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The Mind Is Flat

Audiobook
Nonfiction: Science
Unabridged   7.5 hour(s)
Publication date: 11/06/2018

The Mind Is Flat

The Remarkable Shallowness of the Improvising Brain

Available from major retailers or BUY FROM AMAZON
Audio CD ISBN:9781684415502
Digital Download ISBN:9781684415519

Summary

In a radical reinterpretation of how the mind works, an eminent behavioral scientist reveals the illusion of mental depth.

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Product Description

In a radical reinterpretation of how the mind works, an eminent behavioral scientist reveals the illusion of mental depth

Psychologists and neuroscientists struggle with how best to interpret human motivation and decision making. The assumption is that below a mental "surface" of conscious awareness lies a deep and complex set of inner beliefs, values, and desires that govern our thoughts, ideas, and actions, and that to know this depth is to know ourselves.

In this profoundly original book, behavioral scientist Nick Chater contends just the opposite: rather than being the plaything of unconscious currents, the brain generates behaviors in the moment based entirely on our past experiences. Engaging the listener with eye-opening experiments, the author first demolishes our intuitive sense of how our mind works, then argues for a positive interpretation of the brain as a ceaseless and creative improviser.

Reviews/Praise

"This is a total assault on all lingering psychiatric and psychoanalytic notions of mental depths to be plumbed. For Chater, surface is everything: we are all characters of our own creation, busily creating and improvising our behaviour based on experience. Light the touchpaper and stand well back . . ."—Liz Else, New Scientist

"We live with the belief that our lives make sense; that there is deeper meaning guiding our psyches and behavior. In this brilliant book, Nick Chater argues this is just an illusion. Our quest for meaning is misguided because our interpretations are shallow and fleeting."—Steven Sloman, co-author of The Knowledge Illusion: Why We Never Think Alone

Author Bio

Nick Chater is professor of behavioral science at Warwick Business School and cofounder of the research consultancy Decision Technology Ltd. He has contributed to more than two hundred articles and book chapters and is author, coauthor, or coeditor of fourteen books.