Brain Bugs: How The Brain's Flaws Shape Our Lives

Description

The human brain is more beautiful and complex than anything we could ever build but it's far from perfect. Our memory is unreliable; we can't multiply large sums in our heads; advertising manipulates our judgment; we tend to distrust people who are different from us; supernatural beliefs are hard to shake and we prefer instant gratification to long-term gain. Dean Buonomano illuminates the causes and consequences of these "bugs" in terms of the brain's innermost workings and their evolutionary purposes. He then goes a step further, examining how our brains function - and malfunction - in the digital, predator-free, information-saturated, special effects-addled world that we have built for ourselves. Along the way, this lively, surprising tour of mental glitches and how they arise gives us the tools to hone our cognitive strengths while recognising our inherent weaknesses.

Reviews

"Brain Bugs is not only well written and researched, it also does a terrific job of explaining why we inevitably get many things wrong, and why we're brilliant at some things but hopeless at others." BBC Focus "...an absolute delight to read and truly fascinating." Popular Science Blog "Excellent...[Buonomano] reveals the intricate limitations and blessings of the most complex device in the known universe." The Atlantic

Author description

Dean Buonomano is a professor in the Departments of Neurobiology and Psychology and the Brain Research Institute at UCLA.