The title of the book caught my attention because it signalled a scientific approach. And somewhere in the book, the author does offer a formula that does seem logical. Somewhere in the book, the author shifts to meaning without a clear explanation. But barring that, it’s a very interesting book that introduced me to new concepts, nuances and ways of framing.
Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection is a subject that continues to fascinate me, and that’s largely why I picked up this book. The author does start off well, pitching cephalopods as an independent experiment by nature in the evolution of large brains, and there are some very interesting bits – subjective experience, sentience and consciousness. But the detours on octopus and cuttlefish are likely to put you off unless you’re an ardent fan of the creatures.
To paraphrase William Jones, our entire life is a formed from habits, for good and for bad, and they lead us to our destiny. This is a book that can help in all aspects of our lives – from losing weight to building great teams, and at an individual and group level. The narrative style ensures that what could have been a prescriptive book is actually an enlightening and entertaining one!
‘Empathy’ is like the hero whom no one can hate. But the reading I have done in the past, and my own thoughts and experiences have led me to believe that empathy isn’t really the best guide for decision making of the moral or even day to day kind! While the book preaches to that choir very well, it doesn’t really make the case for rational compassion well enough.
Michael S. Gazzaniga Our notion of the mind is a single “me” that consciously acts and reacts on/to stimuli. But a more accurate description would be several modules that work in tandem to define and dictate what we could call the mind/consciousness. A lot of this mind’s activities is dictated by factors that have been […]