A Mind of its Own

A Mind of its Own is a book written by Cordelia Fine, who has a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience from University College London and a first class honours in Experimental Psychology from Oxford.

These two quotes grace the cover of the book, and in my opinion, sum up the book perfectly.
Alexander McCall Smith said, 'This is one of the most interesting and amusing accounts of how we think we think-I think'.
And, 'A fascinating, funny, disconcerting and lucid book. By the end you'll realise that your brain can (and does) run rings around you', is what Helen Dunmore had to say.

Before I read this book I hadn't even considered that we weren't in control of our own minds. Yes, we sometimes tend to remember events in a way that reflect us better, but how could we not trust our own brain? Well, in this book I was told a good few reason why we shouldn't trust our very own brain, and how we should be wary of it.

You will learn so much in just 170 pages, and after you turn the last page, you will know all about 'how your brain distorts and deceives'. Fine gives examples with every statement that she makes, explaining the concepts in easy-to-understand ways, using barely any university terms. For every thin we learn about the brain she provides an experiment that has been conducted that prove its truth, or that provides some evidence that supports its truth. Not once did I consider this book as research, homework, or the like, it was simply fascinating reading, and I definitely will delve further into this topic.

The book is divided 6 chapters: The Vain Brain, The Emotional Brain, The Deluded Brain, The Pigheaded Brain, The Secretive Brain, and The Bigoted Brain. Each topic was highly interesting and kept me turning the pages.

The Vain Brain discusses the 'protective layers encasing your self-esteem [that] reveal the multitude of strategies your brain uses to keep your ego plump and self-satisfied'.
The information in this chapter, and through out this entire book, is so true. It makes sense, and not only that, I've seen evidence of our delusional brain in the past couple of weeks at school. A girl didn't get a great score on a test, she turns to me and laughs, I didn't even try, she says. Her brain was just protecting her from the prospect of failure. Don't be ashamed of your brain and its methods though, please; as Fine says, 'without a little deluded optimism, your immune system begins to wonder whether it's worth the effort keeping your alive'.

I do hope your eager to read more, but I must forewarn, the information revealed in this book made me rather disconcerted, and even a little scared, at the prospects of that 3 pound mass in our heads.
But as the say, knowledge is power, and when it comes to our brains, it looks as though we need as much as we can get.