Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain

fascinating insight into the human mind/spirit. I can not recommend this enough: it's intriguing, thrilling and informative... brilliant.

I found this book fascinating throughout. If you have ever wondered why you do things impulsively or how you manage to perform an act with very little conscious thought, this book will enthral you. I have been an Audible member for several years and this book has soared to the top of my ratings. A must for any library.

I would like to say that this is an amazing book but for me it lacked in examples and detail. It took me three chapters to get into the book as most of the beginning David waffled on trying to explain in layman's terms the difference in the conscious and unconscious brain. This simplifying was a little OTT throughout the book and a little insulting/annoying. However there are some interesting facts and the book is well narrated by the author himself, and I am tempted to listen to it again to pick up an lost details I may have missed!



All in all the book does make you think and is a good first read it you're interested in psychology/science. If you enjoy this and would like to discover more then I would recommend Irrationality by Stuart Sutherland (which is on Audible.co.uk!).

Eagleman reads his own text in an appealing way and takes the listener through much of the same territory that can be listened to in Bruce Hood's 'The Self Illusion' or Timothy D. Wilson's 'Strangers to Ourselves' -- e.g. what experiments on split brain patients reveal about confabulation, blindsight (being able to use the mid-brain to see even when you can no longer consciously process what you see), the accident that sent an iron rod through the prefrontal cortex of Phineas Gage and changed his personality. Eagleman's particular interest is in the consequences which a more brain-savvy and up-to-date account of human identity has for the idea of legal responsibility. Bruce Hood gives you a bit more science, without being difficult to listen to (for even more science you could try David Linden's excellent 'The Accidental Mind'). Timothy Wilson is interesting because his account of processes below the level of consciousness (what he calls the adaptive unconscious) engages explicitly with the psychoanalytic tradition. Eagleman is a good starting point: a thought provoking and accessible text that will probably lead you to want to listen to more such books.

Couldn't stop listening to this! I really enjoyed learning about the effects of the brain... and entertaining!