num_pages: 352
description: To the list of writers connecting mainstream readers and cutting-edge scienceÂ—Malcolm Gladwell, Steven Johnson, James SurowieckiÂ—add Read Montague, with this exploration of what exactly determines the choices we make.With a new perspective on the science of decision-making from the researcher at the center of the computational neuroscience revolution, Why Choose This Book? shows what the latest brain science reveals about the crucial events of everyday experienceÂ—the choices we make. From how we decide what we consume to what kind of art we like, and even the romantic, ethical, and financial choices we make, Read Montague guides the reader through a new approach to the mind with an accessible style that is both entertaining and illuminating. In taking apart the mindÂ's decision-making machinery, Montague first illustrates how our brains are like computers that are slow, small, fuzzy, and cheapÂ—and began with goals like food, water, and sex. Second, he reveals how simple goals like these then turn into ideas like beauty, love, and terror with a life of their own. Finally, he explains how a value system in our heads controls those ideas so we can make good decisionsÂ—and how that physical system can break down leading to bad decisions, addictions, mental illness, and even large economic disasters.
language: English
title: Why Choose This Book?: How We Make Decisions
titlecomplete: Why Choose This Book?: How We Make Decisions
genres: Philosophy, Psychology, Neuroscience, Science, Brain, Nonfiction
ratings_count: 116
publisher: Dutton Adult