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Maybe someday
34
/100
I Index Overall Rating
Readers
29/100Critics
40/100Scholars
Author:
Leonard Mlodinow
Publisher:
Pantheon
Date:
January 11, 2022
You make hundreds of decisions every day, from what to eat for breakfast to how you should invest, and not one of those decisions would be possible without emotion. It has long been said that thinking and feeling are separate and opposing forces in our behavior. But as Leonard Mlodinow tells us, advances in psychology and neuroscience have proven that emotions are as critical to our well-being as thinking.
What The Reviewers Say
To get an eloquent reminder of this impact is timely, given the stream of recent books paying one-sided attention to rationality and knowledge.
Leonard Mlodinow, a physicist and author, offers a crash course, one that feels less like cramming than like a colorful tour of the behavior of humans—and the rest of the animal kingdom. Most of this smart, trim volume is about the science of emotion rather than how to use it, but he doesn’t miss the opportunity to dole out advice and provide opportunities for self-reflection.
The book is an attempt to understand the purpose of emotions and how they affect us — as well as what we can do to control them.
He makes a convincing case that, instead of detracting from intelligence, such responses allow for better decision-making and more effective communication. He offers plenty of colorful examples.
