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A review by apatrick
Human: The Science Behind What Makes Us Unique by Michael S. Gazzaniga
5.0
If you read a lot of cognitive science, you see Gazzaniga's name all over the place, but this is the first of his books that I've read, and it's flat-out wonderful.
I learned a ton of interesting stuff about the brain, but the book is about more than just intelligence. Theory of mind, ethics, language and more are explored, and all in a very accessible style. Gazzaniga often explains things by giving voice to brain structures and other inanimate objects. I was thoroughly engaged by the whole book, and utterly impressed by how good the writing is. If only more academics could write the way real people talk, without dumbing down the content at all.
This was on my "to-read" list for a long time, but I was almost afraid to get around to actually reading it, because I thought it might be a dense, challenging toughie. I'm so glad I finally read it, and wish I would have known what a joy it was going to be to read.
I learned a ton of interesting stuff about the brain, but the book is about more than just intelligence. Theory of mind, ethics, language and more are explored, and all in a very accessible style. Gazzaniga often explains things by giving voice to brain structures and other inanimate objects. I was thoroughly engaged by the whole book, and utterly impressed by how good the writing is. If only more academics could write the way real people talk, without dumbing down the content at all.
This was on my "to-read" list for a long time, but I was almost afraid to get around to actually reading it, because I thought it might be a dense, challenging toughie. I'm so glad I finally read it, and wish I would have known what a joy it was going to be to read.