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Gli inganni della mente: Psicologia delle bugie che raccontiamo a noi stessi by Cordelia Fine
orangejenny's review against another edition
3.0
An entertaining dose of humility. Like many pop psychology books, this is basically a litany of studies summarized for lay readers, but they're well-organized, and the light tone and regular snark keep the book from getting dull.
amyrhoda's review against another edition
4.0
This is a terrific little book about some of the numerous ways the brain takes the wheel and relieves our conscious minds of the work of making decisions, passing judgement, and evaluating ourselves. Fine is a meticulous researcher and there are plenty of references, but the writing is fun and breezy.
However, I wouldn't say this book is an easy read. It's written in a particularly English style that I find hard to characterize, but that relies on a large vocabulary and convoluted linguistic circumlocutions. It a lot of fun to read for those of us who are adept at English, but I imagine it's exhausting for the rest of the world.
Here's an example: "For scratch the surface of the moral judgments of mature adulthood, and the visceral inequities worthy of the passionate toddler can be plainly seen. Carelessly unattuned to the cicumstances of others, we can be as quick to conclude 'naughty Greta' as any stripling magistrate." Basically it sounds like it's written by Moira from Schitt's Creek.
However, I wouldn't say this book is an easy read. It's written in a particularly English style that I find hard to characterize, but that relies on a large vocabulary and convoluted linguistic circumlocutions. It a lot of fun to read for those of us who are adept at English, but I imagine it's exhausting for the rest of the world.
Here's an example: "For scratch the surface of the moral judgments of mature adulthood, and the visceral inequities worthy of the passionate toddler can be plainly seen. Carelessly unattuned to the cicumstances of others, we can be as quick to conclude 'naughty Greta' as any stripling magistrate." Basically it sounds like it's written by Moira from Schitt's Creek.
francesmthompson's review against another edition
3.0
The first few chapters of this book are brilliant. Upbeat, enlightening and informative about this crucial muscle. This is not the kind of book I normally read, but from a research perspective (writing character based fiction) I'm very interested in how the brain controls our thoughts and reactions.
However, I believe the editor may have tactically stepped in to pull the strongest chapters to the front as these seemed to be the chapters which held the most weight, offered the most insightful neuro-scientific explanations and firmly set the tone for this book which essentially aims to explain that the reason our brain distorts and deceives is because it's for our own good, i.e. primal survival. No good will come to a person who doesn't think the best of himself or fight off threats which come in the yukky forms of rejection, insult and self-doubt.
While the research is interesting, there are just too many, too similar examples to wade through and this left my brain aching and Fine's points over-laboured.
However, I believe the editor may have tactically stepped in to pull the strongest chapters to the front as these seemed to be the chapters which held the most weight, offered the most insightful neuro-scientific explanations and firmly set the tone for this book which essentially aims to explain that the reason our brain distorts and deceives is because it's for our own good, i.e. primal survival. No good will come to a person who doesn't think the best of himself or fight off threats which come in the yukky forms of rejection, insult and self-doubt.
While the research is interesting, there are just too many, too similar examples to wade through and this left my brain aching and Fine's points over-laboured.
mcsquared's review against another edition
4.0
Another fascinating and experiment-heavy book which explains a lot of why our brain plays so many tricks on us.
theangrylawngnome's review against another edition
3.0
Bluntly, this one was a mixed bag. The stories and examples were amusing, though they did start to get to be a bit too much by the end of the book. I suppose what bothered me most was that there's seemingly no place for any actual thing such as objectivity according to her beliefs. We can do things to rein in the worst excesses of our "butler" (the unconscious), but as best I can tell per Fine we can never fully break free from it. I suppose I could have lived with that, if she had stopped there, perhaps concluding that all cognition should be treated as having "proceed with caution" signs, and all unconscious behaviors as at least occassionally subjected to a rigorous examination.
Unfortunately, she does not confine herself in such a way. In fact, she seems to out and out disregard the above when it is inconvenient, or perhaps wishes to push a certain agenda. As in, she'll make claims like such and such was a "well-designed psychology experiment," of course when it conformed what I took to be her beliefs. Could an experiment be "well-designed" if it did NOT confirm a closely held belief? And, anyway, how can she be so glibly confident in her ability to separate wheat from chaff in the first place? We're never told, or actually, what we're told is that this is exactly what we should NOT be doing.
So, what can I say? By turns this one was amusing, though-provoking, irritating, hypocritical, preachy and at times downright arrogant. I don't regret reading it, and in fact learned more than I thought I would. Some of her examples were silly, but they also put things in terms a layman could understand. But... I still can't imagine I'll pick anything up by her again. My teeth can only take so much grinding in the face of hypocrisy.
Unfortunately, she does not confine herself in such a way. In fact, she seems to out and out disregard the above when it is inconvenient, or perhaps wishes to push a certain agenda. As in, she'll make claims like such and such was a "well-designed psychology experiment," of course when it conformed what I took to be her beliefs. Could an experiment be "well-designed" if it did NOT confirm a closely held belief? And, anyway, how can she be so glibly confident in her ability to separate wheat from chaff in the first place? We're never told, or actually, what we're told is that this is exactly what we should NOT be doing.
So, what can I say? By turns this one was amusing, though-provoking, irritating, hypocritical, preachy and at times downright arrogant. I don't regret reading it, and in fact learned more than I thought I would. Some of her examples were silly, but they also put things in terms a layman could understand. But... I still can't imagine I'll pick anything up by her again. My teeth can only take so much grinding in the face of hypocrisy.
robinlm's review against another edition
4.0
I almost gave this 3 stars because some of the information in the book is so frustrating, but I shouldn't really hold that against the author. The "bigoted brain" chapter, for example--ugh! It's so easy to be "primed" to be sexist and racist and ageist and all the other -ists/-isms. But, we really need to be aware of the fact that every single person is unconsciously biased in many ways and change our entire conversation about race/gender/etc. We can't get anywhere unless we acknowledge that ALL of us, every single person, has some unconscious bias and we ALL need to address it within ourselves. Having unconscious bias doesn't make us bad or evil, but acting on that bias has serious consequences.
A must read for anyone who wants to understand their stupid, stupid brains better.
A must read for anyone who wants to understand their stupid, stupid brains better.
caidyn's review against another edition
1.0
DNF at 12%
Meh. Didn't work for me. I'm sure it was my fault for it, just not the right time. The information is interesting, but the way it was presented was just too informal. The writing didn't work for me. I'll likely try this again sometime, but not right now.
Meh. Didn't work for me. I'm sure it was my fault for it, just not the right time. The information is interesting, but the way it was presented was just too informal. The writing didn't work for me. I'll likely try this again sometime, but not right now.
wyvernfriend's review against another edition
4.0
I found it an interesting read, how we can't assume that what we're thinking on the surface permiates and how unthinking biases can cause long-term repercussions which have fueled sexism and racism and probably a lot of other isms too. A bit of a pop-culture quick look, but well cited and a springboard to further reading.