About this title: In this accessible analysis, a psychologist merges cognitive science and biology to examine the brain's evolution and the quirks of human nature.
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Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Allen Lane
Date Published: 1998
ISBN-13:9780713991307ISBN:0713991305
Description: Good. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Allen Lane
Date Published: 1998
ISBN-13:9780713991307ISBN:0713991305
Description: Good. Book cover-The cover of this book is creased or has markings in accordance with the book's age. Cover type-This book is a paperback copy. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Allen Lane
Date Published: 1998
ISBN-13:9780713991307ISBN:0713991305
Description: Hardcover, ex-library, with usual stamps and markings, in fair all round condition, suitable as a study copy. pp., 1100grams, ISBN: 0713991305. read more
Description: Good. ISBN: 0713991305. Paperback published by The Softback Preview 1998. 660pp. A clean, sound copy. Uncreased spine. Light cover edge wear. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Date Published: 1997
ISBN-13:9780393045352ISBN:0393045358
Description: Very Good. 1st Edition. 1st Printing 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0. Ex-Library book. Mylar dust jacket. Bar-code sticker. Slight shelf wear. GoodwillnyBooks is committed to providing each customer with the highest standard of customer service. You may return new items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. read more
Description: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Acceptable. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. 0393318486 All orders ship same/next day. Orders before 2: 00 PM EST ship same day. Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Date Published: 1998
ISBN-13:9780393318487ISBN:0393318486
Description: Very Good. Book The book has been lightly read with care. It has light reading wear on cover edges. Tight clean pages. The spine has no spine creases. read more
Description: Fine. 0393318486 Ships next business day. NEW/UNREAD! ! ! Text is Clean and Unmarked! --Be Sure to Compare Seller Feedback and Ratings before Purchasing--Has a small black ink mark on bottom/exterior edge of pages. May have light shelf wear to cover from storage, if any. read more
Description: Fine. 0393318486 Large written gifting note on inside cover, otherwise fine. No markings within, binding fine. Your satisfaction is of course guaranteed. We ship the same or next day. International orders eagerly accepted. read more
"This is really a great book. I've been a fan of Steven Pinker's since the "The Blank Slate", and he does an amazing job of distilling complicated technical subjects in a way that is easily digestible and interesting to a layperson like myself. The first section of the book, which analyzes how the brain is like a computer, is a bit of a slog. In some ways it was the most interesting for me, however, since everything he dealt with was new and cutting edge. If you get through that part the rest is a real page turner. For about a month this book turned me into a Steven Pinker quote machine ("Emotions are just a doomsday device!", "Marriage is just mate-socialsm!") This, of course, makes you either highly fascinating, or the most annoying person on Earth, depending on who you talk to. Either way, I highly recommend this book. It really makes you step back and reconsider our your outdated beliefs about how people think."
"I have copies of the five mainstream books that Steven Pinker has released and am slowly working my way through them. He is one of the world's leading cognitive scientists and is a professor at MIT. I really enjoyed his first book "The Language Instinct", so was looking forward to reading his second "How The Mind Works". I didn't enjoy this one as much - at times it read somewhat like a textbook, which I attribute to the heavy subject matter. However, I rated it high because of the wealth of research and effort that went into it. If you'd like to read a lot of scientific case studies concerning how the mind works, then this book is for you. It delves into DNA, genes, family relationships both animal and human, and Darwinian theories, touting natural selection throughout the book. Steven Pinker is a Darwin evolution believer, which I am not, but I didn't let that influence my view or enjoyment of the book. I try to keep an open mind about all the things I read even if I don't personally agree with them. I must say that there were many interesting and revealing points and examples cited about animal and human behavior, social psychology and human nature.
Being an identical twin, I liked a true story Pinker told. In 1998 someone bit off half the ear of a California police officer. It was either Shawn Blick or Jonathan Blick, his identical twin brother. Both were scuffling with the officer and one of them bit off part of his ear. Both were charged with mayhem, attempted burglary, assaulting a police officer, and aggravated mayhem. The aggravated mayhem, for the ear biting, carried a life sentence. The officer testified that one of the twins had short hair and the other long, and it was the long-haired man that bit him. By the time the men surrendered three days later, they sported identical crew cuts and weren't talking. The lawyers argued that neither one could be given the severe sentence for aggravated mayhem, since for each twin brother there was reasonable doubt whether he did it, because it could have been the other."
"Pinker's "How the Mind Works" revolves around two central themes -- the computational theory of mind and natural selection. In the beginning, he devotes a lot of time and energy to shooting down other theories, which would be fine if he wasn't such a jerk about it. Most of his targets don't really seem to merit all that much energy, and his criticisms become simply a showcase for academic aggression, like a prizefighter working over some random guy picked up off the street. Strangely, he seems to devote more time and energy to showing why others are wrong than to convincing the reader why the theories he believes in are right. After about 200 pages he settles down a little and actually starts getting into some practical discussions of how the mind works. He addresses topics like vision, emotions, and relations with other people. At times, I was fascinated, for paragraphs or even pages. But Pinker's ambition is a little too grand, he's set himself too large a project, and the book grows thin in places. He gets diverted pretty easily, and those diversions rarely worked for me. A grand example of this is his theory on the development of food-related religious laws, which were apparently intended to keep people from fraternizing with neighboring groups. The book did engage me at times -- I found myself arguing with him more than once -- and he raises some provocative ideas here and there, but part of the problem with him calling so much attention to incorrect theories at the beginning of the book is that this serves as a reminder that most theories eventually get brought down."
"This book was very well done. While the subject material is complex, Pinker's writing style is quite clear and detailed. He also imbues his material with wit and humor, which saves it from becoming just another dry academic treatise on neurology. While it doesn't possess the detail of an actual academic course, How the Mind Works is a good source for a basic introduction into evolutionary psychology and the computational theory of mind."
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