This book took me a while to read since I kept having to re-read or really think through a lot of the text, but it was so worth it. My mind was seriously blown. The human brain is such a fascinating thing, and this book made it even more so!

Originally, I mainly chose to read this book because I figured it is time to better understand the brain if I want to get a more and more complete picture of the field of AI.
So instead of going for some heavy scientific literature, I wanted something that leaves me engaged and curious for more, and with some sort of intuition for neuroscience.
David Eagleman's work fully accomplished this. The book is full of fascinating anecdotes about which, to be fair, you have probably read about already in 60% of the cases. However I never read about them embedded in a coherent framework, which is:
a) you are aware of very little in your head.
b) defining "you" is really hard.
c) we have numerous competing systems in our brain that want to have a saying. He often uses analogies to a government or companies with different parties etc. I personally liked this analogy but can see more professional neuroscientists labeling them as too simplistic.
d) blameworthiness is the wrong question to ask about human behaviour.

Even if I don't know much more about the hard science of neuroscience now, it gives you a lot to ponder about and for the introspection of your mind (or the people around you).
Additionally I found the idea of team-of-rivals helpful, together with many examples that wouldn't come to my mind on my own.
At the end the book becomes more philosophical. There were no really new arguments for me regarding free will and mostly nothing new regarding how to improve the legal system from a neuroscience point of view (I agree with him on both). What actually gave me new ideas to think about whas his line of thinking about reductionism (brain = biology = chemistry = particle physics...).
So all in all, a light read, encouraging to learn more, a few interesting philosophical points & opportunities for introspection.

A must read for everyone. This book will make you think and question just how much control you really have. Do we control our brain or does it control us?

Amazing book with some really good insights. The author makes a wonderful argument about crime and how we don't have the means to understand the psychic of the people who commit the crime. There's no solution but it opens a room for debate for punishment mechanisms.

This book took me a while to read since I kept having to re-read or really think through a lot of the text, but it was so worth it. My mind was seriously blown. The human brain is such a fascinating thing, and this book made it even more so!

Many ideas I learned in my courses in a paragraph or two. Very scientistic optimist in neuroscience contribution to real world issue. Good writing nonetheless.

This was for the work bookclub, and I really enjoyed it. It was very readable, and although I got a bit hinky when he started talking about evolutionary psychology, it never went where I was afraid it was going to.

Highly recommended.

Never read a book by a former professor- so that was fun! I liked the structure of the book and the examples he provided- however, anyone who has read Thinking, Fast and Slow will find most of the content repetitive. His content on neuroscience and the law is the most unique and interesting part of the book and provides lots of food for thought- I ultimately wish more of the book had been focused on this innovative area.

Damn, this book too me a long-ass time to read. It’s VERY sciencey. And also very interesting. I have formed new neural pathways already!!
Basically, the brain is crazy magic and aren’t we lucky to have one?