my mind on books

$1.99 kindle ebook – 'Banish Clutter Forever' by Sheila Chandra http://t.co/qcHASh7XIE via @amazon

— Debbie A Foster (@mymindonbooks) January 29, 2014

Coming to Our Senses: Perceiving Complexity to Avoid Catastrophes by Viki McCabe (Oxford University Press, USA, 2014)

(kindle ed.), (amazon.co.uk), (UK kindle ed)

Book description from the publisher:

In this fascinating book cognitive scientist Viki McCabe argues that the catastrophes we now face–economic recessions, ecological devastation, and political paralysis–originate in our ignoring the world we perceive and acting on the theories we conceive. Using cutting-edge research and compelling true stories– the Wall Street banking fiasco, the submerging of New Orleans, and the escalation of global temperatures– McCabe argues that these problems originate in our relying on the wrong source for our information: the archives within our heads with their opinions and biases, instead of our subliminal perceptions of what is happening on the ground.

McCabe shows that while our “mind’s eye” “sees” a world made of separate, nameable parts, the earth actually operates as a coalition of complex working systems (from cells to cities to economies). Such systems cannot be understood in words, but require fractal-like configurations that our perceptual systems have evolved to parse and that reflect each system’s structure, characteristics, and functions. Thus, we comprehend systems as disparate as neural networks, river deltas, and economies not from their verbal descriptions, but by perceiving their branching structure. We recognize others as they walk from the figure eight that oscillates around their belly buttons. Form not only follows function, it doubles as information.

McCabe also documents how using this information saved the USS Missouri, a kidnapped child, and victims of the Asian tsunami. Thus, she counsels us to put our mentally manufactured theories aside and focus on our perceptions so that we can reconnect to reality, make more informed decisions, block hostile mental takeovers, and come back to our senses.

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It’s a Jungle in There: How Competition and Cooperation in the Brain Shape the Mind by David A. Rosenbaum (Oxford University Press, USA, 2014)

(kindle ed.), (amazon.co.uk), (UK kindle ed.)

Book description from the publisher:

The saying “It’s a jungle out there” refers to a competitive environment in which you’d better hone your skills if you hope to survive. And you’d better do what you can to keep a roof over your head, food in your belly, a leaf on your loins, and a mate who’ll help pass on your genes to the next generation of jungle Jims and Janes.
Distinguished professor and cognitive psychologist David Rosenbaum takes this metaphor of surviving in the wild and applies it to the competitive arena within the brain. He argues that the overarching theory of biology, Darwin’s theory, should be the overarching theory of cognitive psychology, the science of mental functioning. He explores this new and intriguing idea by showing how neural elements compete and cooperate in a kind of inner jungle, where only the fittest survive. Competition within your brain does as much to shape who you are as the physical and figurative competition you face externally.
Just as the jungle night seethes with noisy creatures beckoning their mates, issuing their warnings, and settling their arguments, you might have trouble falling asleep at night because the thoughts in your head are fighting for their chance at survival. Rosenbaum’s pursuit of this bold idea explains why we are shaped into who we are, for better or worse, because we are the hosts of inner battlefields.
Written in a light-hearted tone and with reference to hypothetical neural “creatures” making their way in a tough environment, Rosenbaum makes cognitive psychology and his theory easy to understand and exciting to ponder. Rather than rely on the series of disconnected phenomena and collection of curiosities that often constitute cognitive psychology, It’s a Jungle in There provides a fascinating way to place all cognitive phenomena under one flourishing tree.

See also: Author’s website

Me, Myself, and Why: Searching for the Science of Self by Jennifer Ouellette (Penguin, 2014)

(kindle ed.), (amazon.co.uk)

Book description from the publisher:

A fascinating tour through the science behind who we are and how we got this way—from the author of The Calculus Diaries

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.

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See also: Author’s website

Neanderthal Man: In Search of Lost Genomes by Svante Pääbo (Basic Books, 2014)

(amazon.co.uk)

Book description from the publisher:

What can we learn from the genomes of our closest evolutionary relatives?

Neanderthal Man tells the story of geneticist Svante Pääbo’s mission to answer this question, and recounts his ultimately successful efforts to genetically define what makes us different from our Neanderthal cousins. Beginning with the study of DNA in Egyptian mummies in the early 1980s and culminating in the sequencing of the Neanderthal genome in 2010, Neanderthal Man describes the events, intrigues, failures, and triumphs of these scientifically rich years through the lens of the pioneer and inventor of the field of ancient DNA.

We learn that Neanderthal genes offer a unique window into the lives of our hominin relatives and may hold the key to unlocking the mystery of why humans survived while Neanderthals went extinct. Drawing on genetic and fossil clues, Pääbo explores what is known about the origin of modern humans and their relationship to the Neanderthals and describes the fierce debate surrounding the nature of the two species’ interactions. His findings have not only redrawn our family tree, but recast the fundamentals of human history—the biological beginnings of fully modern Homo sapiens, the direct ancestors of all people alive today.

A riveting story about a visionary researcher and the nature of scientific inquiry, Neanderthal Man offers rich insight into the fundamental question of who we are.

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