The Tell Tale Brain

The Tell Tale Brain : Unlocking the Mystery of Human Nature is neuroscience simplified.
By the way, this is not a review:)

After I read the first chapter, I thought this book would be a life changing experience. Having read the book, I realize it is not.


But the interesting part of the book was this realization itself. That one need not expect life changing experiences to grow, in life. After all, the story of our existence is attributed to evolution, isn't it?

I quote the author when he says,

By comparison, the sciences of the mind-psychiatry, neurology, psychology-languished for centuries. Indeed, until the last quarter of the twentieth century, rigorous theories of perception, emotion,cognition and intelligence were nowhere to be found. For most of the twentieth century, all we had to offer in the way of explaining human behaviour was two theoretical edifices - Freudianism and behaviorism -both of which would be dramatically eclipsed in the 1980s and 1990s, when finally neuroscience finally managed to advance beyond Bronze Age...... In the last decade we have even seen neuroscience becoming self-confident enough to start offering ideas to disciplines that have traditionally been claimed by humanities"

I started reading this book specially for the last chapter - An Ape with a Soul:How Introspection Evolved.

I was trained in human resources management for two years. During those two years, we spend a lot of time learning about self awareness. We also learned Freud. Freud actually gave me some answers to my own shortcomings.
Oh, by the way, shortcomings ? How do I know that?
Those two years started my journey of self reflection and introspection. So, some of us really did 'learn' self awareness through training. Consequently, my faith in psychology was strengthened and I started believing in it. Many people have questioned the value that HR can add to companies, especially from the point of view of behavioural changes. The debate that led me to the book was actually about a base to those organization behaviour theories - psychology.

But this book does not negate psychology as I thought it would, but rather makes it far more precise; or so I felt. For many, psychology appears to be some sort of a mumbo jumbo, something that does not seem "exact" and therefore very difficult to prove.
After all, if I were to discuss the motivation behind money with someone, they might find the two factor theory too simplified. And yet, if we were to look around, and study why people took the decisions that they did, regarding the choice of employer, there would seem to be many more different parameters. As someone who genuinely believes in such theories, I often find myself frustrated, when the other person, just does not "get" it. It was too vague and had a very high probability of being wrong. There were too many gaping holes, so it was felt.
As I said, I started reading this book, to understand the opposite argument. It turned out to be a kind of an explanatory argument. I am excited, mostly because it helps me communicate abstract topics to the  so called left brained ones, who need science to explain all the phenomena in the world.

I promise. I am not making fun. Not after reading this book. Science has suddenly become so much fun. (Although I admit, I ceremoniously went past any word that sounded liked reticular formation, corpus callosum, cerebral cortex etc) At the same time, this book also acknowledges several unanswered questions even within neuroscience. There are a million mysteries about the human mind, and  the human species continues to be interesting. Don't worry ;-)

Although, a curiosity to know the argument lead to the book, I stumbled upon something truly remarkable, that simplified a rather abstract, but important topic for me: Spirituality

I am not sure if the author meant to communicate that or even considers the subject as something worth spending time on. It is important to me and looks like I strive to find answers, even in science.

One of the constant quests in spirituality has always been the attempt to take the "I" out of the equation. Theoretically, the idea is clear to me. Real freedom is when I am free of the "I" - a very difficult proposition indeed. Especially because, it seems so abstract. How does one do it? After all, even the existence of this world, depends on 'my' perception of it.
What this book did for me, was to make it simple.

"Imagine: The only thing separating your consciousness from another's might be your skin."

The best part about the book, for me, was how it "ridicules" (for lack of a better word) our tendency to consider ourselves 'important' enough to protect our privacy and independence. (Goodness. This is brilliant. I am mocking "independence" in this blog) The author says that people feel let down when they are informed that their "conscious self emerges "simply" from the mindless agitation of atoms and molecules in their brains." I don't. I feel liberated; for it is thus proved in understandable terms that the "idea of I" is indeed an illusion.

Let me leave you with yet another quote from the book:

"Despite its vehement tendency to assert its privacy and independence, the self actually emerges from a reciprocity of interactions with others and with the body it is embedded in. When it withdraws from society and retreats from its own body it barely exists; at least not in the sense of mature self that defines our existence as human beings"

Hope I made it clear. Don't miss the experience. Find a copy, today. Whether you like science, art, humour or even emotions,this book has it all.