Know Thyself: The Science of Self-Awareness
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-04-29 09:31:11
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Stephen M. Fleming
- ISBN：1541672844
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Summary
The surprising science of the human mind's greatest power: introspection
It happens to everyone: You are asked a question -- even something you know well， such as the name of a longtime colleague -- and can't answer。 The information is stuck on the tip of your tongue。 It's an experience so frustrating that it seems like it must be a brain malfunction。 In fact， it's actually a hallmark of our greatest power: self-awareness。
As cognitive neuroscientist Stephen M。 Fleming shows in Know Thyself，self-awareness shapes our intelligence， memory， and conscious experience。 It's integral to how we teach and learn。 We use it every time we weigh difficult questions， such as assessing how we'd respond in a crisis。 Drawing on psychology and neuroscience， Fleming provides deep insight into how self-awareness works， and how we can enhance our ability to know our strengths and weaknesses。 In the end， this book isn'tjust about psychology: it's about the science of human excellence。
It happens to everyone: You are asked a question -- even something you know well， such as the name of a longtime colleague -- and can't answer。 The information is stuck on the tip of your tongue。 It's an experience so frustrating that it seems like it must be a brain malfunction。 In fact， it's actually a hallmark of our greatest power: self-awareness。
As cognitive neuroscientist Stephen M。 Fleming shows in Know Thyself，self-awareness shapes our intelligence， memory， and conscious experience。 It's integral to how we teach and learn。 We use it every time we weigh difficult questions， such as assessing how we'd respond in a crisis。 Drawing on psychology and neuroscience， Fleming provides deep insight into how self-awareness works， and how we can enhance our ability to know our strengths and weaknesses。 In the end， this book isn'tjust about psychology: it's about the science of human excellence。
Reviews
Kristine
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Know Thyself by Stephen M。 Fleming is a free NetGalley ebook that I read in late April。To know thyself is to have the confidence in what you already know for certain， the ability to interpret new information， synthesize it with logic and heuristics， then bring up accurate answers and solutions from your breadth of knowledge， and what inner cognitive workings of the brain occur to make that all happen。 It promises a lot from the start and， through well-spaced and well-presented histories， hypothe Know Thyself by Stephen M。 Fleming is a free NetGalley ebook that I read in late April。To know thyself is to have the confidence in what you already know for certain， the ability to interpret new information， synthesize it with logic and heuristics， then bring up accurate answers and solutions from your breadth of knowledge， and what inner cognitive workings of the brain occur to make that all happen。 It promises a lot from the start and， through well-spaced and well-presented histories， hypotheticals， and case studies， does it deliver？ Yes， mostly。 。。。more
John Ferngrove
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This is a book in essentially two halves。 The first is a situation report from the present frontiers of neuroscience， or rather one of its frontiers。 The central theme is that of metacognition。 These are the processes in the brain that monitor our cognitive performance on any number of tasks from reaching to pick up a cup of coffee and then avoid spilling it， to assess the effects our actions have on those around us up to how we decide our own best strategy for cramming before an exam。 The first This is a book in essentially two halves。 The first is a situation report from the present frontiers of neuroscience， or rather one of its frontiers。 The central theme is that of metacognition。 These are the processes in the brain that monitor our cognitive performance on any number of tasks from reaching to pick up a cup of coffee and then avoid spilling it， to assess the effects our actions have on those around us up to how we decide our own best strategy for cramming before an exam。 The first half of the book gives us a quick tour of what's been going on in cognitive psychology labs with regard these cognitive functions lately。The second part of the book looks at the implications of these latest findings on wider human affairs and they are indeed pervasive。 IT has implications for the propagation of fake news to the reliability of witness testimony in courts， even to the point that a witness who appears confident with flimsy evidence could well influence a jury more than a hesitant witness with solid evidence。 There is a diffuse argument about how forming awareness of our own metacognitive biases is the key to better 'knowing thyself'， socratically speaking。 It seems to me that introducing reflection on these issues at an early stage of education could well have broad social benefits。 The book is very clearly written and pitched well for the lay reader。 If you like your neuroscience a little deeper you will probably find this treatment too shallow。 。。。more
Theodore Kinni
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Really good exploration of metacognition--the human ability of self-awareness that enables us to know ourselves and understanding our thoughts and actions （forthcoming April 2021）
David Wineberg
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There is less and less in the way new fields of endeavor for psychologists， it seems。 So a book on self-awareness holds promise。 Stephen Fleming， who researches and teaches about it， has summed up the state of the art in Know Thyself。 There is much to understand， but less to be excited about。Self-awareness is called metacognition in the biz。 It has been studied in animals （the famous mirror tests that elephants and dolphins pass， but cats and birds fail）。 It is most common in homo Sapiens， who i There is less and less in the way new fields of endeavor for psychologists， it seems。 So a book on self-awareness holds promise。 Stephen Fleming， who researches and teaches about it， has summed up the state of the art in Know Thyself。 There is much to understand， but less to be excited about。Self-awareness is called metacognition in the biz。 It has been studied in animals （the famous mirror tests that elephants and dolphins pass， but cats and birds fail）。 It is most common in homo Sapiens， who is constantly introspective （a word which oddly does not show up in the book until ¾ of the way through）。 Man evaluates himself and others constantly， automatically and unconsciously。 It’s called mindreading in the biz， but it is a learned appreciation of what others might be thinking or feeling。 We do this to avoid saying something stupid and looking foolish。 We thereby seem to have insight， or at least be “with it”。 We also have the ability， if not the obsession， with looking backward and criticizing ourselves for having done or said something stupid， or ignorantly， or just in error。 Fleming says “We track uncertainty， monitor our actions， and continually update a model of our minds at work—allowing us to know when our memory or vision might be failing or to encode knowledge about skills， abilities， and personalities。” We are forever thinking about our thinking。 This， possibly fortunately， is unique in the animal kingdom。Metacognition is not fixed。 It can be degraded， stuck， fixed or enhanced with practice。 What is still not clear is if any of these states is desirable。 So there’s lots of studying going on。 The book is chock full of simple， complex and innovative psychological studies to measure the depth and effects of metacognition。 Fleming does it for a living。 If anyone knows， he does。There are times and places where self-awareness is a liability。 Fleming gives the examples of learned actions， like playing a piano piece or swinging a golf club。 The very last thing anyone wants to do is have a crisis of self-confidence in the midst of swinging a bat or shooting alien attackers。 These kinds of things must， of clear necessity， be devoid of self-awareness， and just rely totally on automatic action。 So we can turn off metacognition when necessary。Physically， metacognition takes place in several parts of the brain， but is headquartered in the frontal lobes， the newest parts of the brain， specifically the lateral frontopolar cortex。 Those with higher metacognition have higher amounts prefrontal gray matter as well as greater white matter to connect that gray matter throughout the brain。I happen to work with brain trauma injury victims， people who’ve been in car crashes or fallen off ladders， and I can tell you the first thing to go – because it is up front and right against the skull above the eyes – is self-awareness。 Hit your head on the dashboard and you could lose self-awareness just like that。 Lack of it dramatically changes a person’s ability to appear normal， transact business or converse in a relaxed manner。 Being considerate or selfless is no longer on the agenda。 Fleming cites studies of tribal societies where people are not permitted to ask after each other’s health or emotions。 They develop self-awareness far later and more weakly than those who live in complex societies where reading everyone else is critical。 In most humans， development of self-awareness begins around age four， and is fully fledged by the end of high school。 Though， as Fleming points out at the end， with effort it can still be improved throughout adulthood。 （assuming the brain is not physically damaged）。The key to measuring self-awareness seems to be the confidence level （“Is that your final answer？”）。 Numerous psychological studies ask participants to re-evaluate their confidence in their initial answers。 Higher self-awareness is associated with higher confidence levels。 Middling confidence can be a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure。 Lack of confidence means we didn’t read the other person correctly or enough – and we know it。However。 The thing about confidence levels is that no matter how self-aware someone might be， their evaluation might not be accurate。 People can be totally confident in a statement， and still be totally wrong。 This takes the potential for the employment of self-awareness down several notches。 Fleming’s best example is the eyewitness。 Juries value the testimony of an eyewitness most highly。 But eyewitnesses have proven to be wrong again and again， sending the innocent to prison or even execution。 Sadly， whole organizations must dedicate their time and effort to overcoming wrongful convictions by unanimous juries and confident eyewitnesses。 It is far too common， and a clear symptom of overconfidence by the both the witness and the jury。 Overconfidence can be as bad as lack thereof。Fleming has managed to see hope in this。 He says “by recognizing that our confidence in our views is a construction， and prone to distortion， we can cultivate a more tolerant attitude toward others who may not agree with us。” That would indeed be a different society from what we have under management today。Near the end， Fleming does come up with a potentially useful and practical application of self-awareness。 If engineers busily working on artificial intelligence could just “simply” build in confidence levels， machines could tell us how they feel about a decision they are making。 This would be especially valuable in， for example， self-driving cars。 If the car were faced with a choice （imminently killing a dog vs。 hitting another car）， the dash could glow green or blue or yellow or red according to its level of confidence。 The driver could then assume control， letting the car off the hook。It would have been nice if Fleming could have written a whole chapter of useful applications for metacognition， but self-driving cars was the best of a very short list。 So while Know Thyself is thorough and clinical， safely scientific in its approach， it is not at all inspirational。 Metacognition seems to be a science in search of a mission。 I don’t see readers dropping out of their day jobs to pursue it。 Or even giving it a further thought。 It is， after all is said and done， mildly interesting。David Wineberg 。。。more
Justine
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