How the Mind Works

By: Steven Pinker

Narrated by: Mel Foster

Length: 26 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

In this delightful, acclaimed best seller, one of the world’s leading cognitive scientists tackles the workings of the human mind. What makes us rational—and why are we so often irrational? How do we see in three dimensions? What makes us happy, afraid, angry, disgusted, or sexually aroused? Why do we fall in love? And how do we grapple with the imponderables of morality, religion, and consciousness?

How the Mind Works synthesizes the most satisfying explanations of our mental life from cognitive science, evolutionary biology, and other fields to explain what the mind is, how it evolved, and how it allows us to see, think, feel, laugh, interact, enjoy the arts, and contemplate the mysteries of life. This new edition of Pinker’s bold and buoyant classic is updated with a new foreword by the author.

©2011 Steven Pinker (P)2011 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Undeniably brilliant.” ( Newsday)

"Big, brash, and a lot of fun.” ( Time)

“Hugely entertaining.... always sparkling and provoking.” ( Wall Street Journal)

A book that every thinking person should read

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Pinker is articulate, brilliant and interesting as he leads the listener through a huge forest of cognitive research and evolutionary psychology. He explains as he begins that the fascinating features of our brain have evolved for two purposes: First, to help us reproduce as many offspring as possible. Second, to help us survive as long as long as possible. Any abilities that do not further these two goals are superfluous to our existence. It is a book I will probably read several times before I put it down for good.

Einstein vs High School Dropout

I'm partway through the first chapter, and I'm a bit taken aback as I hear, "The difference between Einstein and a high school dropout..." For one thing, many people drop out of school for reasons that have nothing to do with their ability to perform in school, much less their intelligence. Personally, I dropped out in my sophomore year and got my GED, because school wasn't my thing. What really surprises me, though, is that Pinker apparently doesn't know that Einstein himself dropped out of school when he was 15!

I'll revise this review after I listen to the rest of the book, but so far, it's off to a shaky start.

misogynistic

Listening to Steven Pinker used terms of kidnappers is very disturbing. While there is a lot of good information in here He is he is obviously misogynistic. To say a kidnap and rape victim is the perpetrator's wife is disgusting. I think you could teach us about other people's culture without making it so misleading.

Great brain food but wanted more "How", less "Why"

Where does How the Mind Works rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I don't have a massive audiobook library yet, but this was one of the best. The performance was well-paced and enjoyable, and the book was stimulating, although a bit mislabeled in my opinion. Still, the title in part motivated me to buy the book, so I suppose from the author's perspective the book's title was perfect!

What did you like best about this story?

My favorite parts, and the reason I purchased the book, were about neuroscience and psychology, and the supporting examples of the computational theory of the mind. I'm not in any particular neuroscience theory camp, but I have learned a bit about it from my studies in cognition and learning as well as human-computer interaction. The neurobiology and psychology perspectives were what I was reading this book for.

Which character – as performed by Mel Foster – was your favorite?

N/A

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I did not have an extremely emotional reaction to this book. It really isn't that kind of book, unless maybe one is somewhat insecure in their own beliefs or can't bear exposure to different perspectives.

Any additional comments?

While enjoyable and intellectually stimulating, I don't like the title of the book. As far as the book's content, it seemed like much less material was devoted to *how* the mind worked than to the author's explanation as to *why* he thought it worked that way. If the book had been more about *how* the mind worked, it would have made a much more useful read, at least to me.

For those who are reading this review prior to purchasing the audiobook, you probably won't regret purchasing the book as long as you are a curious person; however, be aware that a huge portion of the book involves the author explaining why he thinks the mind works the way it does from a natural selection perspective, in comparison to the bits on how the brain does what it does.

Outstanding .

Every literate human being should read this , and those of us who aren't should have it read to them . Monumental , superb stuff .

recommended..

Subject was relatively new to me with the author presenting the information in a manner easy to listen to and to understand... a nice start to this subject.

Very dated contents with a monotonous reading

Would you try another book from Steven Pinker and/or Mel Foster?

From Steven Piker, definitively if more recent.
I'm not sure about Mel Foster. He sounds interested in the contents he's reading but doesn't communicate that interest to us listeners. Also, he misses tempo and pauses in several places; an example of this is that he read quotes from authors and its author's name in a way that I couldn't understand it as a quote until it dawned on me that what I've just heard didn't make any sense in the flow of what I was reading and went back to listen again.

A Better Title Would Be "My Favorite Fun Facts"

What did you love best about How the Mind Works?

I loved all the little fun facts. Really the most interesting thing about the book. The reason why I've listened to it twice in a row.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

The story is fine. I would say that some parts seems useless and lengthy for no reason. Not really Steven Pinker's usual writing self.

What about Mel Foster’s performance did you like?

The narrator was find. Nothing particularly amazing to point out.

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

The most interesting facts about thoughts about the human mind.

Any additional comments?

This book says more about what the mind is not rather than what it is. Which is fine considering the topic the book tried to tackle.

Great descriptions of vast academic knowledge.

Another of Pinker's awesome books. This book synthesizes and describes studies of the human mind. Academic disciplines such as biology, psychology, cognitize science, and the arts are categorized with examples of how knowledge of human capabilities has been built. Topics such as language and speech, visual phenomena, logic and reasoning, quantative measurement making, likes and dislikes, social science, art appreciation, and philosophy are covered. The vast range of topics, and Pinker's unique way of describing things, make this an awesome book for both educational and personal knowledge development

Encyclopedic!

Awesome wide-ranging tour de force of the mind by Pinker. A must for anyone interested in the human mind!