Science

Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain

Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain

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  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-04-06 09:51:46
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Lisa Feldman Barrett
  • ISBN：1529018633
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Summary

From the author of How Emotions Are Made， a myth-busting primer on the brain in the tradition of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics and Astrophysics for People in a Hurry。
 
Have you ever wondered why you have a brain？ Let renowned neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett demystify that big gray blob between your ears。 In seven short essays （plus a bite-sized story about how brains evolved）， this slim， entertaining， and accessible collection reveals mind-expanding lessons from the front lines of neuroscience research。 You’ll learn where brains came from， how they’re structured （and why it matters）， and how yours works in tandem with other brains to create everything you experience。 Along the way， you’ll also learn to dismiss popular myths such as the idea of a “lizard brain” and the alleged battle between thoughts and emotions， or even between nature and nurture， to determine your behavior。
 
Sure to intrigue casual readers and scientific veterans alike， Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain is full of surprises， humor， and important implications for human nature—a gift of a book that you will want to savor again and again。
 

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Reviews

Robert ，

This was engaging， well written， but also very short。If you already know something about the brain， perhaps you won't learn that much， but it will reinforce what you've already read。 This was engaging， well written， but also very short。If you already know something about the brain， perhaps you won't learn that much， but it will reinforce what you've already read。 。。。more

Helder Barroso ，

A great follow up read from How Emotions Are made。 For me it solidified the message in the Authors first book which I loved。 It's a very short book and very easy to read。 For those who just want a snippet of this amazing authors work then this is a great book but if you want more， read How Emotions Are Made first。 A great follow up read from How Emotions Are made。 For me it solidified the message in the Authors first book which I loved。 It's a very short book and very easy to read。 For those who just want a snippet of this amazing authors work then this is a great book but if you want more， read How Emotions Are Made first。 。。。more

Tiah ，

~The triune brain is one of the most successful and widespread errors in all of science。~~Scholars usually discuss this issue in terms of nature versus nurture – which aspects of humanity are built into our genes before birth and which ones we learn from our culture。 But this distinction is illusory。~~Society is quick to blame genes when poverty endures across generations for a group of people。 But it’s plausible that those little brains are being molded by poverty。~~Your actions today become yo ~The triune brain is one of the most successful and widespread errors in all of science。~~Scholars usually discuss this issue in terms of nature versus nurture – which aspects of humanity are built into our genes before birth and which ones we learn from our culture。 But this distinction is illusory。~~Society is quick to blame genes when poverty endures across generations for a group of people。 But it’s plausible that those little brains are being molded by poverty。~~Your actions today become your brain’s predictions for tomorrow， and those predictions automatically drive your future actions。 Therefore， you have some freedom to hone your predictions in a new directions， and you have some responsibility for the results。 Not everyone has broad choices about what they can hone， but everyone has some choice。~~If all individual humans had to figure out everything themselves without copying， our species would be extinct。~ 。。。more

Sogon Leong ，

An interesting take towards explaining about the human brain。

Candlin ，

Brilliant， clear， very interesting。 Also amazing how the conclusions she draws from the latest neurological research sound so very Buddhist！ I wrote down a number of quotes and ideas from the book。 So try it。 It’s very short， fun to read， and will give you information about how our brains work that might impact how you relate with yourself and others。 What more can you ask of a book？

Barry C ，

Very well written， subject matter and entertainment wise。 Puts the brain in a new light and opens up the different patterns that we see and take for granted。 Recommend highly for parents， teachers， and inquisitive students。

Jake ，

A book that makes your think。

Nuno Acosta ，

A great book to understand what make us humans。 In the line of Harari’s Sapiens book。Un gran lobro para entender lo que nos hace humanos。 En la línea del libro Sapiens de Harari。

Sandra Ross ，

From a neuroscience， nitty gritty， brain architecture and the way it works point of view， Barrett's book is fascinating。 While I disagree with the evolutionary development of the brain that Barrett proposes （the brain is a complex network of many moving parts that works all the time - I can compare it to technology networks， and I can tell you that don't evolve， but instead are carefully planned， designed， and built from end to end）， there is much to learn about the brain in her book。She careful From a neuroscience， nitty gritty， brain architecture and the way it works point of view， Barrett's book is fascinating。 While I disagree with the evolutionary development of the brain that Barrett proposes （the brain is a complex network of many moving parts that works all the time - I can compare it to technology networks， and I can tell you that don't evolve， but instead are carefully planned， designed， and built from end to end）， there is much to learn about the brain in her book。She carefully - and accurately - makes the distinction between our brains and our minds， because they are not the same thing。 All human brains have the same architecture， but each of minds is uniquely tuned and pruned （two things the brain does all the time） to our unique surroundings。This quote sums it up best:"We come into the world with a basic brain plan that can be wired in an infinite variety of ways to construct different kinds of minds。"Even for non-science people， this book is a good and understandable look into the intricate and vital function of our brains。 I recommend it。 。。。more

Zoe Routh ，

Great short introduction to the brain If you haven’t read anything on neuroscience before then this is a great starting point。 It takes a lot of genius to distill masses of research into simple insights and this is well done。

Kerry ，

This is an interesting little book。 I found the chapter Your Brain Secretly Works with Other Brains to be the most compelling--it makes a strong argument for a kinder world。

Philip Phillipou ，

Nice， quick and easy read。 The author goes into good detail without making it impossible to understand for an average Joe like me。

Rob ，

An excellent review of the latest research into how the brain functions。

Praveen Choudhary ，

Book #16 of 2021Did you know that your brain’s job is not to think。 With seven and a half lessons， Lisa Barrett dispels so many myths that I have to go back to all the psychology books and read them again。 The prefrontal cortex is not unique to human， nor is the reason for our better cognitive skills than animals。 Fascinating。 We are only beginning to realise what brain is what is it capable of。 A pretty short quick read and jargon-free。 Did you know that our mind predicts things before it actua Book #16 of 2021Did you know that your brain’s job is not to think。 With seven and a half lessons， Lisa Barrett dispels so many myths that I have to go back to all the psychology books and read them again。 The prefrontal cortex is not unique to human， nor is the reason for our better cognitive skills than animals。 Fascinating。 We are only beginning to realise what brain is what is it capable of。 A pretty short quick read and jargon-free。 Did you know that our mind predicts things before it actually happens。。。。 read on and get blown away。 。。。more

Vikas Pissay ，

A good collection of essays but only for beginners。

Stany ，

4。5 stars。 Lisa Feldman Barret´s book is even more than my brain predicted it would be。 Counterintuitive insights are explained with clarity and illustrated with well selected examples。 An accomplishment and a joy to read if you like to learn the latest about the brain。

Jen Bojkov ，

Fascinating look at how brains work and the affect they have on our lives， societies， and the world。

Martha ，

I loved this！ Very short， but fascinating， witty， and mind-expanding。 Easy-to-follow explanations of some complex ideas， in particular why your brain does not work the way you （and popular media） probably think it does。 Highly recommended to basically everyone （and brain） in the world。

Heather ，

This is a great wee book dispelling myths about our brains and telling you how they really work。 The weakest parts are when the author lapses into liberalism in the 'can't we all just get along' vein， missing out any political or class or power analysis， but apart from that， eye opening and fascinating。 This is a great wee book dispelling myths about our brains and telling you how they really work。 The weakest parts are when the author lapses into liberalism in the 'can't we all just get along' vein， missing out any political or class or power analysis， but apart from that， eye opening and fascinating。 。。。more

Luciano Elementi ，

Concise， clear， and stimulatingly informative

Ray Schwartz ，

Would prefer to give it 2 3/4 instead of 2 stars。 Quick easy read。 Not a lot of detail。

Meghana Potta ，

The author covers all the foundational concepts: Your brain evolved not for thinking， but to body budget。 The Triune Brain Model is outdated。 Your brain is a network。 Brains wire themselves in response to environmental cues。 Degeneracy in the brain enables your actions and experiences can be created in multiple ways， recruiting various sets of neurons each time。 Slow changes by plasticity， fast changes by neurotransmitters and neuromodulators。 I quite enjoyed her breakdown of Brain function in t The author covers all the foundational concepts: Your brain evolved not for thinking， but to body budget。 The Triune Brain Model is outdated。 Your brain is a network。 Brains wire themselves in response to environmental cues。 Degeneracy in the brain enables your actions and experiences can be created in multiple ways， recruiting various sets of neurons each time。 Slow changes by plasticity， fast changes by neurotransmitters and neuromodulators。 I quite enjoyed her breakdown of Brain function in the last chapters。 Cortical connections enable compression。 Compression enables sensory integration。 Sensory integration enables abstraction。 Abstraction enables flexible predictions based on function rather than physical form。 And how our Social Reality is constructed on our collective ability to impose sovereign function on objects beyond their physical reality。A read that leans far too heavily on the “Did you know” style rhetoric for my taste。 Solid introduction for a novice， slightly hyperbolic for the more informed。 。。。more

Ruth Kilgore ，

Short and fascinating Loved this very clear and easy to follow overview of the latest on brain science。 Loads of implications for personal and organizational improvement efforts

Mark ，

This is an excellent quick read on the current state of knowledge of our amazing brain， by psychology professor and emotions researcher Lisa Feldman Barrett。The foundation of this set of essays is Barrett's belief that our brain evolved to do one primary thing: "budget" the resources of our body。 Its primary mission is to feed us when we're hungry and thirsty， keep us out of danger and otherwise enhance our survival。 All of the brain's other impressive capabilities are fringe benefits， if you wi This is an excellent quick read on the current state of knowledge of our amazing brain， by psychology professor and emotions researcher Lisa Feldman Barrett。The foundation of this set of essays is Barrett's belief that our brain evolved to do one primary thing: "budget" the resources of our body。 Its primary mission is to feed us when we're hungry and thirsty， keep us out of danger and otherwise enhance our survival。 All of the brain's other impressive capabilities are fringe benefits， if you will， of that central purpose。 But that doesn't mean that our brains are just there to meet our basic physical needs。 To enhance our ability to survive and thrive， we also need to be able to live in human communities and interact well with others。 Our brains are designed to be nurtured and enriched by that human contact， first by our parents and then by others with whom we are linked。 Those interactions shape our brains and its connections as deeply and thoroughly as hunger， thirst， fear and lust。 In humans， all of that culminates in the creation of a social reality that we are guided by。 Everything from our language to our money to our government to our borders are inventions of human societies that we have agreed to abide by， to one degree or another。 This social reality， embedded in culture， can then be passed on to future generations， just as much as the raw inheritance of our DNA。I particularly liked Barrett's last chapter， in which she talks about the five C's of human brains: The first four -- creativity， communication， copying and cooperation -- allow us to learn from each other and function as societies。 The last one -- compression -- is both a physical and mental ability。 Our ever refined neuronal connections depend on compression， or extracting the essence from all of the sensations and thoughts we process， and that essence is what allows us to think abstractly， using analogies， metaphors and other brain abilities。For both a primer on brain evolution and function， and for the ideas it stimulates， this book is well worth it。 。。。more

Cindy ，

I enjoyed the length of this book as well as how the information was presented （"lessons"） as it made the material digestible。 I learned new concepts in this book such as body budgeting or allostasis that will help me in my psychotherapy work。 I was also challenged by this book as she makes clear points about where we are wrong about things we believe about our brain （triune brain）。 I must admit that there were times when I wanted to put this book down since I was confused by how she was using c I enjoyed the length of this book as well as how the information was presented （"lessons"） as it made the material digestible。 I learned new concepts in this book such as body budgeting or allostasis that will help me in my psychotherapy work。 I was also challenged by this book as she makes clear points about where we are wrong about things we believe about our brain （triune brain）。 I must admit that there were times when I wanted to put this book down since I was confused by how she was using certain terms such as "human nature" but I kept trucking along and am glad to have read what she had to say。 I wish I had a colleague to talk about this with as it was a lot of information！ 。。。more

Jan Boyarin ，

A short and snappy non-fiction book about current neuroscience。 It presents many misconceptions and misrepresentations about how the brain functions and has evolved。 Details how nature and nurture interact in the development of an acculturated mind。 This is a short read that will challenge your thinking。

Felix Cederfeldt ，

Really enjoyed this short gem！ It was simple while being complex in explaining how our brains work and how they work individually， socially and how they can affect other brains。 I guess I could compare its accessibility to Neil DeGrasse Tyson's "Astrophysics for People in a Hurry"。I don't really have anything to complain about; the book was funny， used interesting analogies and metaphors， explained and satisfied my curious Brain （hehe）。 Really enjoyed this short gem！ It was simple while being complex in explaining how our brains work and how they work individually， socially and how they can affect other brains。 I guess I could compare its accessibility to Neil DeGrasse Tyson's "Astrophysics for People in a Hurry"。I don't really have anything to complain about; the book was funny， used interesting analogies and metaphors， explained and satisfied my curious Brain （hehe）。 。。。more

Bob ，

This is a very enjoyable and captivating read。 I just wish there were more than seven and a half lessons in the book。 I much appreciate the look at brain science from an evolutionary point of view。 Non-scientists will NOT be turned off by this book。

Jammie。P ，

An interesting book but it would be nice if the book includes more studies and detailed explanations。 Maybe the title of the book raised the bar and I am expecting some more studies and evidence。 For example， on the metaphor of emotional and rational brain， I read about this in some other books on psychology and neuroscience and from the MRI brain， studies quoted and my personal experience， I found the metaphor very convincing。 However， in this book， nothing similar was provided， but just the co An interesting book but it would be nice if the book includes more studies and detailed explanations。 Maybe the title of the book raised the bar and I am expecting some more studies and evidence。 For example， on the metaphor of emotional and rational brain， I read about this in some other books on psychology and neuroscience and from the MRI brain， studies quoted and my personal experience， I found the metaphor very convincing。 However， in this book， nothing similar was provided， but just the conclusion。 The Book in 3 Sentences1。 Our brain is not for thinking， but for body budgeting （manage allostasis） ， and our brain not only manage our own body budgeting， but also the others。 2。 It is so complex that we describe it by metaphors and mistake them for actual brain structures， for example the metaphor of lizard brain or emotional brain vs。 rational brain， while it works as a network。 3。 Our brains process the massive amount of information by compressing and summarising it， that allows us to think abstractly， create social reality and our memory and experience also allows us to make predictions on what would happen and act accordingly （The classic conditioning experiment） How the Book Changed Me / thoughts- *'If we don't use it， you lose it'* is for real。 Plasticity is ongoing throughout life， especially when we were infants because we were born with more neuron connections that we need。 By tuning （ strengthening connections between neurons that we use a lot and are important） and pruning （ discarding the connections that we seldom use）， we reserve the energy maintaining those connections and are able to make room for more useful connections to be tuned and to learn something new。 - Taking care of an infant's need， the caregivers help the baby's brain maintain it's body budget。 If done effectively， the baby's brain is free to tune and prune itself to perform healthy body budgeting。 When an infant is crying for a long time and you don’t check in regularly， her brain may learn that the world is unreliable and unsafe while her body budget goes untended。- We are social animals that we regulate one another's body budgets - our family， friends and even strangers play a role in our body budgeting， and thus， out brain structureMy Top 3 Quotes- But we can say what is your brain’s most important job。 It’s not rationality。 Not emotion。 Not imagination， or creativity， or empathy。 Your brain’s most important job is to control your body—to manage allostasis—by predicting energy needs before they arise so you can efficiently make worthwhile movements and survive。- Well-tuned connections are more efficient at carrying and processing information than poorly tuned ones and are therefore more likely to be reused in the future。Meanwhile， less-used connections weaken and die off。- Part of being a social species， it turns out， is that we regulate one another’s body budgets—the ways in which our brains manage the bodily resources we use every day。 。。。more

Alex ，

I expected more science？？？ This also felt very repetitive for such a short book。

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0