Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes
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- Create Date：2021-09-11 06:53:25
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Maria Konnikova
- ISBN：014312434X
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Summary
The New York Times bestselling guide to thinking like literature's greatest detective
No fictional character is more renowned for his powers of thought and observation than Sherlock Holmes。 But is his extraordinary intellect merely a gift of fiction， or can we learn to cultivate these abilities ourselves， to improve our lives at work and at home？
We can， says psychologist and journalist Maria Konnikova， and in Mastermind she shows us how。 Beginning with the “brain attic”—Holmes’s metaphor for how we store information and organize knowledge—Konnikova unpacks the mental strategies that lead to clearer thinking and deeper insights。 Drawing on twenty-first-century neuroscience and psychology， Mastermind explores Holmes’s unique methods of ever-present mindfulness， astute observation， and logical deduction。 In doing so， it shows how each of us， with some self-awareness and a little practice， can employ these same methods to sharpen our perceptions， solve difficult problems， and enhance our creative powers。 For Holmes aficionados and casual readers alike， Konnikova reveals how the world’s most keen-eyed detective can serve as an unparalleled guide to upgrading the mind。
No fictional character is more renowned for his powers of thought and observation than Sherlock Holmes。 But is his extraordinary intellect merely a gift of fiction， or can we learn to cultivate these abilities ourselves， to improve our lives at work and at home？
We can， says psychologist and journalist Maria Konnikova， and in Mastermind she shows us how。 Beginning with the “brain attic”—Holmes’s metaphor for how we store information and organize knowledge—Konnikova unpacks the mental strategies that lead to clearer thinking and deeper insights。 Drawing on twenty-first-century neuroscience and psychology， Mastermind explores Holmes’s unique methods of ever-present mindfulness， astute observation， and logical deduction。 In doing so， it shows how each of us， with some self-awareness and a little practice， can employ these same methods to sharpen our perceptions， solve difficult problems， and enhance our creative powers。 For Holmes aficionados and casual readers alike， Konnikova reveals how the world’s most keen-eyed detective can serve as an unparalleled guide to upgrading the mind。
Reviews
Conrad
，
Educating and entertaining。 A joy to read。 Will be reading some of the books in the "Further Reading" section eventually。 Educating and entertaining。 A joy to read。 Will be reading some of the books in the "Further Reading" section eventually。 。。。more
Ana
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I believe there's a lot of foreshadowing happening in this book。 There's lots of "we'll explain that further along in the book" and I don't really like that。 I like books that discuss stuff and get right to it， otherwise it's just confusing and honestly it makes the book seem longer than it actually is。 I believe there's a lot of foreshadowing happening in this book。 There's lots of "we'll explain that further along in the book" and I don't really like that。 I like books that discuss stuff and get right to it， otherwise it's just confusing and honestly it makes the book seem longer than it actually is。 。。。more
Lynley
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2 starsWhat started as a really interesting premise got SO drug out and repetitive。 This was just repeating the same analysis of Sherlock being smart without actually giving us anything concrete to do about it。 I’m really bummed because I was loving this book for like the first 100 pages and then it just lost me。 I’m finding a trend within nonfic books is that they like saying the same thing over and over again。 Disappointing。
Moniek Baars
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In haar jeugd las haar vader 's avonds verhalen van Sherlock Holmes voor。 Konnikova was vol bewondering voor de man die zomaar feiten wist。 Hoe deed hij dat？ Want dat wilde zij natuurlijk ook。 En dat begrijp ik best， want dat wil ik ook。 Konnikova werd psychologe， schrijfster en pokerspeelster。Ze deelde het boek in vier delen， elk bevat twee hoofdstukken over The Brain en de Zolder waar The Brain huist。 Wat stop je daar en waarom， hoe ga je daar mee om？ Konnikova illustreert haar psychologische In haar jeugd las haar vader 's avonds verhalen van Sherlock Holmes voor。 Konnikova was vol bewondering voor de man die zomaar feiten wist。 Hoe deed hij dat？ Want dat wilde zij natuurlijk ook。 En dat begrijp ik best， want dat wil ik ook。 Konnikova werd psychologe， schrijfster en pokerspeelster。Ze deelde het boek in vier delen， elk bevat twee hoofdstukken over The Brain en de Zolder waar The Brain huist。 Wat stop je daar en waarom， hoe ga je daar mee om？ Konnikova illustreert haar psychologische bevindingen met scènes uit de verhalen over Sherlock Holmes。 Een goed excuus om die boeken er weer eens bij te pakken。 Maar hoe leuk en inspirerend ook， ik bleef niet 'on track' en nu ik er over schrijf realiseer ik me dat ik alles wat Konnikova me wilde leren， keihard ben vergeten。 Gelukkig heb ik hier en daar een streep in de kantlijn gezet en een ezelsoor gevouwen。Onze hersenen accepteren alles wat hen wordt voorgezet。 Eerst geloven we， daarna gaan we vragen stellen。 Het is alsof onze hersenen de wereld bekijken als een waar/ niet waar examen waarbij het standaardantwoord 'waar' is。 En elke verandering naar 'niet waar' vergt doorzettingsvermogen， tijd en energie。We gaan er ook vanuit dat iemand zelf echt gelooft wat hij/ zij zegt。 Ook al lijkt het tegendeel waar， we hebben onze eerste indruk en die is moeilijk weg te krijgen。En dan iets wat onze creativiteit stimuleert zonder dat we ons dat al te zeer bewust zijn: kunst aan de muur， de kleur blauw， afbeeldingen van beroemde denkers， blije gezichten， vrolijke muziek， planten en bloemen。 Blijkbaar vond ik dit erg de moeite waard om te onthouden， gezien de vouw in het papier。Ze benoemt sommige acties Watson-acties en andere Sherlock-acties。 Het heeft te maken met de primaire gedachtengang。 Wacht nou maar even， veeg de veronderstellingen en standaardantwoorden eerst aan de kant， en zie dan wat overblijft。 Want ook al lijkt het niet waar， als het de enige mogelijkheid is， moeten we het zien als dé oplossing。Leuk om op papier en als naslagwerk in de kast te hebben。 。。。more
Mariel Aquino
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Was obsessed with this book as a kid！ Re reading it now， it still holds up with some core concepts。 The entire book can be considered an applied example of assumption questioning and first principles reasoning， and breaking down how it shows up in Sherlock Holmes novels。
Jessica
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I enjoyed Konnikova's book about poker a little bit more but I found this book really interesting。 The value of this book is that it relates a lot of helpful ways to think and has re-instilled some confidence in me about presenting my own thoughts and theories。 I enjoyed Konnikova's book about poker a little bit more but I found this book really interesting。 The value of this book is that it relates a lot of helpful ways to think and has re-instilled some confidence in me about presenting my own thoughts and theories。 。。。more
Corina Tiuş
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I don't know if I had so big expectations， but I was very disapponited about it。The story of Sherlock Holmes was involved for a better understanding but the final stage with the conclusion of the case wasn't revealed。 For a person who did not read the storys of Sherlock Holmes can be annoying becouse the case was presented， but the denouement has not been revealed。I found good information in this book， and I understand better the importance of the engagement in the proces of thinking and observa I don't know if I had so big expectations， but I was very disapponited about it。The story of Sherlock Holmes was involved for a better understanding but the final stage with the conclusion of the case wasn't revealed。 For a person who did not read the storys of Sherlock Holmes can be annoying becouse the case was presented， but the denouement has not been revealed。I found good information in this book， and I understand better the importance of the engagement in the proces of thinking and observation， but like I said I had greather expectations about it。 。。。more
Alex Hopkins
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Very informative and breaks down a mind like Sherlock Holmes and gives tips and tricks to think like he does， and evaluating your surroundings。
Aly
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Complesso ma interessante presenta i più recenti studi sul funzionamento della mente in modo dinamico e coinvolgente。
Jeff French
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Comparing Sherlock Holmes' and Dr。 Watson's methods of thinking is a clever way to describe the concept of mindfulness， as exemplified by Holmes， while showing the limitations of Watson's more spontaneous， emotional approach to problem solving。 To accept Konnikova's premise requires willfully forgetting that Holmes is a fictitious character whose powers of observation are enhanced by his having been made privy to the often specialized knowledge that Doyle gives him; however， she does show us how Comparing Sherlock Holmes' and Dr。 Watson's methods of thinking is a clever way to describe the concept of mindfulness， as exemplified by Holmes， while showing the limitations of Watson's more spontaneous， emotional approach to problem solving。 To accept Konnikova's premise requires willfully forgetting that Holmes is a fictitious character whose powers of observation are enhanced by his having been made privy to the often specialized knowledge that Doyle gives him; however， she does show us how to avoid jumping to conclusions based on false impressions when meeting new people， making a decision， or solving a problem。 I see this book as part of a trilogy， along with The Confidence Game and The Biggest Bluff， that explores mindfulness vs。 spontaneity， wishful thinking and gullibility vs。 skepticism and evidence， and strategy vs。 chance， the culminating lessons of poker in The Biggest Bluff。 The three together compare two sides of our minds， the emotional and the rational， in their roles in our lives。 If you read all three， save The Biggest Bluff for last！ 。。。more
Paul
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Daniel Kahneman， meet Sherlock Holmes。 For those well versed in the latest research on cognitive science and decision-making， there is not a lot of new material here。 But it is illustrated with examples from the Great Detective himself and interestingly presented。 I think the printed book would be better than the audio book because of some visuals that don't necessarily translate well to the audio book。 What I got most out of the book was a desire to re-read the Holmes canon， only this time I'm Daniel Kahneman， meet Sherlock Holmes。 For those well versed in the latest research on cognitive science and decision-making， there is not a lot of new material here。 But it is illustrated with examples from the Great Detective himself and interestingly presented。 I think the printed book would be better than the audio book because of some visuals that don't necessarily translate well to the audio book。 What I got most out of the book was a desire to re-read the Holmes canon， only this time I'm sure I'll see it in a whole new light。 。。。more
Necdet Yücel
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Sherlock Holmes gibi düşünmek okuyarak elde edilebilecek bir yeterlilik olmasa da bütün Holmes romanlarını okumuş ve analiz etmiş birinden onun düşünme şeklini okumak güzel。
Jo
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This was an interesting and definitely thought provoking book。 It challenges the reader to think critically。
maggie ☾❥
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This book was really really good， in fact I didn’t know that there would be a whole book out in the world， dedicated to analyzing how Sherlock Holmes thinks。 After reading Sherlock Holmes， I got really interested in mystery books， how he solves crimes， and crimes in general， so this book was really enjoyableThis book was mainly about psychology， it broke down how Sherlock Holmes thinks， but also shows more of the science inside the brain of what happens。 Detective work is a lot more scientific a This book was really really good， in fact I didn’t know that there would be a whole book out in the world， dedicated to analyzing how Sherlock Holmes thinks。 After reading Sherlock Holmes， I got really interested in mystery books， how he solves crimes， and crimes in general， so this book was really enjoyableThis book was mainly about psychology， it broke down how Sherlock Holmes thinks， but also shows more of the science inside the brain of what happens。 Detective work is a lot more scientific and based on observations and deductions—its very precise and follows the scientific method。 I’m someone who eyeballs a lot of things， so being able to change the way I think is pretty cool。 This book also showed me that being able to think like Sherlock Holmes （Or at least close to how he thinks like） is possible， except with a ton of practice and motivation。 He’s definitely a genius， but having a professor in this book breaking down the parts and encouraging its readers that thinking like Sherlock is possible？ This was an enjoyable bookIt does have some parts where it breaks down in scenes from Sherlock Holmes and how he thinks， but its mainly psychology and the science of how the brain thinks， neuroscience， how to improve thinking， etc。This was one of the books where I marked a ton of stuff on pages-many of the paragraphs were really packed with information and dense， but overall， this book might be one of my favorites！-I’m also planning to re-read Sherlock Holmes soon as well， so I can’t wait to follow some more of his adventures！ 。。。more
Joaquin
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Overall a good book in my opinion， The ideas were integrated well and the examples given was a joy to read。 Because of this book， Sherlock Holmes has now been added to my reading list。 Only complaint is the redundancy of ideas by the end parts pf the books however it was still a good and enjoyable
Mester Yui
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Al igual que el de no tan elemental de Daniel tubau está muy bien este es un poco más complejo pero detalla mucho mejor algunos aspectos de el pensar lógico de Sherlock Holmes
orlando almario
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A good book， would be a great book if it were shorterThe book felt longer than it should be for me。 There a are some great insights in it about how our mind works and how we can be more self aware。 I feel it concentrate more in the pitfalls than in giving actionable strategies。 But that’s a personal preference really。 I am glad I read it and found useful thinks in here， is it were shorter I would have given it 4 stars。
John
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Intetesting read。i enjoyed this book immensley。
Jordan Brown
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Konnikova is a great writer。 This much is true。 But the problem with this book is that there are endless Holmes examples and they weave in and out of view at a ferocious pace。 I wish she would have stayed with some of the stories a bit longer without repeating the lessons to be learned over and over， in slightly varied ways。 I had never read a full book by Konnikova， so I enjoyed her lyrical style， but the book just wore me down after a while and I found myself searching for the concepts that mo Konnikova is a great writer。 This much is true。 But the problem with this book is that there are endless Holmes examples and they weave in and out of view at a ferocious pace。 I wish she would have stayed with some of the stories a bit longer without repeating the lessons to be learned over and over， in slightly varied ways。 I had never read a full book by Konnikova， so I enjoyed her lyrical style， but the book just wore me down after a while and I found myself searching for the concepts that most interested me。 If you’ve never read anything about Holmes or cognitive distortions， then I think you’ll learn a lot in an entertaining way。 Other than that， maybe don’t slog through like I did。 。。。more
PR135T
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It's strange how the brain controls the brain。。。 It's strange how the brain controls the brain。。。 。。。more
Tijana
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。。。more
Muhammad Andyva
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It's attractive enough for new people that want to understand Sherlock's train of thought。 But， for people that already learn about this， it might lead to a refresher course。 I， personally， am the latter。 This is similar to Kahneman's book but using Sherlock as its basis。 All in all it's entertaining to jog the memory。 It's attractive enough for new people that want to understand Sherlock's train of thought。 But， for people that already learn about this， it might lead to a refresher course。 I， personally， am the latter。 This is similar to Kahneman's book but using Sherlock as its basis。 All in all it's entertaining to jog the memory。 。。。more
Elisabeth
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An enjoyable read; it sent me back to stories I hadn't read and episodes of Jeremy Brett's Holmes which I could watch over and over again。 The actual practice is not likely to be of much use to be personally， but perhaps to someone more dedicated。 An enjoyable read; it sent me back to stories I hadn't read and episodes of Jeremy Brett's Holmes which I could watch over and over again。 The actual practice is not likely to be of much use to be personally， but perhaps to someone more dedicated。 。。。more
Lorraine McCann
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I read this after The Confidence Game and didn't love it quite as much。 It's still very good but I felt it was a wee bit repetitive in places。 It's also undoubtedly much more fun to read if you're a fan of Sherlock Holmes and I haven't read a single word of Holmes。 MK is a good writer， though。 Enjoyable， if not ultimately all that memorable。 I read this after The Confidence Game and didn't love it quite as much。 It's still very good but I felt it was a wee bit repetitive in places。 It's also undoubtedly much more fun to read if you're a fan of Sherlock Holmes and I haven't read a single word of Holmes。 MK is a good writer， though。 Enjoyable， if not ultimately all that memorable。 。。。more
Fotis Koutoulakis
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This book irks me plenty。I found my enjoyment and appreciation of this book oscillating like a sine wave - at times I was thinking this is a 4 stars book and on others I felt a -2 would have been an act of charity。 The writing style of the author made part of the book very hard for me to push through， nearly a drag。As horrible as the first part however was， it gets better towards the end。 Chapter 8 and the Postlude I found surprisingly good and informational myself。
Fred Forbes
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I started with her book on poker， went to the prior one on con games and finally arrived back here on her first。 While I think I enjoyed the other two more， I think I would have rated this higher had I been a true Sherlock Holmes fan as she constantly refers to his tales。 The process she explains sets off "Holmes thinking" against the rest of us with "Watson thinking"。 Clear writing that held my interest and a good book for students of the human mind。 I started with her book on poker， went to the prior one on con games and finally arrived back here on her first。 While I think I enjoyed the other two more， I think I would have rated this higher had I been a true Sherlock Holmes fan as she constantly refers to his tales。 The process she explains sets off "Holmes thinking" against the rest of us with "Watson thinking"。 Clear writing that held my interest and a good book for students of the human mind。 。。。more
Jonathan Leo
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a fan of sherlock and cognitive psych will enjoy this， i guess， as the author points out the cognitive processes that underlie sherlock's and watson's thinking。 but if not it's also a good primer into the hot topics of cognitive psychology。 the prose is a bit drab at times a fan of sherlock and cognitive psych will enjoy this， i guess， as the author points out the cognitive processes that underlie sherlock's and watson's thinking。 but if not it's also a good primer into the hot topics of cognitive psychology。 the prose is a bit drab at times 。。。more
Sacapsie
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Boy， am I glad to finally be done with this one。 It's the longest 300-page book I've ever read。 I am also quite glad not to have paid any money for it， because right about now I would feel quite cheated。 Not only did the book feel quite long， it was infuriating and vapid。I confess I might not be in the target audience for this book。 I do not need a snotnosed grad student's help in thinking like a fictional book character， and I have read enough pop science books （and some actual science） that mo Boy， am I glad to finally be done with this one。 It's the longest 300-page book I've ever read。 I am also quite glad not to have paid any money for it， because right about now I would feel quite cheated。 Not only did the book feel quite long， it was infuriating and vapid。I confess I might not be in the target audience for this book。 I do not need a snotnosed grad student's help in thinking like a fictional book character， and I have read enough pop science books （and some actual science） that most of the book's contents is not new to me。 Just about the only parts that were new to me were that Arthur Conan Doyle was instrumental in the creation of the judicial appeals system， and that he fell for a photographic fairy hoax。 But， I've run into Konnikova's writing in various standard middlebrow liberal outlets， like the New Yorker and the Atlantic， and I was intrigued to see what her long-form writing is like。 So I started this。In about 20 pages it was abundantly clear that this book would suck hard。 Konnikova can write short articles， but if this book is any indication， she should stick to short articles。 There is value in being able to write entertaining short pieces; I read something of hers on gambling that was quite thrilling。 This book， though， felt bloated。 In fact， Maria， I'll say this in words you'll understand: книга высосана из пальца。 That's a little Russian idiom that literally means "sucked out of a finger"， and figuratively refers to， well， this sort of writing--something that was done with little research， made up on the spot， possibly to fill out a contracted page/word count as agreed with the publisher。I read an interesting article in N+1 recently about the current state of the publishing industry， and it had some unkind words for modern nonfiction books:But today many so-called serious nonfiction books — or maybe they are the “big idea” books — are little more than padded-out proposals。 They are stultifying， plodding， overlong， as if the purpose of serious nonfiction was to serve as a soapbox for para-literary or -academic celebrities to elaborate on their pet issues。 In editorial meetings， they exist as proposals just on the verge of bloat， full of contrarian takes on “hot-button issues” that appeal precisely for their cheapness and ostensible catchiness。 These proposals — and the books that emerge — presuppose their own conclusions。 See the increasingly vacuous work of Jared Diamond， or almost anything on Bloomberg’s recent list of business leaders’ favorite books （“This book was written by an entrepreneur who hires a Navy SEAL to live with him and get him out of his comfort zone。 It really captures what being an entrepreneur is”）， or， for that matter， Naomi Wolf。 You know what’s in all these books without having to read them， which may explain their occasional appeal to consumers。 But the publishers still have to read them — or at least the copy editors do。 Why suffer？（source: https://nplusonemag。com/issue-36/the-。。。）This pretty much describes this book to a T。 I am pretty sure the editors did not make it through the whole book awake。 （At some point， there are misspellings， like "corpus callosum" is spelled "collosum"。。。） About 30% of the book， if not more， is Konnikova retelling "in her own words" various parts of the Sherlock Holmes books。 Each chapter ends with citations for "further reading"， but they only tell you where the quotes came from。 I mean， she gives the titles in the text， so you could just go on Gutenberg and look for the html versions of the books and search them for the quotes， so that's a waste of paper。 Indeed， there is a sort of "further reading" section in the back matter portion of the book， but it mostly does not give references for the studies she summarizes--instead she cites other pop science books。 So yeah， I wouldn't look to this one to improve your mind， even as an entertaining pop science read。One of the things that drove me crazy while reading the book is the second person writing。 I suppose Konnikova picked up somewhere that one is supposed to address the reader， like a conversation partner， to make the reader feel more involved。 When she's not talking to "you"， she's talking of "us"， how "we" think， and all the cognitive pitfalls "we" fall into。 Speak for yourself now， won't you？ Some of the stuff is so patently idiotic I groaned while reading the book。 For example， Konnikova thinks it is an amazing revelation that when she was growing up， her dad read the Conan Doyle books to her in Russian。 "Look， Dumb Reader！ I gave you all the clues！ My sister grew up in the Soviet Union！ My name is Konnikova！ Dad read from an old edition！" Those clues did not escape me， okay？ In fact， one of the most annoying things about the book is that Konnikova does not consider the possibility that her audience might include some people who know things， or might not be as stupid as she expects the world to be。 Hence the lack of proper citations， or the lack of acknowledgment of such important things （when discussing social science research） as tiny effect sizes and p-hacking。 Which are known problems with a few of the studies that she discusses。Anyway， I got so annoyed with her that I went to Dissertations Global and got her thesis。 What I learned from this is that it is a whopping 82 pages long， not counting references and figures/tables。 She does not do any particularly sophisticated stats in it; certainly not up to publication standard in the field at the time。 It has been cited a modest 7 times since it was written。 To her credit， she wrote this Mastermind dreck around the same time as her thesis; that's actually a lot of writing。 But I would hazard a guess that her heart wasn't really in it to write a more contentful dissertation， and her mind wasn't ready to write a smart， mature book at the time。 The committee probably let her defend and file because they knew that she wasn't going to stay in academia anyway， and the stakes for such vanity theses are generally lower。 I would say it's about right for someone who devoted a considerable amount of energy and effort to playing。。。 poker。 Sherlock would be proud。 。。。more
Carolyn
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The author seems to have a thorough understanding of Holmes' sleuthing gift and offers practical advice and "how-to" for us commoners （like Watson） to achieve said deductive mind。 Having the proper mindset and the motivation to PRACTICE using the many thinking tips that she suggests， however， is far more than what I want to do at this stage of my life。 She provides much evidence directly from the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle， author of the Sherlock Holmes series， and now I want to read all of The author seems to have a thorough understanding of Holmes' sleuthing gift and offers practical advice and "how-to" for us commoners （like Watson） to achieve said deductive mind。 Having the proper mindset and the motivation to PRACTICE using the many thinking tips that she suggests， however， is far more than what I want to do at this stage of my life。 She provides much evidence directly from the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle， author of the Sherlock Holmes series， and now I want to read all of the Sherlock Holmes stories！ 。。。more
Bharat Krishnan
，