A Mind of Its Own

How Your Brain Distorts and Deceives

By: Cordelia Fine

Narrated by: Judith West

"Provocative enough to make you start questioning your each and every action." (Entertainment Weekly)

The brain's power is confirmed and touted every day in new studies and research. And yet we tend to take our brains for granted, without suspecting that those masses of hard-working neurons might not always be working for us.

Cordelia Fine introduces us to a brain we might not want to meet, a brain with a mind of its own. She illustrates the brain's tendency toward self-delusion as she explores how the mind defends and glorifies the ego by twisting and warping our perceptions. Our brains employ a slew of inborn mind-bugs and prejudices, from hindsight bias to unrealistic optimism, from moral excuse-making to wishful thinking - all designed to prevent us from seeing the truth about the world and the people around us, and about ourselves.

©2006, 2005 Cordelia Fine (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

This is a must read for anyone with a brain :)

What made the experience of listening to A Mind of Its Own the most enjoyable?

I love studies and good examples, but in easily to understand terms. The author explains all the concepts well and and has a good sense of humor, which makes this book very enjoyable.

What did you like best about this story?

All the research studies and examples.

What about Judith West’s performance did you like?

It is not my favorite narrator, but I listen for the information.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

How your brain distorts and deceives.

Difficult to take seriously

I regret not returning this book within an hour of starting it. While not a long book, it is not a good use of time. Given that the author is a professor, I expected a more academically rigorous and credible work, even if written for a mass audience. Instead, she cites a serious of small studies done on college students (which are increasingly seen as problematic in their approach) and intersperses these with stories about how her family drains noodles and many references to her lack of sleep. I think the idea was to bring "real world" examples to each chapter, but then why does every story have to be about the author? The intense self-focus makes it difficult to think of the work as credible.

On top of that, the ENTIRE book is written in a sarcastic, slightly snarky tone, and the narrator amplifies every note of this sarcasm by choosing to narrate in what seems like a caricature of good elocution. As a result of both tone and content, I found the book lacking credibility. The topic, however, is an interesting one, and I would suggest potential readers look for other books instead.