How the Mind Works"A model of scientific writing: erudite, witty, and clear." —New York Review of Books In this Pulitzer Prize finalist and national bestseller, 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 edition of Pinker's bold and buoyant classic is updated with a new foreword by the author. |
From inside the book
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... assumptions about illumination, of course, but assumptions about bodies in motion. Our common sense about other people is a kind of intuitive psychology—we try to infer people's beliefs and desires from what they Standard Equipment 29.
... course of human evolution there has been a selection for aggressive behavior more than for other kinds of behavior. It is scientifically incorrect to say that humans have a “violent brain.” It is scientifically incorrect to say that war ...
... course, are a different matter. The male and female reproductive organs are a vivid reminder that qualitatively different designs are possible for the sexes, and we know that the differences come from the special gadget of a genetic ...
... course he soon falls deeply in love. A year later Allenby returns with the news that Corry has been pardoned and he has come to get him. Unfortunately Corry can take only fifteen pounds of gear, and Alicia weighs more than that. When ...
... course the directors had manipulated the audience by casting a beautiful actress rather than a heap of tin cans to play Alicia. But in evoking our sympathies they raised two vexing questions. Could a mechanical device ever duplicate ...