Books › The brain
The brain
256 pages
A mind-expanding journey into the dark, silent fortress of the skull to discover how biological matter constructs our entire reality.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like taking a guided tour through the hidden machinery of your own existence. The prose is highly accessible and rich with vivid metaphors, transforming the complex neuroscience of a three-pound biological mass into a dramatic, awe-inspiring narrative. It moves at a brisk, engaging pace, treating the brain not just as an organ, but as a bustling cityscape and a master storyteller. The mood is deeply contemplative and mind-expanding, inviting you to question the illusion of control and the very nature of your sensory reality. It is a perfect fit for curious readers who want to understand the invisible neural networks that silently shape their decisions, their judgments, and their fundamental sense of self.
- Mood
- awe-inspiring
- mind-expanding
- contemplative
- Tone
- accessible
- dramatic
- wonder-struck
- informative
- metaphorical
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- the construction of reality · the illusion of control · the nature of the self · sensory perception · the hidden mechanics of behavior
- The writing
- Accessible and highly metaphorical, translating complex neuroscience into vivid imagery like bustling cityscapes and master storytellers.
- The arc
- Moves from a sense of mystery regarding our biological hardware to a profound awe at the brain's ability to construct our reality and identity.
- Who it's for
- Curious minds fascinated by human behavior, biology, and the philosophical questions of who we are and how we perceive the world.
About the book
"The dramatic story of the brain's role in creating our world, our experience of it, and ourselves; the basis for a PBS television series by the bestselling David Eagleman. How does a three pound mass of biological matter locked in the dark, silent fortress of the skull produce the extraordinary multi-sensory experience that comprises us, while also constructing reality and guiding us through the endless need to make decisions and determine our judgments and into a future that we are convinced we are shaping? David Eagleman compares the brain to a cityscape with different neighborhoods where neural networks vie for supremacy and determine our behavior in ways we are not always aware or in control of. At the same time, he suggests that the brain works as a storyteller--creating a narrative that allows us to navigate and make sense of a world that it is busy constructing for us"--
Description from Open Library.
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