Fun Reads on the Brain
July 6th, 2008 . by economistmom
Thanks to that NYTimes op-ed that Brooks had pointed out to me (mentioned in this post), I ordered the authors’ book from Amazon a few days ago, along with a couple other books, all focusing on various perspectives on how our brain works–the good, the bad, and the quirky. The books arrived yesterday, and just skimming through them, they look like they’re so interesting and fun that I might actually have a prayer of reading them (unlike this one), and I’m sure they’ll inspire many new posts here at EconomistMom.com, as I try to relate their lessons to my everyday life as well as to fiscal policy.
Have any of you out there read any of these books, and if so, would you care to share your thoughts on them?
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions [Roughcut] [Hardcover]
By: Dan Ariely (Author)
Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain [Hardcover]
By: John J. Ratey (Author), Eric Hagerman (Contributor)
Welcome to Your Brain: Why You Lose Your Car Keys but Never Forget How to Drive and Other Puzzles of Everyday Life [Hardcover]
By: Sandra Aamodt (Author), Sam Wang (Author)
That last one is the book mentioned in the NYTimes op-ed–the reason I went looking on Amazon.com in the first place (it was the subtitle about losing ones car keys that sold me). The first one (”Predictably Irrational”) I was drawn to buy because it seems to more specifically focus on economic decisions through the perspective of “behavioral economics”–a field I was first drawn to many years ago in graduate school as a small part of a financial economics course (“prospect theory”). The “Spark” book says physical exercise is great not just for your physical health but for your psychological health as well–yet another reason why we should make physical fitness, as a form of preventative health care, a larger component of our overall national health care strategy.
Fun, fun, fun!!!
They’re on my impossibly long Amazon wish list. For every book I read, I probably add three to the list. Fortunately, there’s worldcat so I can search the local library catalogs and save some money on buying books.
I don’t read, so I can’t comment. This review -
http://www.tnr.com/story_print.html?id=3bc0e959-3b4e-440d-9b99-69078429b82c
makes me glad I don’t read, at least in the case of “Predictably Irrational”.
Sandra Aamodt and Sam Wang contribute some really interesting stuff to the Times. My own fascination is with the new studies showing that the brain’s neurology isn’t fixed. (Rats and monkeys learning to use rakes leading to genetic changes in the brain, for instance.)
Understanding the mechanisms of the brain seems to be the next great frontier for the human sciences.
Martin
mind evolve, llc
Martin,
I’m not sure that one can have genetic changes in the brain, other than through mutation. and if one did, it wouldn’t matter all that much, since we don’t engender with our brains. Structural changes, perhaps?