Audiobook7 hours
The Mind Is Flat: The Remarkable Shallowness of the Improvising Brain
Written by Nick Chater
Narrated by Nick Chater
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
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About this audiobook
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.
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.
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Reviews for The Mind Is Flat
Rating: 3.5625 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
24 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5What this implies is massive! I will read it too.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Vociferously claims that we don't have an inner world, but the text admits we do have history, memory, patterns, habits.