Books for Brainiacs (literally)

Posted on June 15, 2011 by Morgan Mussell

I was browsing the NPR list of recommended Sci-Fi titles today, and could barely manage a ho-hum. I’ve slipped into one of my periodic non-fiction moods, and I’ve learned to follow such whims to see where they take me. I fear that my book queue may get even more unmanageable after stumbling upon these NPR recommendations: Insane Science: Five New Books that Explain the Brain. http://www.npr.org/2011/06/08/136896426/insane-science-5-new-books-that-explain-the-brain Here is a quick summary of the article:

The Compass Of Pleasure: How Our Brains Make Fatty Foods, Orgasm, Exercise, Marijuana, Generosity, Vodka, Learning, And Gambling Feel So Good by David J. Linden. Everyone probably guessed Fatty Foods, Orgasm, Vodka, and perhaps Generosity, but the author claims that Paying your taxes belongs in that category too.

The Believing Brain: From Ghosts To Gods To Politics And Conspiracies — How We Construct Beliefs And Reinforce Them As Truths by Michael Shermer. Shermer, a former Evangelical Christian who became an agnostic in college claims that belief precedes the explanations we invent for them. However, Shermer acknowledges that, “we could be wrong.”

The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through The Madness Industry by Jon Ronson. The bad news: an estimated 1% of the population is psychopathic. The good news: if you wonder if you are, you almost certainly are not.

The Optimism Bias: A Tour Of The Irrationally Positive Brain by Tali Sharot. Even if you are a cynic, your brain is probably hardwired for optimism. “Most people are programmed to predict happy endings in all facets of our lives.” As you might have guessed, there is measurable survival value in thes.

A Billion Wicked Thoughts: What The World‘s Largest Experiment Reveals About Human Desire by Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam. If you want to know what people really think about sex, look online, claim the authors, and that is what they did. Their conclusion, after sifting through “reams” of data? Men’s sexual brains “are more like Elmer Fudd,” and women’s, “like Miss Marple.” That hook I think, is enough to get me to download this one. Not that I would be crass enough to ever make a joke about Elmer Fudd and Congressman Wiener – nope, no way.

Happy reading, everyone, and I categorically deny all rumors that I have too much time on my hands!

40 thoughts on “Books for Brainiacs (literally)”

Rosi on June 15, 2011 at 11:15 pm said:

You did make these titles up, didn’t you? I have heard it’s a lot easier to break into publishing with non-fiction, but most of these look pretty out there. Thanks for sharing. I’m still chuckling.

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- Morgan Mussell on June 16, 2011 at 9:40 am said:
  
  No, I did not make any of these titles up, as in, “truth is stranger than…”
  
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Mikalee Byerman on June 16, 2011 at 7:22 am said:

Great insights here — if only to further explore the Elmer Fudd/Miss Marple connection. Love it!

Thanks for the ideas — I’m off to download…

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- Morgan Mussell on June 16, 2011 at 9:45 am said:
  
  I know – that is one of those “facts” you just have to check out! Hmmm – I would have guessed Wily Coyote…
  
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Sarah on June 16, 2011 at 7:38 am said:

I want to read them all.

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ournote2self on June 16, 2011 at 8:55 am said:

Thanks for sharing! 🙂

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Kathryn McCullough on June 16, 2011 at 9:19 am said:

I love this insanely brain-crazed list! And congrats on Freshly Pressed!
Kathy

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- Morgan Mussell on June 16, 2011 at 9:46 am said:
  
  Thanks!
  
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Morgan Mussell on June 16, 2011 at 9:43 am said:

I will certainly come over and take a look, and hopefully others who read your comment will also.

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gaycarboys on June 16, 2011 at 10:36 am said:

I’m SO looking these up. I like the idea of braking in to publishing with non-fiction. I think we all have a book or two in us don’t we?

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- Morgan Mussell on June 16, 2011 at 10:53 am said:
  
  Coincidentally, the speaker at the monthly lunch for the local California Writer’s Club branch on Saturday is an agent who specializes in non-fiction, including some of the Dummies titles. I will post notes and web links of interest afterwards.
  
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Tarot Reader on June 16, 2011 at 10:48 am said:

Too too funny…. I’ll have to write one like this and see if I sell three copies – let’s think… my mom, my sister…. LOL

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elenamusic on June 16, 2011 at 11:12 am said:

The Optimism Bias seems interesting. I thought people’s thoughts usually end result in negative thoughts. So, to say we all think we will all have an happy ending… interesting. We all want a happy ending… or else, it’s just too sad to think about.

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nikkianne on June 16, 2011 at 12:03 pm said:

Wow. These look fascinating! I’m going to see if I can get them at my library!

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mkeeffer on June 16, 2011 at 12:53 pm said:

I really like reading books about areas I’ve never really thought about – kind of a cross-training for my brain type of thing.

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sketchjay on June 16, 2011 at 3:31 pm said:

Thanks for the really interesting information…nice post

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brainforthought on June 16, 2011 at 3:55 pm said:

I’ll be checking some of those out. I’m always interested in perception vs. reality.

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Ariana@Pearl's twirl on June 16, 2011 at 5:41 pm said:

Really paying taxes and orgasm in the same category, ha? interesting very interesting !!!!!!

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7des7iny on June 16, 2011 at 5:42 pm said:

These books look intriguing 🙂

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Pollyanna Darling on June 16, 2011 at 5:57 pm said:

Hmmm, interesting. The last one sounds like it has a pretty weak premise however. The authors conclusions sound like the same tired old cliches that are always bandied about. Yawn. Women like sex!

Thanks for sharing anyway and congrats on Freshly Pressed. x

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- Morgan Mussell on June 16, 2011 at 6:20 pm said:
  
  It may be a week premise but it drove me to download the book, since I had to find out what they were talking about – hopefully more than the cliche of male-as-doofus. Thanks for the congratulations.
  
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mysoulforsale on June 16, 2011 at 7:50 pm said:

What a fabulous list! I look forward to checking some of those titles out. Thank you very much for sharing it, and congratulations on being freshly pressed!

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- Morgan Mussell on June 16, 2011 at 8:59 pm said:
  
  Thank you, and I’m glad you enjoyed the list.
  
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alexbpop on June 16, 2011 at 7:52 pm said:

Thanks for posting this list. Personally I’m not sold on the idea that the brain is hard-wired or constructed for anything, but I’m interested in reading books like these to see what the theories are. “The Psychopath Test” looks particularly interesting; I’ll keep an eye out for that.

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- Morgan Mussell on June 16, 2011 at 9:12 pm said:
  
  I agree completely that the brain is not hardwired, and yet, to press the analogy to the breaking point, I suspect that some of our collective orientation/worldview functions like an operating system, within which some of these findings are valid.
  
  Or to speak from the Buddhist perspective, the ultimate truth of emptiness (that is, emptiness of anything fixed) doesn’t negate relative truth while the “dream” lasts.
  
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jaswrites on June 16, 2011 at 9:47 pm said:

I just thought I would add in, as they say, my “two cents”

Books on Neuroscience:
– “The Tell Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Quest For What Makes Us Human” by V.S Ramachandran
– “A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness: From Impostor Poodles to Purple Numbers” by V.S Ramachandran

Books on Computational Neuroscience (Mathematical Neuroscience)
– “Computational Modeling of Genetic and Biochemical Networks” by James M Bower and Hamid Bolouri
– “Databasing the Brain – From Data to Knowledge” by Steven Koslow and Shankar Subramaniam
– “Mathematical Foundations of Neuroscience” by G. Bard Ermentrout

I’d like to add a note on computational neuroscience: it’s amazing.

Thank you!

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- Morgan Mussell on June 16, 2011 at 9:56 pm said:
  
  Thanks, Jas, I appreciate these additional titles.
  
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richannkur on June 16, 2011 at 10:36 pm said:

Nice..

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Lafemmeroar on June 16, 2011 at 10:44 pm said:

I know a couple of people that I’d like to test for being psychopaths. I’ll have to buy the book. Thanks for this list 🙂

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Muttix on June 17, 2011 at 1:07 am said:

I’m going to add all these books to my (scarily large) to-read list. Purely for the bragging rights.

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onegirlgiselle on June 17, 2011 at 1:29 am said:

1. I need to look on NPR’s site more often.
2. I love anything about science. I wish I had time to read for pleasure. Maybe I could do a chapter a night. Good idea. Thank you for the suggestions.

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leadinglight on June 17, 2011 at 2:58 am said:

Damn… I’ve wondered if I was a psychopath. I suppose that’s a good thing :p

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be awake on June 17, 2011 at 3:16 am said:

you’ve made good job with this post!
“The bad news: an estimated 1% of the population is psychopathic. The good news: if you wonder if you are, you almost certainly are not.” — so i can sleep peacefully 🙂

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Mr. Freelance on June 17, 2011 at 3:37 am said:

Thanks for this brilliant post! I just put “The compass to Pleasure” on my to-read list for the summer vacation coming up in a few weeks. And, a huge congrats for being Freshly Pressed 🙂 Looking forward to follow your blog.

http://booksjustread.wordpress.com

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- Morgan Mussell on June 17, 2011 at 9:00 am said:
  
  Thank you, I’m glad you stopped by, and I look forward to checking your posts on booksjust read.
  
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Morgan Mussell on June 17, 2011 at 6:53 am said:

Thanks for the suggestion. Wow, so much to read now. To quote Monty Python, “My brain hurts!”

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odysseyhomestore on June 20, 2011 at 1:38 pm said:

well, most of my time is spent “shopping” since that’s what my website is but I am also a closet literati … thanks for the summer reading list. The only thing I can get out of my current list of book-sharers is the top latest mystery novels that have been churned out by the million. I’m looking for and need new ideas for some reading – so thanks!

By the way, if you need anything for outdoor living, check us out, k? thanks again!

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fe on June 21, 2011 at 3:00 am said:

Thanks for sharing this. I am really intrigued to find out more about what Linden’s all about.

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Fuzzy on June 23, 2011 at 8:10 am said:

Congrats to a Freshly Pressed entry. 😀 I loved reading this entry. Hopefully, these books will be available somewhere near me. Loved the analogies too.

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theworldbyozren on June 25, 2011 at 7:05 am said:

Interesting post… Put it together with Noam Chomsky’s work (media propaganda) and how gullible we are and the result of the equation is a lot more than scary

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