• The Hacking of the American Mind

  • The Science Behind the Corporate Takeover of Our Bodies and Brains
  • By: Robert H. Lustig
  • Narrated by: Robert H. Lustig
  • Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (1,339 ratings)

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The Hacking of the American Mind  By  cover art

The Hacking of the American Mind

By: Robert H. Lustig
Narrated by: Robert H. Lustig
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Publisher's summary

The New York Times best-selling author of Fat Chance reveals the corporate scheme to sell pleasure, driving the international epidemic of addiction, depression, and chronic disease.

While researching the toxic and addictive properties of sugar for his New York Times best seller Fat Chance, Robert Lustig made an alarming discovery - our pursuit of happiness is being subverted by a culture of addiction and depression from which we may never recover.

Dopamine is the "reward" neurotransmitter that tells our brains we want more; yet every substance or behavior that releases dopamine in the extreme leads to addiction. Serotonin is the "contentment" neurotransmitter that tells our brains we don't need any more; yet its deficiency leads to depression. Ideally, both are in optimal supply. Yet dopamine evolved to overwhelm serotonin - because our ancestors were more likely to survive if they were constantly motivated - with the result that constant desire can chemically destroy our ability to feel happiness, while sending us down the slippery slope to addiction. In the last 40 years, government legislation and subsidies have promoted ever-available temptation (sugar, drugs, social media, porn) combined with constant stress (work, home, money, Internet), with the end result of an unprecedented epidemic of addiction, anxiety, depression, and chronic disease. And with the advent of neuromarketing, corporate America has successfully imprisoned us in an endless loop of desire and consumption from which there is no obvious escape.

With his customary wit and incisiveness, Lustig not only reveals the science that drives these states of mind, he points his finger directly at the corporations that helped create this mess and the government actors who facilitated it, and he offers solutions we can all use in the pursuit of happiness, even in the face of overwhelming opposition. Always fearless and provocative, Lustig marshals a call to action, with seminal implications for our health, our well-being, and our culture.

©2017 Robert H. Lustig (P)2017 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Our health, resistance to disease, and ability to function on a day-to-day basis have essentially been hijacked, all in the name of corporate profits. Dr. Lustig explores how industry has manipulated our most deep-seated survival instincts to motivate our food choices in a way that directly undermines our ability to survive. But more importantly, The Hacking of the American Mind eloquently reveals how we can disengage from this influence and re-establish ourselves on a path to wellness." (David Perlmutter, MD, author of the number-one New York Times best seller, Grain Brain and Brain Maker)

"A provocative, persuasive plea to stop seeking the wrong kind of happiness. Take it from the neuroscientist/endocrinologist who sounded the alarm about sugar: chasing rewards is far less rewarding than finding contentment.” (Adam Grant, author of New York Times best sellers Originals and Give and Take, and coauthor of the New York Times best seller Option B)

"Robert Lustig takes on one of the greatest paradoxes of our time: how can it be that we have more sources of pleasure than ever before in human history, and yet are increasingly sick, broke, and unhappy? By deftly weaving together neuroscience, history, economics, and more, he provides a much-needed explanation of how the 'pernicious peddling of pleasure' causes real happiness to elude so many of us - and also provides a desperately needed roadmap for escaping the pleasure trap." (Sharon Begley, coauthor of the New York Times best seller The Emotional Life of Your Brain)

What listeners say about The Hacking of the American Mind

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6 stars

I'd like to give this book 6 stars. Not because of the writing or performance (which were both well done) but because of the quality and quantity of information presented.

I am one of the chronically unhappy people mentioned by the author. With the information presented, I have already taken steps (big and small) to make my life and health better. In only a couple weeks of drastically cutting sugar and internet usage (two of the several problematic issues mentioned), I have better moods overall. I sleep more, and my waistline has gotten smaller. Am I happier... not yet, BUT I am LOT LESS unhappy. So still a great step in the right direction.

The book can be a bit heady at some points, but just stick with it through the couple of confusing chapters and it'll help make the rest of the information make much more sense. Don't stop because of those chapters.

This book has been incredibly useful for me who has been chronically overstimulated by technology, food, caffeine, and other things. And the author isn't all like .... you watch too much TV, BAD!!! And he's also not like ..... oh it's OK ... you have had such a hard life, you deserve a reward. Nope... neither too hard nor too soft. He calls out the problem and has a good solution.

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62 people found this helpful

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Dont eat sugar, get enough sleep. got it.

This book isnt horrible but I dont want to own it. Audible wont let me return it or I would. I'll sum it up for you. Dont eat sugar. Get enough sleep. Exercize.

Thats pretty obvious, right? I thought this would be more about how corporations are manipulating human psychology to sell us garbage that kills us. It touches on that but mostly it just tells us to quit eating sugar, and exercise. That's good advice.

This book is a lousy way to use an Audible credit. Audible has a lousy system going on. When someone figures out how to make a Netflix model for audiobooks or when I can get audio books from the library that i can play on my phone, I'm cancelling my audible account.

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27 people found this helpful

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Exceptional

In both, depth of information and breadth of bigger picture.
Wish this was taught in schools and to parents too, maybe a documentary?

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19 people found this helpful

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This book blew my mind!

Robert H Lustig is a warrior for correcting the havoc that the major food companies are doing to humanity, and reveals the tricks that they do to make money and take our health and happiness away. He proves that being happy is not as simple as how food companies frame it, that it’s “just a decision” how much to consume. They intentionally scheme us to think we are making our own decisions, but we are not. We are just doing what they trick us to do- consume high sugary foods with very low nutritional value to our body and mental health.
In my eyes, Dr. Robert Lustig deserves a medal, or should even be up on the nobel prize candidate list for his loud clear message and the way he is outspoken about the true poison in our society and gives detailed breakdown with actionable advice how to change one’s course of life’s
He will forever be someone I will look up to when seeking advice about how to live life.
Chapeau.

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17 people found this helpful

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Every Human Needs to read this Book!

Dr Lustig covers all the bases about the evils of sugar in a well written, well spoken easy to understand deep examination of pleasure and happiness. This book will be my Christmas gift to family and friends.

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Great medical content. Unnecessarily political

The education on neurology was excellent. Unfortunately, the author decided to try to weave the nutritional education into a decidedly left-wing political narrative. It became almost cartoonish the way he blamed Republicans for the poor American diet. Some points were valid. Others were oversimplified and biased cheap shots. The Founding Father’s use of the phrase “the pursuit of happiness”, the abandonment of Keynesian economics, and the measuring of the GDP as a standard of economic success; become primary villains in our nutritional demise. (He conveniently leaves out any mention of feminism, when he describes the seismic shift in the American diet away from home-cooked meals, to processes food.) At one point he has to remind us that he is not advocating communism or socialism. He may have felt the need to stipulate this, because of his constant weaving of leftist politics throughout the book.
That having been said.... I think the chapters that dealt with the brain, neurology, and nutrition are excellent. I would highly recommend an abridged version, without the doctor’s weak attempts at political philosophy.

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14 people found this helpful

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Important information to navigate life in our times

Dr. Lustig covers a lot of ground in this book and includes topics that I didn't expect yet are related. He covers the biology of brain triggers and then presents a lot of instances where companies or governments use those triggers to manipulate us and sell us things that ultimately hurt us. He was very entertaining to listen to and I think this is important information for everyone to be aware of. If You don't get this book, at least be aware that sugar is hurting you and must be limited greatly.

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A book needed for these trying times

It's long it's detailed but so is human history. This book is quite a revelation. I knew much of the conceptual ideas in this book but the author here has made the effort to detail the science as well as the concepts. Indeed I can't think of a better way to present such Obfuscation of the truth from the public .So one can say "the truth will set you free" to which I would respond understanding it is only the 1st part of changing but it's a big part. So now the truth is out , who will read it, who will change. It would be naive to think that corporations, the food industry , and the government will voluntarily change , for they have caused this problem and are locked in a mindset that will only change from the coming collapse.
5 stars to the author, who has planted a seed to change this world.

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Great book

Very interesting read. Everything put forward in very understandable language and quite fun at times. I think everybody should read it.

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It's okay. Not great.

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

If the facts were closer to the truth.

What could Robert H. Lustig have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

He could have looked into Mormonism a little better. Mormon's are far from the happy group Lustig described. Utah is the mecca of Mormonism. About 60% of Utah residents are Mormon. Utah is #1 in child suicides. #1 in anti depressant prescriptions. Utah has a huge opiate drug abuse problem. Of all 50 States, Utah has had the seventh-highest drug overdose rate. Utah is also known for how many Utahns are addicted to pornagraphy. So bad, the Utah Governor Declared Pornography a Public Health Crisis. More attention to detail would have gone a lone way for this book.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

It was okay enough.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Hacking of the American Mind?

The part on Mormons.

Any additional comments?

Nope.

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4 people found this helpful