Mind Over Mind

The Surprising Power of Expectations

De: Chris Berdik

Narrado por: Nick Oglesby

"Our brains can’t help but look forward. We spend very little of our mental lives completely in the here and now. Indeed, the power of expectations is so pervasive that we may notice only when somebody pulls back the curtain to reveal a few of the cogs and levers responsible for the big show."

We all know expectations matter - in school, in sports, in the stock market. From a healing placebo to a run on the bank, hints of their self-fulfilling potential have been observed for years. But now researchers in fields ranging from medicine to education to criminal justice are moving beyond observation to investigate exactly how expectations work - and when they don’t.

In Mind Over Mind, journalist Chris Berdik offers a captivating look at the frontiers of expectations research, revealing how our brains work in the future tense and how our assumptions - about the next few milliseconds or the next few years - bend reality. We learn how placebo calories can fill us up, why wine judges can’t agree, how fake surgery can sometimes work better than real surgery, and how imaginary power can be corrupting. We meet scientists who have found that wearing taller and more attractive avatars in a virtual world boosts confidence in real life, gambling addicts whose brains make losing feel like winning, and coaches who put blurry glasses on athletes to lift them out of slumps.

Along the way, Berdik probes the paradox of expectations. Their influence seems based on illusion, even trickery, but they can create their own reality, for good or for ill. Expectations can heal our bodies and make us stronger, smarter, and more successful, or they can leave us in agony, crush our spirit, and undermine our free will. If we can unlock their secrets, we may be able to harness their power and sidestep their pitfalls.

Drawing on psychology, neuroscience, history, and fascinating true stories of expectations in action, Mind Over Mind offers a spirited journey into one of the most exciting areas of brain research today.

©2012 Chris Berdik (P)2013 Gildan Media LLC

Reseñas de la Crítica

" Mind Over Mind takes us deep into the human psychology of expectation through the worlds of wine tasting, penalty kicks, compulsive gambling, and police lineups. Berdik delivers an optimistic message with a convincing punch: Understanding the power of imagination can challenge our assumptions about what it means to be human and liberate us from the tyranny of self-fulfilling prophecies." (Colin Ellard, author of You Are Here; director, Research Laboratory for Immersive Virtual Environments, University of Waterloo)

Very good reminder!

What did you love best about Mind Over Mind?

I love the studies and the topic. I had heard some of the studies in other books, but that is because I read many on this topic. However, there is always something new or a new way of looking at things.

What other book might you compare Mind Over Mind to and why?

The Willpower Myth

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, it was highly interesting.

Interesting material, less than stellar narration

Is there anything you would change about this book?

If I were a professional audiobook voice talent, and commissioned to read a mainstream science-for-the-layperson title like this one, I think I might take a look at the text, notice that there are some foreign terms and ten-dollar English ones in it, and find out how to pronounce them. The narrator for this book didn't do that. Consequently, his pronunciations of French and Latin names and phrases becomes absolutely hilarious at times--enough to have taken me right out of the book.

I'm not talking about esoteric terms here; just that it's not King Lewis XVI, and not Chateau-nee-uf du Poppay, and not inexORable, and not "in vino vu-REE-tas" and...and... There's one such gaffe every few minutes.

Sadly, this makes a fairly thought-provoking text sound kind of...well, silly.

So So

I preferred the information over the narration. I finally stopped listening to the book before I finished.

Excellent, Fascinating, Must-Listen!

Though it starts off a little slow, this book is well worth the wait. It's fascinating to find out how powerful our expectations can be, in relation to ourselves and to others we might unknowingly influence. The scientific information here is presented in an anecdotal, entertaining and easy-to-digest manner.

horrible narration!

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

the narration is so bad, it's ruining the book for me.

Would you ever listen to anything by Chris Berdik again?

maybe

What didn’t you like about Nick Oglesby’s performance?

hell nooo

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

disappointment with the narration