The Idiot Brain: A Neuroscientist Explains What Your Head is Really Up To

Carrying out some 'research' (good old Google Wandering) I stumbled across 'Brain Flapping', Dean Burnett's blog at The Guardian. I found myself laughing at the words of a somewhat a-typical neuroscientist, and understanding them, too. No, really. And thus I picked up Burnett's first book: The Idiot Brain. I expected to dip in and out, be amused for ten minutes, and need a lie down for the next, but not so. I read it in two days.This is a book about how the brain works, with its heavy emphasis on it not being as clever as we've been brought up to think. OK, our brain is clever, very clever to cope with the 21st century demands on it, but it's also full of clutter, the detritus of evolutionary development from a pre-stone age brain. Sometimes, often, it hiccups.Burnett describes the brain's workings in a simple, logical and yet imaginative way – not easy to do I'm sure. It's also a very comforting read. Now that it's been explained, I feel vindicated for remembering everything about someone except their name. It's also OK to get angry sometimes. In fact, it's really rather good, particularly if your reputation and social standing are at risk. Self-doubt? It's a social skill. Even Einstein thought that his intelligence was fake and that one day he would be found out.And beware if you pride yourself on your debating skills. There's a whole section on why it's often less intelligent people, or the uninformed, who win the arguments. Just saying.Memory has always fascinated me – why one person can have a cabinet of quiz trophies but not remember their partner's birthday, or vice versa – so I was particularly interested in the long sections on this.Were you aware, for instance, that our short term memory is, at most, one minute long? For up to sixty seconds we can, at best, remember four measly items. Four! If our brain decides we need the items for longer, then it might consider moving them into our long-term memory but not without significant effort. There are ways we can boost the volume of short term memory, constructing random words into a sentence or mnemonic, for example, because one sentence, as opposed to one word, can count as one of your four remembered items. But even then, the short term memory is pretty limited. Another comfort. It explains why we can wander into a room and forget what possessed us to go there in the first place. En route, something much more important to survival swooped into the tally of remembered items and out ranked the empty cup you'd clocked when you passed with your arms full of washing. But no need to panic. If the reason you ran into the room was to escape a wild boar, you would remember to close the door behind you and wouldn’t wander off instead to make the beds. It's a restricted brain, an Idiot Brain, but it's very good at survival.I loved this book. I felt like I was effortlessly learning a little about a fascinating field of which I'm pretty ignorant. The anecdotal style of writing kept me amused - I heard that Dean Burnett does a bit of stand-up and that doesn't surprise me. And I'm relieved to learn that my brain's idiotic catastrophic misses, are simply the product of the 21st century's messy brain.If you'd like to understand a little more about what it is to be human but don't have the time or inclination to return to study, this one's for you.

Well written, easy to understand and at times very funny. Full of fascinating information in a digestible form that doesn't require a degree in neuroscience!Overall a very good book and well worth buying.The only slightly off-putting thing is Dean Burnett is his far left view. Which for some will be a bonus and reason for buying!Thankfully the books editors have taken out his more extreme views* seen on the social media - so apart from a few negative remarks about white men his super right on attitude is not seen too much in the book.* Note "extreme views" is a rather personal opinion - what I see as extreme you might see as not extreme enough!For example Dean suggests the psychology profession is too white and too male. And yet the British Psychological Society 2016 stats show in the UK the percentage of female to male registered psychologists is around 80% female to 20% male. And he considers that too male??!Is that an extreme view? I think so but you may disagree.Another example is when he discusses the fascinating topic of "groupthink" and how this reduces individual rational thought and pushes groups of people to irrational extremes. His examples - as throughout the book - are of this negative phenomena leading to extreme right wing views. Personally I believe groupthink can lead to extreme views of left and right. I guess Dean's not read 1984 - the perfect example of left wing group think.Anyway political bias is a bug bear of mine but regardless of political view point this book is a good read and I've not reduced the star rating. Hopefully his explanation of the brain is not distorted by his political views - I know so little about the neuroscience so can't comment on this.

Dean Burnett is a neuroscientist with a sense of humour. In The Idiot Brain he attempts to describe the inner workings of our minds in a way that we can understand… that is, as far as anyone can understand. Burnett makes no apology about how little even ‘experts’ really know about the functioning of the brain.If the human brain were so simple that we could understand it, we would be so simple that we couldn't.Burnett uses the above quote to illustrate just how little is truly known about the organ that makes us what we are. But he goes bravely on to explain, in a brilliant way with words, what is known, or thought to be known.The book is divided into chapters covering the various areas of the brain; the senses, fear, attempts to measure intelligence, memory and what can happen when things go wrong. It is an interesting and, at times, sobering read, despite Burnett’s sometimes hilarious turns of phrase. As someone with a loved one who has suffered a neurological/psychological disorder for the last four years, I know the frustration and heartbreak that such problems can bring. As I said before, for me, the most abiding message in this excellent book is that, despite research pushing the boundaries, so much still needs to be understood.I enjoyed The Idiot Brain; I felt I learned something from it. Dean Burnett is a delight. In his introduction he tells us,A former colleague once told me that I’d get a book published ‘when hell freezes over’. Sorry to Satan, this must be very inconvenient for you.I am glad he persevered.

Great book, easy to understand and lots of interesting information . Worth a read . Highly recommended you won’t regret it

Our "Idiot Brain" is more a misunderstood brain that served us better in the stone age. Points well taken show how inadequate our brain have adapted to the modern age. We mishandle drugs, stress and humanity quite naturally. Dean B. explains how our brain works against us hoping we better understand it. I enjoyed Dean’s light and humorous touch explaining a wide range of the brains operation. I now appreciate human idiosyncrasies, especially my own.

If you would like to know in details how your brain works, I recommend reading his book. Despite being a scientific book, he managed to keep it interesting, simple and funny. Just brilliant!

The Idiot Brain is one of its kind. I will highly recommend it for someone who want to know how amazing brain is while being stupid sometimes.

Este libro se centra en el funcionamiento del cerebro, cómo vemos el mundo, cómo procesamos la información, etc. Y en las imperfecciones que tiene una “máquina” tan compleja.Tiene muchas referencias y muchas de ellas son muy actuales, por tanto la información que da está basada en las últimas investigaciones.Además el estilo es muy ligero y lo hace muy fácil de leer. Aquí debo señalar que lo leí en inglés así que no puedo opinar sobre la versión traducida que se critica en otras valoraciones.No le doy las 5 estrellas porque me pareció que en ocasiones se alarga y hace repetitivo. Los primeros capítulos no puedes dejar de leer y en los últimos ya deseas que acabe.Yo recomiendo el libro para todos aquellos que no sepan nada del funcionamiento del cerebro, de los sesgos cognitivos, etc. Pero creo que para aquellos que ya hayan leído sobre el tema y estén informados el libro puede que no les aporte demasiado, algunos capítulos sí y otros no tanto.

Very interesting read, very good science. Also fun, which is great: in my existence, scientists are a fun lot but can't always get that across with their publications.The kindle version still has some errors that need editing, nothing serious.