How the Mind Works
Description
"A model of scientific writing: erudite, witty, and clear." —New York Review of Books
In this Pulitzer Prize finalist and national bestseller, one of the world's leading cognitive scientists tackles the workings of the human mind. What makes us rational—and why are we so often irrational? How do we see in three dimensions? What makes us happy, afraid, angry, disgusted, or sexually aroused? Why do we fall in love? And how do we grapple with the imponderables of morality, religion, and consciousness? How the Mind Works synthesizes the most satisfying explanations of our mental life from cognitive science, evolutionary biology, and other fields to explain what the mind is, how it evolved, and how it allows us to see, think, feel, laugh, interact, enjoy the arts, and contemplate the mysteries of life.
This edition of Pinker's bold and buoyant classic is updated with a new foreword by the author.
Praise for How the Mind Works
Undeniably brilliant.
— Newsday
Big, brash, and a lot of fun.
— Time
Hugely entertaining…always sparkling and provoking.
— Wall Street Journal
Witty popular science that you enjoy reading for the writing as well as for the science. No other science writer makes me laugh so much.
— Mark Ridley - New York Times Book Review
Alters completely the way one thinks about thinking…its unforeseen consequences probably can't be contained by a book.
— Christopher Lehmann-Haupt - New York Times
Pinker has a knack for making the profound seem obvious....A fascinating bag of evolutionary insights.
— The Economist