Constructing Our World: The Brain's-Eye View

This book is based on an in-depth filmed conversation between Howard Burton and Lisa Feldman Barrett, University Distinguished Professor in Psychology at Northeastern University. This extensive conversations covers topics such as Lisa Feldman Barrett’s winding career path from pre-med to clinical psychology to an academic career in neuroscience and her research on how the brain works and the development of her theory of emotion: every moment of our life, our brain is anticipating and making sense of sensory inputs from its environment—the combination of the internal environment of the body and the external environment—and our brain uses conceptual knowledge to do that.


This carefully-edited book includes an introduction, Putting the Pieces Together, and questions for discussion at the end of each chapter:


Beginnings - A winding road

Confronting Variability - Essentialism vs. conceptual categories

Convergent Pathways - Applying conceptual knowledge

Networks - A key conceptual category

Slow Progress - Some slower than others

Towards Genuine Dialogue - The benefits of interacting with essentialists

Final Thoughts - Some philosophical reflections



About Ideas Roadshow Conversations Series: 


This book is part of an expanding series of 100+ Ideas Roadshow conversations, each one presenting a wealth of candid insights from a leading expert through a focused yet informal setting to give non-specialists a uniquely accessible window into frontline research and scholarship that wouldn't otherwise be encountered through standard lectures and textbooks. For other books in this series visit our website: https://ideas-on-film.com/ideasroadshow/.