How The Mind Works

How the Mind Works by StevenPinker

An excellent overview of what current research tells us about the title topic: how the mind works.

The current research tells us "we have one horseshoe, we need three more and a horse".

In fact, in terms of depth and breadth of coverage, this is the only research-supported, specific overview of the mind ever written, so it's lucky that it turns out to be very well written, interesting, educational, and highly informative. -- DougMerritt

I agree. First book I've seen on C2 which I've actually read (not that I've seen many books here) and it's cracking good. -- AndrewCates

I agree also. It's very enjoyable and very readable. -- JasonArhart

I agree too. Very well written, though on not for the average reader. I at first missed references and footnotes, but then discovered, that pages 565 to 660 are endnotes by page, bibliography and index... The most detailed parts are of course those about vision, but the accounts about thought and emotion are all well presented and supported by countless studies. Some of the later parts might be called 'educated guesses', but they are all integrated into a consistent picture of the (human) mind. -- GunnarZarncke

Yes, me too. Reading this book was like turning on the lights after years of fumbling around in the dark. It explains who we are and why humans act the way they do. So main parts of our culture (religions, pop psychology, your mother...) fail to explain what Steven Pinker has presented -- it is fun and interesting, too. -- ErikOstermueller?

--- Hey Men, you guys whetted my appetite but not fattened my pocket to match. How about more info on why this book is good? Has the knowledge enhanced your skills, or shaped your life? Tell us more pls.

I just finished reading this & would recommend it - it's the first time in my life I ever actually saw a StereoGram...

The following opinion seems to be very much in the minority, so although its author inserted his opinion at the top of the page, I think we can safely delegate it to something closer to its chronological insertion order, which would be around here:

I beg to differ with the uninformative "reviews" of this book. This book is definitely one to avoid. If this book is as good as they say it is, you'd think they share something insightful they learned about how the mind works. Instead, we get nada. This is in fact one of the worst books in the area of cognition, language, perception that I have ever read. It's now just another out of date 80's style cognitive book filled with flowcharts and computer analogies. There are better ones if that is what you are looking for - Mental Models, The Cognitive Revolution, etc. For better and more theoretically up to date readings on this topic, search under keywords like cognitive science, embodied cognition, perception and action, neuroscience. Better yet, check out the resources at the Cognitive Science Society. -- DougHolton?

Did you mean this Mental Models: ISBN 0898592429 (Published in 1983!)
And this The Cognitive Revolution: ISBN 0898629128 (Published in 1986!)
Are these really up to date? Amazon has not a single review for them. Are they suitable reading for technical readers who are not experts in psychology?

A Beautiful Mind requires collaboration to achieve greater heights

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/89/beautiful-minds.html

That's what I read from the above article

CategoryBook