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Binding: HardcoverDewey Decimal Number: 153 EAN: 9780618879649 Edition: 1 ISBN: 0618879641 Label: Houghton Mifflin Co Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin Co Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 224 Publication Date: April 16, 2008 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Studio: Houghton Mifflin Co Editorial Review: Product Description: Are we noble in reason? Perfect, in God's image? Far from it, says New York University psychologist Gary Marcus. In this lucid and revealing book, Marcus argues that the mind is not an elegantly designed organ but rather a "kluge," a clumsy, cobbled-together contraption. He unveils a fundamentally new way of looking at the human mind -- think duct tape, not supercomputer -- that sheds light on some of the most mysterious aspects of human nature. Taking us on a tour of the fundamental areas of human experience -- memory, belief, decision-making, language, and happiness -- Marcus reveals the myriad ways our minds fall short. He examines why people often vote against their own interests, why money can't buy happiness, why leaders often stick to bad decisions, and why a sentence like "people people left left" ties us in knots even though it's only four words long. Marcus also offers surprisingly effective ways to outwit our inner kluge, for the betterment of ourselves and society. Throughout, he shows how only evolution -- haphazard and undirected -- could have produced the minds we humans have, while making a brilliant case for the power and usefulness of imperfection. Average Rating:
 Rating: - The Mind and YouThe entire self help book industry is kind of applied psychology. The author takes an undergraduate degree in pysch, reads up on the current research, applies it to a business context or a life style context and voila- "Applied Psychology for Dummies- or The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, or how to think yourself thin or whatever. It's a formula, and it moves units, as they say in the music biz, so you can forgive NYU professor Gary Marcus if he's trying to get a piece of that sweet, sweet ... Read More Rating:  - I enjoyed the Unabridged CD versionIdeally, I'd have given this a 4.5 star rating, as a number of the studies sited in Kluge I'd heard of before [but in fairness, I read or listen to lots of psyche-science books]. Still, very worthwhile, for giving a convincing portrayal of how our... [appropriately, I can't think of the right word] often defective/unsatisfying brains are simply the way things are. It's not just me/us! It's well, the way evolution worked out. Definitely recommended. Rating:  - Missing some relevant factorsIt was with great interest that I received a review copy of "Kluge", because I myself am halfway through writing an Environmental Psychology book about modern human society. I was dismayed to find that the author gives 13 pieces of advice at the end of book, of how human beings can avoid our instinctual reactions and be more rational, and then doesn't follow them. He doesn't "consider alternate hypotheses" (as I will elaborate) and he doesn't "distance himself". Many EP authors, ... Read More Rating: - Wonderful start - then kluge sets inThe author begins with the proposition that a lot of things in nature - including systems in living organisms, even mankind - seems as if they have been cobbled together in haphazard fashion. The idea of intelligent design will not survive a close reading of this book. The great Portuguese king, Alfonso the Wise, once confided to his companions (perhaps while swatting a mosquito) that, if he had been present at the creation, he might have offered a few useful suggestions to the creator. Marcus is a little ... Read More Rating: - The Clusterf*$#@* MindThe term Kluge, pronounced similarly to "huge", was first popularized in early 1962, in an article written by Jackson Granholm, a computer pioneer. Mr. Granholm defined the word as "an ill-assorted collection of poorly matching parts, forming a distressing whole." Mr. Marcus asserts that Evolution yields suboptimal, patchwork designs, in particular the human mind. While it is widely accepted that the human body has many quirks -- wisdom teeth, the retina's backward installation resulting in blind spots ... Read More |
