Incognito

The Secret Lives of the Brain

By: David Eagleman

Narrated by: David Eagleman

Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

If the conscious mind - the part you consider to be you - is just the tip of the iceberg, what is the rest doing?

In this sparkling and provocative new book, the renowned neuroscientist David Eagleman navigates the depths of the subconscious brain to illuminate surprising mysteries: Why can your foot move halfway to the brake pedal before you become consciously aware of danger ahead? Why do you hear your name being mentioned in a conversation that you didn’t think you were listening to? What do Ulysses and the credit crunch have in common? Why did Thomas Edison electrocute an elephant in 1916? Why are people whose names begin with J more likely to marry other people whose names begin with J? Why is it so difficult to keep a secret? And how is it possible to get angry at yourself - who, exactly, is mad at whom?

Taking in brain damage, plane spotting, dating, drugs, beauty, infidelity, synesthesia, criminal law, artificial intelligence, and visual illusions, Incognito is a thrilling subsurface exploration of the mind and all its contradictions.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2011 David Eagleman (P)2011 Random House

Critic reviews

"Eagleman has a talent for testing the untestable, for taking seemingly sophomoric notions and using them to nail down the slippery stuff of consciousness.” (The New Yorker)

“Your mind is an elaborate trick, and mastermind David Eagleman explains how the trick works with great lucidity and amazement. Your mind will thank you.” (Wired magazine)

“A fun read by a smart person for smart people...it will attract a new generation to ponder their inner workings.” (New Scientist)

Read it twice!

If you could sum up Incognito in three words, what would they be?

Can't. Put. Down.

What did you like best about this story?

This is my first book by David Eagleman and I will be getting more! I had to read it twice it was so fascinating!! The parts about synesthesia were particularly cool. "Hearing" color as in chromesthesia, and seeing numbers as points in space as in spatial sequence synesthesia, etc. it was all so fascinating. I highly recommend the book!

Have you listened to any of David Eagleman’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

He was pretty good as a narrator.

Other than annoying heteronormativity, fascinating

There’s some awful stuff about relationships at the beginning of the book that made me want to hold my nose. But it stopped about halfway through and the focus on criminality was excel

Inspiring

This was a fascinating and inspiring listen! The narration from the author was enjoyable and engaging.

Helpful summary

Any additional comments?
This is a light overview of behavioral economics and recent research into how the brain works. If you are already familiar with these topics, you may find this book a bit disappointing.
For the absolute best explanation of behavioral economics, I highly recommend Thinking: Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman, who was awarded the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economics for his immense contributions to the field.

Who's driving this bus?

The more I read from this author, the more I like him. Our experience in being here and alive isn't what we necessarily think... it's all translated through our brains to create what we see and know. So what is "reality" really? Huh. Easily digested, Incognito explores the subconscious that we don't always recognize "driving the bus." Really interesting. More please. On a side note: SUM, Eagleman's other book, is a gem of tales covering potential afterlife scenarios...clever, thought provoking and entertaining. I highly recommend it to any fiction reader let alone philosopher... Smart guy, great articles out in the world as well...and hopefully more books.

Great for laypeople...sorta

Loved the book overall. I'm not a scientist or a doctor, but I've read my fair share of related books for laypeople and was easily able to follow along because of it. Aside from some questionable brain exercises, Eagleman clearly and entertainingly lays out an (obviously over-)simplified explanation of the sub-conscious mind to explore how we become who we are. A good, basic picture depicting the state of our quest to understand the origin of conscious thought and a scientific understanding of the human "soul".

A must for any critical thinker.

This book does a masterful job of simplifying some very complex concepts in real examples and studies. To me the content was a near perfect mesh of science and philosophy. I've never been more excited to go further into reading/researching a topic than I am at this very moment.

Slipped into social commentary

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No, other similar books would cover topic without a couse in humanist sociology

Has Incognito turned you off from other books in this genre?

No

Any additional comments?

David Eagleman tries to convince his readers that we all walking the planet as zombies.

Fascinating!

I enjoyed every minute of this book and I think Eagleman did a fine job reading it to us. There's one practicality to consider, and that is the richness of the text. As Eagleman made incredible revelations my mind would drift as I considered them, before I knew it - I missed something good and then had to rewind (is that what they call it with an I-Pod?). I'll probably listen to it all again. Recommended!

Fantastic listen

Extremely accessible, and Eagleman is one of the few authors who actually does a strong job of reading his own material. His theoretical approach is broad in its scope and novel in its application. The biggest problem with this book was that having the audio version precludes you from being able to identify the journal articles he cites. That being said, you really have to take his word on the interpretation of the results if you listen to the book instead of reading it.