The Wandering Mind
What the Brain Does When You're Not Looking
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- USD 23.99
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- USD 23.99
Descripción editorial
While psychologists write bestsellers about humans' smarter side - language, cognition, consciousness - and self-help gurus harangue us to be attentive and mindful, we all know that much of the time our minds are just goofing off. So what does the brain do when you're not looking? Rooted in neuroscience, psychology and evolutionary biology but written with Corballis' signature wit and wisdom, The Wandering Mind takes us into the world of the 'default-mode network' to tackle the big questions. What do rats dream about? What's with our fiction addiction? Is the hippocampus where free will takes a holiday? And does mind-wandering drive creativity? In Pieces of Mind, Michael Corballis took 21 short walks around the human brain. In The Wandering Mind he stretches out for a longer hike into those murky regions of the brain where dreams and religion, fiction and fantasy lurk.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
University of Auckland professor emeritus of psychology Corballis (A Very Short Tour of the Mind) tackles an unusual and ephemeral subject in this study of what he calls "mind-wandering," stating that "for at least half of our lives, our minds are wandering away from the chores of life." Touching on daydreaming (where he invokes the classic "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"), remembering ("mind-wandering into the past"), and subconsciously planning for the future, Corballis suggests that the brain is designed for unfocused functionality. His topics can seem like a random grab bag of mental traits. Thinking about the past and imagining the future, for instance, are described as a form of time travel. Storytelling, meanwhile, emerges as a way to share mind-wanderings. Psychic powers, if they exist, would be evidence of wandering minds connecting. Corballis also addresses dreams and hallucinations and how they fit into the functioning of healthy and unhealthy minds. The subject matter is fascinating, but the exploration, though often engaging, meanders; Corballis acknowledges that "I have occasionally allowed myself to wander a bit, but the topic itself seems to permit this."
