Books by David Eagleman

SUM – this is a collection of short stories about hypothetical afterlives that I enjoyed so much I’ve been recommending everybody reads it. Although each story is just a few pages long they are packed with thought provoking material that made me appreciate life. The prose was such a pleasure to read I found it hard to believe he’s a neuroscientist rather than a novelist. More info and other rave review here:
http://www.possibilian.com/

Incognito – The Secret life of the Brain.
Again Eagleman’s elegant, easy going writing style was a joy to read and he beautifully conveys that now is an amazing time to be alive. We have at last the tools to understand the marvellous mystery machine that makes us who we are like never before. The cautious point here is ‘beginning to’ since the more we find out how the more mystery of why is unleashed.

Many of the explanations of how the brain works used illusions or case studies of brain damage that were also used on this year’s Royal Institute Christmas Lectures (which were also very enjoyable).

Eagleman’s analogy that your brain is like a country and the conscious mind is simply reading the headlines of what has already happened was helpful to put a nice perspective on things. The chapter on the brain being composed of rival teams was also illuminating and enjoyable, adding more understanding to theories I’ve already heard. And not long after reading that I found myself watching a Ted talk by Daniel Goldstein about the battle between your present and future self.

After this there was a change of tone with a lengthy chapter about law and criminal justice. This certainly proved how far reaching these new theories and their consequences can be. Think about the headlines analogy he used. With this suspension of free will it makes sense to ask for a ‘shift from blame to biology’ in the criminal justice system. This is obviously very different from how we currently conceive of ourselves being accountable for our actions.

Although it was good to consider the implications of these radical ideas, highlighting how these new finding have repercussions for us all, I did feel that this chapter lacked the objectivity of the rest of the book. Eagleman came across as being unequivocal about his suggested approaches of pharmaceuticals and surgery. This was at odds with the caution at the beginning of the book and also the examples in the chapter of how prior understanding has been superseded in the criminal justice system.

Overall I thought the book was a clear introduction to the current developments in neuroscience with theories that can turn your world upside down. It will be interesting to see where it all leads.