. There's plenty of technical jargon here but it's all defined and not at all mysterious even to the neophyte. Also, as I said above, the author covers a dizzying array of topics with wit, cleverness and clarity. For those interested in further reading there's an extensive bibliography that consumes the last 20% of the book so it's a good jumping-off point for further in-depth investigation.
To the negative, there is a lot of personal anecdote spread throughout this book. The book is 20% bibliography, 30% about the author and her life and 50% about science. For some readers this is exactly what they were probably hoping for but those looking for hard and gritty science may find themselves annoyed by how much 'Jennifer' there is in this book.
In summary, if this your first foray into such topics then you'll make a good choice to buy thsi one. If this is your 50th book on the topic, don't bother. This book primarily focuses on making complex ideas accessible and not expanding on the existing literature. I realize that for some that will be a recommendation and for some that will be a deterrent. I leave it to you decide which is which.
The best summary I can give of this book is that it's broad but not necessarily deep. It starts with Mendel and his peas, makes its way through LSD experiments and brain chemistry, stops for a while in virtual reality and ends up in philosophy. It is all over the place and doesn't spend much time in any one area. This is a book best taken at a chapter every night as your first reading of the evening while you're still wide awake.
To the positive, the book is very easy to digest. Even the most complex ideas (and what's more complicated than the brain) are brought down to earth in a way that anyone can understand. There's plenty of technical jargon here but it's all defined and not at all mysterious even to the neophyte. Also, as I said above, the author covers a dizzying array of topics with wit, cleverness and clarity. For those interested in further reading there's an extensive bibliography that consumes the last 20% of the book so it's a good jumping-off point for further in-depth investigation.
To the negative, there is a lot of personal anecdote spread throughout this book. The book is 20% bibliography, 30% about the author and her life and 50% about science. For some readers this is exactly what they were probably hoping for but those looking for hard and gritty science may find themselves annoyed by how much 'Jennifer' there is in this book.
In summary, if this your first foray into such topics then you'll make a good choice to buy thsi one. If this is your 50th book on the topic, don't bother. This book primarily focuses on making complex ideas accessible and not expanding on the existing literature. I realize that for some that will be a recommendation and for some that will be a deterrent. I leave it to you decide which is which.
October 25, 2017
I had really high expectations regarding this book, but while it was somehow entertaining it lacked the depth I was hoping to read. I like Jennifer Oullette on social media and other venues, and really like her wit and knowledge on many topics. However this book felt like it is written in a rush, and not fulfilled my expectation from her and her style.
If this is the first time you are reading a book on genes and personality, it might still be a fun read. However if you have some background in the topic you'll find the book oversimple in some chapters, will feel the narration is jumping from topic to topic from time to time with no purposeful flow, and some chapters are abruptly ending.
One interesting thing, the writer related lot of her personal life and anecdotes to issues she is exploring in the book. It does help to make the book and the science topics it tackles more personable. On the other hand in some chapters she goes on and on about her personal experience, and it makes the reader wonder why she assumes everyone's experience would be similar. the section on avatars were incredibly long and pointless. It is obvious the writer loves her online persona but it was really pretty boring to hear how her self perception differs from her avatar.
The other issue is that the research studies has been narrated almost like press releases and not with through evaluation and scrutiny.
Overall good book for a very novice science reader, not so good and rushed one and lacking some adequate research for a regular reader.
If this is the first time you are reading a book on genes and personality, it might still be a fun read. However if you have some background in the topic you'll find the book oversimple in some chapters, will feel the narration is jumping from topic to topic from time to time with no purposeful flow, and some chapters are abruptly ending.
One interesting thing, the writer related lot of her personal life and anecdotes to issues she is exploring in the book. It does help to make the book and the science topics it tackles more personable. On the other hand in some chapters she goes on and on about her personal experience, and it makes the reader wonder why she assumes everyone's experience would be similar. the section on avatars were incredibly long and pointless. It is obvious the writer loves her online persona but it was really pretty boring to hear how her self perception differs from her avatar.
The other issue is that the research studies has been narrated almost like press releases and not with through evaluation and scrutiny.
Overall good book for a very novice science reader, not so good and rushed one and lacking some adequate research for a regular reader.
April 16, 2014
Many books claim that the author will be funny but until you start reading, it’s hard to know if that author’s sense of humor will work for you. As soon as I started this, I could tell that Ouellette was an author whose writing style appeals to my sense of humor. Although I’m still working on my ability to describe humor well, I think the humor in this book could be described as dry, intelligent, and surprising. I also immediately liked her inclusion of personal stories. The relationship between her research and her life made the material she covered even more interesting. I occasionally felt like she was oversharing about her life, but this wasn’t too much of a problem.The material she chose to cover surprised me, including sections on genetic components of alcoholism and the impact of drugs on our brain. At first, I wasn’t sure I liked being surprised. I ended up loving it though, since I’ve read many books on the science of the mind and this is one of the first I’ve read in a while which included much research I hadn’t heard about before.
One of my favorite parts of this book was learning lots of fascinating and surprising fun facts. However, the author started with material I knew very well and I didn’t love her explanations. I often felt she was cramming too much information into too little space, at the expense of clarity and accuracy. The fact that she explained the material I knew poorly makes me mistrust her explanation of the new-to-me material as well. I also disliked the organization. Although the subsections of each chapter connected to the theme of the chapter, transitions between subsections and transitions between chapters felt abrupt, almost random. Despite the occasionally cramped explanations and less than ideal organization, the material this book covered was fascinating and it made for an easy read. I’d recommend it to anyone interested in the science of the mind or non-fiction with lots of fun facts.
This review first published on .
One of my favorite parts of this book was learning lots of fascinating and surprising fun facts. However, the author started with material I knew very well and I didn’t love her explanations. I often felt she was cramming too much information into too little space, at the expense of clarity and accuracy. The fact that she explained the material I knew poorly makes me mistrust her explanation of the new-to-me material as well. I also disliked the organization. Although the subsections of each chapter connected to the theme of the chapter, transitions between subsections and transitions between chapters felt abrupt, almost random. Despite the occasionally cramped explanations and less than ideal organization, the material this book covered was fascinating and it made for an easy read. I’d recommend it to anyone interested in the science of the mind or non-fiction with lots of fun facts.
This review first published on .
February 6, 2017
The book deserves at least 3.5 stars for the research put into it.
I love a good science read, and when it's all about our genetics, I love it even more. So, I don't know what quite went wrong with this one for me. It started out really strong, and by mid-point, I began skimming. I never quite made it to the end. Ouellette's writing is good, and the research is great and well suited to a layman's level of understanding (literally a review of high school biology class and upward), but I made the decision to walk away from it in the end.
(Worth noting, I was doing the audio version of the book, and the narrator was uber-annoying, so that might have been my problem.)
I would recommend the book -- it's a neat read. For a more personal, less science-based story of chasing down our genetics, I recommend , which focuses more on the social side of the science behind us. Also a neat read.
I love a good science read, and when it's all about our genetics, I love it even more. So, I don't know what quite went wrong with this one for me. It started out really strong, and by mid-point, I began skimming. I never quite made it to the end. Ouellette's writing is good, and the research is great and well suited to a layman's level of understanding (literally a review of high school biology class and upward), but I made the decision to walk away from it in the end.
(Worth noting, I was doing the audio version of the book, and the narrator was uber-annoying, so that might have been my problem.)
I would recommend the book -- it's a neat read. For a more personal, less science-based story of chasing down our genetics, I recommend , which focuses more on the social side of the science behind us. Also a neat read.
February 11, 2014
Discovering the self
Self is a process and not a thing and the process is present at all times when we are presumed to be conscious. It is not located in any particular part of the body but it is an emergent phenomenon. If there is no matter (or energy), the mind doesn't exist. Soul is uniquely generated by the causal interaction with myriads of elements of the self. The Self-as-Object (the material "me") and Self-as-Knower (the subjective, self-aware "I") are linked. The former is the fundamental cognitive layer that we share with all animals and the latter is a richer self-representation that is uniquely human.
The Self is viewed differently in many fields of study. Physicists suggest that consciousness and the laws of physics are a coherent whole. Existence is explained by the operation of laws of physics on matter (or energy) in spacetime, and consciousness is inherently entangled with physical reality. For a biochemist, self would result from biochemical mechanisms involving genes, hormones, proteins, enzymes and a host of environmental factors that shapes up an individual. The intricate wirings of the brain are the essence of self for a neurobiologist, and for a social psychologist, it is a product of our environment and surroundings. For Vedanta philosophy of Hinduism and many philosophers, reality is an illusion.
In this book, Science journalist Jennifer Ouellette has done extensive literature study to write this challenging book. Even though she has not done any original research in this field, but she has been in touch with the subject matter from discussions with leading biologists, neurologists, geneticists and psychologists. A brief summary of the book is as follows; one of the most active regions of brain, when it comes to our sense of self, is the prefrontal cortex. It is the default mode network which is more active during daydreaming and is critical to self-recognition. This is where we store our representations of the people we know and process social information and predict how other people are likely to behave. So what accounts for the individual differences? The information encoded in the unique synaptic patters in a person's brain is determined partly by genes and partly by environment. Synapses are not passive storage devices but are modified by experiences, and the brain shapes its unique sense of self. Each and every wire in the brain; the dendrites and axons that form the synaptic connections between neurons shapes self. A comprehensive map of neural connections in the brain (the wiring diagram/circuit diagram of brain) is called connectome and they define the characteristics of self. The functions of the connectomes during the resting state and during tasks help in understanding how neural structures result in specific functional behavior such as consciousness. Connectomes are modified by altering the connections as a response to neural activity patterns that accompany experiences. This is where personal nature meets physical nature. Since brains re-wire constantly in response to experience, one would need many connectomes to construct detailed map of synapses. In addition we need a theory to relate brain-functions to anatomical connectivity, because mere anatomy is like a network of roads, but that will not provide the functions, unless we know all the vehicles on the road and cargo they are carrying and where they are headed including their origin, then we will have some knowledge of overall economic and social functions.
With regards to future, the author has something interesting. It is possible to get a total personality download of our selves, an avatar or an incarnation of an individual self in virtual reality in cyberspace. With immersive digital technology, the avatar won't be you in the sense of a conscious being, but a perfect representation of you with which your future generations can interact with this digital self of yourself. An avatar of the future will learn and grow just like a real life of you. It not only uses real life memories of you and your experiences but also learns from its interaction with its environment and people. You can upload your consciousness, mind, memories, thoughts and experiences into cyberspace and achieve immortality. Many neurobiologists believe that this may create many different representations of us that live in virtual space. The biggest challenge in all this is creating human consciousness in cyberspace.
She amuses herself and the readers with her excursion into the Wonderland using "Orange Sunshine," the mind-altering substance LSD to discover herself. This is unorthodox and juvenile excursion, but she defends her actions by listing many luminaries in science, technology and show-business who also used this psychedelic substance. The author concludes with no firm thought on the nature of self and consciousness but some key ideas from leading biologists and medical professionals are discussed. One thing that struck me was that she has not discussed physicists' perspectives of consciousness that are in better agreement with many philosophers, even though many of her friends are physicists and her husband is Caltech physicist Sean Carroll. I recommend this book to anyone interested in biology of self.
Self is a process and not a thing and the process is present at all times when we are presumed to be conscious. It is not located in any particular part of the body but it is an emergent phenomenon. If there is no matter (or energy), the mind doesn't exist. Soul is uniquely generated by the causal interaction with myriads of elements of the self. The Self-as-Object (the material "me") and Self-as-Knower (the subjective, self-aware "I") are linked. The former is the fundamental cognitive layer that we share with all animals and the latter is a richer self-representation that is uniquely human.
The Self is viewed differently in many fields of study. Physicists suggest that consciousness and the laws of physics are a coherent whole. Existence is explained by the operation of laws of physics on matter (or energy) in spacetime, and consciousness is inherently entangled with physical reality. For a biochemist, self would result from biochemical mechanisms involving genes, hormones, proteins, enzymes and a host of environmental factors that shapes up an individual. The intricate wirings of the brain are the essence of self for a neurobiologist, and for a social psychologist, it is a product of our environment and surroundings. For Vedanta philosophy of Hinduism and many philosophers, reality is an illusion.
In this book, Science journalist Jennifer Ouellette has done extensive literature study to write this challenging book. Even though she has not done any original research in this field, but she has been in touch with the subject matter from discussions with leading biologists, neurologists, geneticists and psychologists. A brief summary of the book is as follows; one of the most active regions of brain, when it comes to our sense of self, is the prefrontal cortex. It is the default mode network which is more active during daydreaming and is critical to self-recognition. This is where we store our representations of the people we know and process social information and predict how other people are likely to behave. So what accounts for the individual differences? The information encoded in the unique synaptic patters in a person's brain is determined partly by genes and partly by environment. Synapses are not passive storage devices but are modified by experiences, and the brain shapes its unique sense of self. Each and every wire in the brain; the dendrites and axons that form the synaptic connections between neurons shapes self. A comprehensive map of neural connections in the brain (the wiring diagram/circuit diagram of brain) is called connectome and they define the characteristics of self. The functions of the connectomes during the resting state and during tasks help in understanding how neural structures result in specific functional behavior such as consciousness. Connectomes are modified by altering the connections as a response to neural activity patterns that accompany experiences. This is where personal nature meets physical nature. Since brains re-wire constantly in response to experience, one would need many connectomes to construct detailed map of synapses. In addition we need a theory to relate brain-functions to anatomical connectivity, because mere anatomy is like a network of roads, but that will not provide the functions, unless we know all the vehicles on the road and cargo they are carrying and where they are headed including their origin, then we will have some knowledge of overall economic and social functions.
With regards to future, the author has something interesting. It is possible to get a total personality download of our selves, an avatar or an incarnation of an individual self in virtual reality in cyberspace. With immersive digital technology, the avatar won't be you in the sense of a conscious being, but a perfect representation of you with which your future generations can interact with this digital self of yourself. An avatar of the future will learn and grow just like a real life of you. It not only uses real life memories of you and your experiences but also learns from its interaction with its environment and people. You can upload your consciousness, mind, memories, thoughts and experiences into cyberspace and achieve immortality. Many neurobiologists believe that this may create many different representations of us that live in virtual space. The biggest challenge in all this is creating human consciousness in cyberspace.
She amuses herself and the readers with her excursion into the Wonderland using "Orange Sunshine," the mind-altering substance LSD to discover herself. This is unorthodox and juvenile excursion, but she defends her actions by listing many luminaries in science, technology and show-business who also used this psychedelic substance. The author concludes with no firm thought on the nature of self and consciousness but some key ideas from leading biologists and medical professionals are discussed. One thing that struck me was that she has not discussed physicists' perspectives of consciousness that are in better agreement with many philosophers, even though many of her friends are physicists and her husband is Caltech physicist Sean Carroll. I recommend this book to anyone interested in biology of self.
February 13, 2025
Preferred the topics discussed in the 2nd half of the book.
May 12, 2016
This book exceeded my expectations. I wasn't sure if it would be a good fit. So many books that tackle the subject of personality have very little balance. Some take a self-help angle and largely ignore or misinterpret scientific data. Others focus heavily on scientific data but make crazy assumptions. For example, an author might include some great studies but make assumptions about the results of the study that are not at all warranted. The book Social by Lieberman falls into this category. The studies are great, and yet, the interpretation, even of the studies Lieberman himself conducted, were skewed and failed the grasp the very science they used to explain personality. Many, far too many, books about the science of personality out their authors as dated and stuck in the neo-Darwinian paradigm that touts genes over everything, where genes are narrowly defined. They debate nature OR nurture (so old and tired). No matter what technique, it seems as though the majority of writers argue against authors as unbalanced as themselves. Ouellette takes a markedly balanced view, which makes her stand out in books on science and personality.
Initially, I was also concerned that this book might not be a good fit because I majored in cognitive neuroscience and was familiar with all the usual studies and concerns addressed in this book. Yet, even when she wrote about the most basic concepts, she was entertaining, which kept me from being bored. She writes for the reader who is interested but might not have previous knowledge and, at the same time, can keep the interest of the reader who has heard it before. She can achieve this because no matter how new or old the material, her perspective is fresh. She has a gift for putting it all together into a final product that is more interesting that the sum of its parts.
Recently I read The Well-Dressed Ape by Hannah Holmes and was really unsatisfied with her take on gender and the brain. I was hungry for interesting studies, a good scientific foundation, AND a balanced and critical interpretation of what she discovered. It just wasn't there. Ouellette's discussion of gender and the brain was excellent and let me breathe out that long sigh I have been holding in since reading Holmes' book. Even weeks later, I was still so bothered by her limited perspective, even though I enjoy Holmes. Reading Ouellette restored my faith in pop sci book that choose to tackle the scientific basis for gender differences. Using far fewer words than Holmes, Ouellette was able to introduce the reader to the scientific data and a wonderful interpretation of that data. She included crucial information about culture and its effect on the results that Holmes, whose main focus was gender, failed to include to a sufficient degree.
The structure Ouellette chose for her book worked extremely well. She was able to keep her reader interested in her story, of being adopted and trying to understand herself, while at the same time keeping the reader busy wondering about themselves and humans in general. There was a great mix of personal narrative, people watching, science, and history of scientific discovery. Her section on avatars will have you crushing on the most definitely geeky Ouellette. Her discussion of LSD was equally great. Ending the book with a discussion of memory and Orual was the perfect way to close. I loved this book.
Initially, I was also concerned that this book might not be a good fit because I majored in cognitive neuroscience and was familiar with all the usual studies and concerns addressed in this book. Yet, even when she wrote about the most basic concepts, she was entertaining, which kept me from being bored. She writes for the reader who is interested but might not have previous knowledge and, at the same time, can keep the interest of the reader who has heard it before. She can achieve this because no matter how new or old the material, her perspective is fresh. She has a gift for putting it all together into a final product that is more interesting that the sum of its parts.
Recently I read The Well-Dressed Ape by Hannah Holmes and was really unsatisfied with her take on gender and the brain. I was hungry for interesting studies, a good scientific foundation, AND a balanced and critical interpretation of what she discovered. It just wasn't there. Ouellette's discussion of gender and the brain was excellent and let me breathe out that long sigh I have been holding in since reading Holmes' book. Even weeks later, I was still so bothered by her limited perspective, even though I enjoy Holmes. Reading Ouellette restored my faith in pop sci book that choose to tackle the scientific basis for gender differences. Using far fewer words than Holmes, Ouellette was able to introduce the reader to the scientific data and a wonderful interpretation of that data. She included crucial information about culture and its effect on the results that Holmes, whose main focus was gender, failed to include to a sufficient degree.
The structure Ouellette chose for her book worked extremely well. She was able to keep her reader interested in her story, of being adopted and trying to understand herself, while at the same time keeping the reader busy wondering about themselves and humans in general. There was a great mix of personal narrative, people watching, science, and history of scientific discovery. Her section on avatars will have you crushing on the most definitely geeky Ouellette. Her discussion of LSD was equally great. Ending the book with a discussion of memory and Orual was the perfect way to close. I loved this book.
April 24, 2016
This book was not what I expected. Why? Well... the book jacket advertises itself as "cutting-edge research in genetics, neuroscience, and psychology." Actually, the book consists of three parts: part one is, in fact, mostly on genetics; the second part is mostly about gender issues; the third part is mostly advocating for psychedelic drugs. If that's the book you wanted to read, okay, but even so, this book is pretty lame. Virtually all the "science" in this book is the same pop science stuff that shows up in articles in my news feed, so there was nothing new here to learn, except for a tidbit about the bent molecules of lycopene in tomato sauce being more readily absorbed by the body than the linear molecules in raw tomatoes. (Must have missed that issue of Wired, back in May, 2012.) So, I won't be reading any more books by this author. I rated the book an extra star for the several paragraphs on Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis, a book that I heartily agree with Ouellette is unjustly ignored (if in fact it is ignored, which would certainly be unjust).
October 4, 2016
The subtitle of this book is Searching for the Science of Self, and somewhere in that subtitle should be the word haphazardly. Even though Me, Myself, and Why has an ostensible structure (three parts, and titled chapters with in the parts), it seemed to me to be a jumble of names, studies, and personal anecdotes. I think that would be appealing to a lot of people, but I like a little more organization, as well as a higher ratio of science to entertainment.
This was an impulse buy, and because Ouellette is married to physicist Sean M. Carroll, I assumed she was a scientist herself, but that's not the case. There is value in the book, and I kept turning the pages. I have been somewhat interested in the science of consciousness, but have not explored it at all. Ouellette's book did provide me with ideas for further reading.
This was an impulse buy, and because Ouellette is married to physicist Sean M. Carroll, I assumed she was a scientist herself, but that's not the case. There is value in the book, and I kept turning the pages. I have been somewhat interested in the science of consciousness, but have not explored it at all. Ouellette's book did provide me with ideas for further reading.
March 19, 2014
Easy to read and thought provoking, this book took me all of a weekend to finish. The subject material is extremely broad, but I think the author did a good job representing a variety of fields.
Only problem I had was that it didn't delve too deep into any of the claims it made and I think the representation of our virtual selves deserved more focus.
Only problem I had was that it didn't delve too deep into any of the claims it made and I think the representation of our virtual selves deserved more focus.
November 22, 2019
I read this because of the recommendation by Marisha Ray on Signal Boost. I think if it had been my first look at the neurology of self, positive psychology, etc., this would have been a four or five star book. For me, it's just 3 stars, though. I liked it, and it was a good summary of the main research in the area, but I didn't really learn anything new.
March 10, 2014
The author did a good job of explaining the science behind determining personality and the sense of self. I enjoyed reading this book a lot. It made me more conscience of myself. The big message I took from this book was the plasticity of personality.
November 22, 2020
This book was OK. I didn't learn much that I hadn't known already.
December 16, 2024
An impulse library borrow that really paid off! For the most part, author succeeds in relating the scientific information to one’s daily life, usually through examples from her own story.
At the risk “re-hashing the plot� the book discussion is divided by subject: an overview of genetics, brain structure, personality types (Myers-Briggs), substance abuse tendencies, avatars (alter ego), sexuality, personality change from mind-altering drugs, what exactly is “the soul�? and the role of memories.
The section on avatars was lost on me, I'm afraid, but many others might find it interesting. Brain structure was probably the driest, though necessary for the larger discussion. Personality types and The Soul resonated most for me. As a mini-spoiler, she tries LSD for her research which worked well as a reader.
I often mention how “approachable� I find books, so here it gets a Good rating for that; misses Excellent for the hard scientific presentation at times causing me to skim.
At the risk “re-hashing the plot� the book discussion is divided by subject: an overview of genetics, brain structure, personality types (Myers-Briggs), substance abuse tendencies, avatars (alter ego), sexuality, personality change from mind-altering drugs, what exactly is “the soul�? and the role of memories.
The section on avatars was lost on me, I'm afraid, but many others might find it interesting. Brain structure was probably the driest, though necessary for the larger discussion. Personality types and The Soul resonated most for me. As a mini-spoiler, she tries LSD for her research which worked well as a reader.
I often mention how “approachable� I find books, so here it gets a Good rating for that; misses Excellent for the hard scientific presentation at times causing me to skim.
June 11, 2014
Overall one of the most disappointing books I have read in a long time. I ordered it based on a snippet of conversation on NPR: my bad!
An easy read that is far more accessible than many sources on questions of the "self." It is perhaps a little "easier" than I would have preferred, and never meaningfully grapples with the advertised questions. The pages of psychedelic drug advocacy do not have a discernible relation to the advertised subject. There is far to much personal chitchat. On the other hand, I did find things in it that are relevant in the "here-and-now."
The p. 255 claim that "It is not sufficient for the brain's various overlapping networks to receive and process incoming sensory information; for consciousness to emerge, that information must be integrated" is flat out wrong. Many systems have integrated networks that process incoming sensory information (think avionics) without achieving consciousness.
I wonder what Ms. Ouellette would say about the "Chinese Room Experiment?"
The fortieth book I have finished this year.
Ms. Ouellette gets that the whole thing is one big koan. (p. 7. "You're not going to find the answer." But, he added kindly, perhaps responding to my crestfallen face, that doesn't mean one shouldn't try to wrestle with the fundamental questions." p. 9. Ultimately, the story is not about the destination. It's about everything learned along the way.)
The treatment of Descartes (p. 240) and "I think, therefore I am" is a misapprehending as anything I have read in a long time.
p. 44. "one of the gifts of having had cancer is that you appreciate life in a completely different way."
Ms. Ouellette mentions Franz Joseph Gall (the "Father of Phrenology, or a William James suggested "bumpology) on p. 51. I do not see any mention of what cruel monsters he and his fellow researchers were.
p. 63. This, according to LeDoux, is the key to how the brain shapes its unique sense of self: you are your synapses.
Ms. Ouellette nails, one of my crotchets, our failure to distinguish correlation from cause-and-effect. p. 68 - 69. We have evolved to see patterns and we mistake those for causes very easily. p. 89. The more variables there are, the more difficult it becomes, and the easier it is to mistake coincidence for correlation.
Do you remember the "glasses" that Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge wore on the original Star Trek? p. 71 sounds like there is a path to this technology.
p. 91. Several population-wide studies have demonstrated that people become more agreeable and conscientious as they age, better at inhibiting impulses, and also less anxious.
I have to question this (p. 91) claim. It goes back to something that come through reading "Confessions" by Augustine and my own personal experience: do we really get better, or do our impulses (AKA demons) simply get weaker as we age?
p. 95. I realize this was a common perception among people who didn't know me well - that I was cold, aloof, unfriendly - and it was one I felt helpless to change.
This (p. 95) is not my problem, but I think I do know someone who suffers from it.
p. 102. In 2011, UCLA scientists found an oxytocin receptor gene that seems to be linked to a lack of optimism, low self-esteem, and little belief that one has control over one's own life (agency).
Again, this (p. 102) is certainly not my problem, but I do know (a different) someone who seems to suffer from it.
p. 113. Stress, for instance, can leave a molecular signature in the genome, thereby changing an organism's behavior. . . . For Heberlein, the suggested that the same gene controls the flies' response to stress, consistent with studies in humans demonstrating a similar link between stress and alcohol tolerance.
p. 121. Ditto for another genetic variant, common in those of Asian or Ashkenazi Jewish descent, which causes a sever flushing response to alcohol.
p. 149. The word "avatar" comes from a Sanskrit word, avatara, describing various incarnations of the Hindu god Vishnu on Earth.
p. 155. Avatars with larger pupils are judged to be more attractive, happier, good-humored, and sympathetic, even though we are not consciously aware of that trait.
p. 159. There must be a sense of continuity, which translates into less than a 250-millisecond delay between the brain sending a command for motion and the feedback it receives once the action is performed.
Yup! This continuity is required to us to believe that we have willed the action: there is the opportunity for us to be fooled, both ways, here.
I would need to hear from "lepidopterist W. J. Tennent" (p. 173) before deciding if Ms. Ouellette has been remotely fair or accurate here. In claiming that "One man's 'horrific sexual offense' is another man's private ecstasy," (p. 173) she seems to be assuming that Tennent was referring to consensual acts between adults, without providing any evidence that this is the case. This is redolent of the lack of regard for what the truth is that is the subject of Harry Frankfurt's "On Bullshit."
p. 178. If the animal kingdom tells us anything, it's that nature abhors the binary model for sexual behavior, ditching a strict either/or construct in favor of a richly varied continuum.
p. 214. Counterintuitively, this boost in human perception might be due to a decrease in brain activity.
p. 220. . . . but LSD disrupts this tightly controlled communication system because its core chemical structure is so close to that of serotonin. Acid can attach to man of the same receptor, altering how someone perceives the world.
An easy read that is far more accessible than many sources on questions of the "self." It is perhaps a little "easier" than I would have preferred, and never meaningfully grapples with the advertised questions. The pages of psychedelic drug advocacy do not have a discernible relation to the advertised subject. There is far to much personal chitchat. On the other hand, I did find things in it that are relevant in the "here-and-now."
The p. 255 claim that "It is not sufficient for the brain's various overlapping networks to receive and process incoming sensory information; for consciousness to emerge, that information must be integrated" is flat out wrong. Many systems have integrated networks that process incoming sensory information (think avionics) without achieving consciousness.
I wonder what Ms. Ouellette would say about the "Chinese Room Experiment?"
The fortieth book I have finished this year.
Ms. Ouellette gets that the whole thing is one big koan. (p. 7. "You're not going to find the answer." But, he added kindly, perhaps responding to my crestfallen face, that doesn't mean one shouldn't try to wrestle with the fundamental questions." p. 9. Ultimately, the story is not about the destination. It's about everything learned along the way.)
The treatment of Descartes (p. 240) and "I think, therefore I am" is a misapprehending as anything I have read in a long time.
p. 44. "one of the gifts of having had cancer is that you appreciate life in a completely different way."
Ms. Ouellette mentions Franz Joseph Gall (the "Father of Phrenology, or a William James suggested "bumpology) on p. 51. I do not see any mention of what cruel monsters he and his fellow researchers were.
p. 63. This, according to LeDoux, is the key to how the brain shapes its unique sense of self: you are your synapses.
Ms. Ouellette nails, one of my crotchets, our failure to distinguish correlation from cause-and-effect. p. 68 - 69. We have evolved to see patterns and we mistake those for causes very easily. p. 89. The more variables there are, the more difficult it becomes, and the easier it is to mistake coincidence for correlation.
Do you remember the "glasses" that Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge wore on the original Star Trek? p. 71 sounds like there is a path to this technology.
p. 91. Several population-wide studies have demonstrated that people become more agreeable and conscientious as they age, better at inhibiting impulses, and also less anxious.
I have to question this (p. 91) claim. It goes back to something that come through reading "Confessions" by Augustine and my own personal experience: do we really get better, or do our impulses (AKA demons) simply get weaker as we age?
p. 95. I realize this was a common perception among people who didn't know me well - that I was cold, aloof, unfriendly - and it was one I felt helpless to change.
This (p. 95) is not my problem, but I think I do know someone who suffers from it.
p. 102. In 2011, UCLA scientists found an oxytocin receptor gene that seems to be linked to a lack of optimism, low self-esteem, and little belief that one has control over one's own life (agency).
Again, this (p. 102) is certainly not my problem, but I do know (a different) someone who seems to suffer from it.
p. 113. Stress, for instance, can leave a molecular signature in the genome, thereby changing an organism's behavior. . . . For Heberlein, the suggested that the same gene controls the flies' response to stress, consistent with studies in humans demonstrating a similar link between stress and alcohol tolerance.
p. 121. Ditto for another genetic variant, common in those of Asian or Ashkenazi Jewish descent, which causes a sever flushing response to alcohol.
p. 149. The word "avatar" comes from a Sanskrit word, avatara, describing various incarnations of the Hindu god Vishnu on Earth.
p. 155. Avatars with larger pupils are judged to be more attractive, happier, good-humored, and sympathetic, even though we are not consciously aware of that trait.
p. 159. There must be a sense of continuity, which translates into less than a 250-millisecond delay between the brain sending a command for motion and the feedback it receives once the action is performed.
Yup! This continuity is required to us to believe that we have willed the action: there is the opportunity for us to be fooled, both ways, here.
I would need to hear from "lepidopterist W. J. Tennent" (p. 173) before deciding if Ms. Ouellette has been remotely fair or accurate here. In claiming that "One man's 'horrific sexual offense' is another man's private ecstasy," (p. 173) she seems to be assuming that Tennent was referring to consensual acts between adults, without providing any evidence that this is the case. This is redolent of the lack of regard for what the truth is that is the subject of Harry Frankfurt's "On Bullshit."
p. 178. If the animal kingdom tells us anything, it's that nature abhors the binary model for sexual behavior, ditching a strict either/or construct in favor of a richly varied continuum.
p. 214. Counterintuitively, this boost in human perception might be due to a decrease in brain activity.
p. 220. . . . but LSD disrupts this tightly controlled communication system because its core chemical structure is so close to that of serotonin. Acid can attach to man of the same receptor, altering how someone perceives the world.
May 23, 2017
Well unfortunately this book was under my expectations. It was a gossip magazine like string of science fact, making relations to TV series and the authors personal life. Although this gave the book a very individual note as a popular science book, but it lacked depth at the same time. I found myself skimming and skipping whole chapters, mostly because it felt like a TV documentary you have seen before. Some stories were entertaining but overall this book was not a highlight for me.
April 27, 2021
A seamless meld of autobiography and scientific communications, the author explores the science of the self and identity. She uses her own story to highlight how scientists are beginning to understand how our minds, genes, and environments make us who we are and where science has yet to explore. Easy-to-read, well-researched and thoughtful, Ouellette blends philosophy with scientific reasoning.
September 10, 2020
Interesting information. I do t necessarily agree with a few things, but it certainly made me rethink a lot of things that I had just accepted as "fact" rather than examining the issue from multiple perspectives.
August 20, 2024
O carte interesantă care te poartă prin etapele construirii a ceea ce esti: gene, mediu, dependențe, social media şi identitate personală. Dacă o citeşti vei avea parte de informații inedite, studii, experimente.
Shelved as 'dnf'
June 6, 2019I'm gonna have to leave this one in the DNF list.
February 20, 2021
A really good intersection of science, philosophy, and personal storytelling.
February 15, 2022
Good book, but for someone with a science background it was a little basic. Gets a little to into her mushroom trip in the end and kinda ruined it for me
July 26, 2022
Interessant tema og veldig kul forfatter, men boka er veldig basic. Om man har lest litt om bevissthet, nevrovitenskap, hukommelse, psykedelika etc før er det gammelt nytt.
Want to read
April 7, 2023to-read
February 17, 2017
This is an interesting science book about identity that already...in a world dominated by talks of genetic manipulation (via CRSPR) seems quaintly out of date even though it was published in 2014.
The title takes on the structure of the book. ME deals with gene research, the neural network of the brain, and psychological personality profiles. In all three cases the story stays the same: there are no simple answers. Things and complicated, vague, and tend to shift around. Any effort you make to have some sort of definitive claim on personality via your genes, your brain, or your "essence" is likely to be debunked at some point.
MYSELF focuses more on case studies, for lack of a better description. Oullette looks at three major ways in which people see identity: alcoholism, your online persona, and your sexuality. Again...no simple answers. Alcoholism was a bit boring. We know there's genetics...but there's also brain chemicals, emotional response, history, and life changes that factor in. The online persona was more interesting...looking at the idea of totems (things that you hold dear)...avatars as the expression of inner fantasy (though most people make their avatars themselves instead of some role play)...and your persona as personality. Good stuff, even if Second Life is a strange company to focus on. Sexuality looks at it as a choice versus a thing that just is. It also looks at the trouble of binary thinking in a complicated world.
WHY tackles the metaphysical. Again in a set of three, Oullette first drops acid and looks at consciousness and how we can alter it through drugs...and do drugs like MDMA change you or reveal you? Then she moved onto consciousness as our sense of self, going back into the brain and psychology research from earlier...but mostly looking at how consciousness might have to do with connections (how the brain connects; how we connect). The last section brings in the concept of myth and storytelling...the way we become agents of our story...the way we use literature to create a schema for life arc...the way we misremember ourselves for the sake of our story. As an English teAcher I liked this last section a lot.
All in all, an interesting read that can jump start some great conversation. But please don't take drugs. �
June 24, 2014
Jennifer Ouellette has found quite the niche for herself writing books about complicated subjects and making them accessible for the average reader. She started with the Calculus Diaries and continued on with a book on physics. I have come to expect a very entertaining and very educational read.
Me, Myself, and Why does not disappoint.
In this little book, Ouellette tackles the broad subject of Psychology and focuses (among other things) on genetic dispensations, personality theory, grief and meaning making. Each chapter is a brief introduction to a larger section of psychology and she makes sure that the reader understands at least the broad points.
The most enjoyable part of reading anything by Ouellette is her writing style. Anybody who uses the zombie apocalypse to explain calculus can't be all bad. In this book we see frequent references to pop culture which drive her more substantial points home. Yes, she does refer to broad academic works as well, but these references are not too convoluted.
Obviously in a book like this, one cannot broach the entire subject of psychology. I found her choices of topics interesting, (particularly her work on MBTI, since I am a trained presenter in it.) Her choices are therefore limited and one should not rely on this as a deep pscyhology text. At the same time, I found her avoidance of certain issues frustrating. Maybe because I am a religious professional, I found her lack of engagement with religion to be an obvious oversight, given Jung's assertion that at some point all psychology is religious.
Overall,I highly recommend this book and hope that a few people will pick it up this summer. This book is basically for anybody who wants to know more about Psychology or why we do what we do.
Grade: A
January 23, 2015
First non-fiction book of the year. (I will read more non-fiction in 2015, dammit. The last two years have been sorry indeed.) Overall, I really enjoyed this. It might be a 3.5 for me, but leans closer to 4 than 3, I think.
The subject of self is so very broad. You could probably write a book three times as long and still leave out all sorts of things. There's not really any sort of cohesive thesis to this book, no argument its building, no greater theme reiterated throughout. I did feel like I wanted a little more with the ending -- it felt less like a conclusion to me and more like the author just stopped writing. Still, the individual chapters are all very interesting, and I like the amount of ground she manages to cover. (Genotyping! Personality tests! Hallucinogenics!) Reading this is kind of like trying a bunch of different things at a buffet and realizing, you know, that bit of fish is surprisingly not all that bad, but when I inevitably go back for seconds, I'm skipping it and heading straight for the killer tamales. It will surprise no one who knows me to find out that the more hard science stuff about DNA and brain structure were the fish for me, whereas the chapters on gender and sexuality and Second Life avatars were my tamales. Christ, this is what I get for trying to write a review before dinner.
I would definitely read more by Jennifer Ouellette. I'm even considering her book about math. ABOUT MATH.
Also of note: Cary Grant apparently took LSD as part of his psychotherapy. Between that and the math, my mind is sufficiently blown.
The subject of self is so very broad. You could probably write a book three times as long and still leave out all sorts of things. There's not really any sort of cohesive thesis to this book, no argument its building, no greater theme reiterated throughout. I did feel like I wanted a little more with the ending -- it felt less like a conclusion to me and more like the author just stopped writing. Still, the individual chapters are all very interesting, and I like the amount of ground she manages to cover. (Genotyping! Personality tests! Hallucinogenics!) Reading this is kind of like trying a bunch of different things at a buffet and realizing, you know, that bit of fish is surprisingly not all that bad, but when I inevitably go back for seconds, I'm skipping it and heading straight for the killer tamales. It will surprise no one who knows me to find out that the more hard science stuff about DNA and brain structure were the fish for me, whereas the chapters on gender and sexuality and Second Life avatars were my tamales. Christ, this is what I get for trying to write a review before dinner.
I would definitely read more by Jennifer Ouellette. I'm even considering her book about math. ABOUT MATH.
Also of note: Cary Grant apparently took LSD as part of his psychotherapy. Between that and the math, my mind is sufficiently blown.
June 16, 2014
I have kind of mixed feelings about this book. Part of that might be because I read about half of it, then got distracted. I did finish the book (I never had any intention NOT to finish it), but there was a gap of at least about three weeks between my beginning the book and finishing it. This makes for a slightly strange reading experience.
Overall, I think this was a case of me having really high expectations and ideas about a book before I read it, and then being disappointed by what the book actually was about. I expected this book to discuss psychological and scientific theories about “the self� in depth, preferably with some philosophy/history of the idea thrown in for good measure. Instead it was sort of a hodgepodge of random things. For one thing, it was partially a memoir. The author explained the reason for this, and it made sense, I just didn’t really care about it. (And really, most people reading this book probably didn’t either.) Additionally, every chapter explored a different topic that could be used to describe some aspect of “the self� or at least some people’s selves. But sometimes I felt like this wandered a little bit far from the topic (like the experiments with LSD), even if it was pretty much always interesting.
The last chapter got philosophical, so that was cool I guess? Anyway, it was not a bad book; I just did not find it particularly deep. It might be a good read for someone really new to the topics discussed.
Overall, I think this was a case of me having really high expectations and ideas about a book before I read it, and then being disappointed by what the book actually was about. I expected this book to discuss psychological and scientific theories about “the self� in depth, preferably with some philosophy/history of the idea thrown in for good measure. Instead it was sort of a hodgepodge of random things. For one thing, it was partially a memoir. The author explained the reason for this, and it made sense, I just didn’t really care about it. (And really, most people reading this book probably didn’t either.) Additionally, every chapter explored a different topic that could be used to describe some aspect of “the self� or at least some people’s selves. But sometimes I felt like this wandered a little bit far from the topic (like the experiments with LSD), even if it was pretty much always interesting.
The last chapter got philosophical, so that was cool I guess? Anyway, it was not a bad book; I just did not find it particularly deep. It might be a good read for someone really new to the topics discussed.
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