Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
Loading... Strangers to Ourselves: Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious (2002)by Timothy D. Wilson
Psicología - Clásicos (120) Loading...
Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. This book sounded a lot more interesting when I ordered it. After struggling through the first couple of chapters, I decided that the subject was not quite what I needed. No slight on the book itself -- it just didn't suit my needs. ( ) Interesting look at the ways we can misperceive ourselves—our beliefs, our traits, our dependence on external conditions. Though there’s nothing particularly new here if you read a lot of behavioral psych, Wilson looks at behavioral issues from the perspective of a theoretician interested in whether there really is an unconscious mind and what’s in it. He covers unconscious racial prejudice, mistakes about our own competence, mistakes about how we actually feel about someone else, and so on. In the end, he suggests, coherent narratives are good for us (though they do need some connection to reality), and we can often improve our own lives by acting like the people we want to be—faking friendliness, or dutifulness, or other positive behaviors until we make it, in part by changing our own unconscious self-images. Excellent book by a very influential psychologist. I'm finding this in the bibliography of more and more books that I like. Malcolm Gladwell recommends this book highly. I recommend you read this book instead of Gladwell's Blink, since Gladwell seems to ignore much of what Wilson actually has to say. Better companion reads would be Daniel Gilbert, Dan Ariely, or Jonah Lehrer.
“[Wilson’s] book is what popular psychology ought to be (and rarely is): thoughtful, beautifully written, and full of unexpected insights.”—Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker “Timothy Wilson…offers a charming, talkative and yet authoritative review of how it became clear that most of what happens inside us is not perceptible by us. In fact, other people often know more about events inside [us]…because they can monitor [our] actions and body language better than [we] can… Strangers to Ourselves is certainly worth reading and reflecting upon.”—Tor Norrentronders, New Scientist “There is much here to arouse interest and provoke thought in any reader, and the book does not outstay its welcome… The writing is clear and engaging, and the subject matter is illuminating and entertaining. Though Wilson insists that introspection is limited in its ability to reveal our true selves, it would be a very dull reader who was not roused by this book into a close self-examination.”—Jo Lawson, The Times Literary Supplement “This book offers an intricate combination of page-turning reading, cutting-edge research, and philosophical debate. At some level, Wilson points out, individuals know that processing and decision-making go on below the threshold of awareness; if every decision had to reach consciousness before action could be initiated, people would not be able to respond as promptly as some situations dictate. How does this processing occur? What standards are employed in reaching ‘less than’ conscious decisions? Wilson explores these questions with penetrating clarity, impressively integrating literature from a variety of professions and disciplines including psychology and business… Wilson does an excellent job of covering research that addresses factors (internal and external) influencing decision-making processes that may appear to be unconscious… Highly recommended.”—R. E. Osborne, Choice “Wilson convincingly argues that our conscious minds are but the tip of the iceberg in deciding how we behave, what is important to us, and how we feel. Surveying a variety of contemporary psychological research, this book describes an unconscious that is capable of a much higher degree of ‘thinking’ than previously supposed by adherents of either Freudian or Behaviorist branches of psychology. Capable of everything from problem solving and narrative construction to emotional reaction and prediction, the adaptive unconscious is a powerful and pervasive element of our whole personalities. Indeed, it may be the primary element of our personalities, controlling our real motivations, judgments, and actions… A fascinating read.”—David Valencia, Library Journal “Tim Wilson’s book covers many diverse areas of psychology in a very accessible style, with compelling examples from life and literature, to make a radical argument: that for the most part we have very little real understanding of how we work, or why we do even the most ordinary things. This is a very original and provocative work—and lots of fun to read, too!”—John Bargh, New York University “Strangers to Ourselves is a rare combination of lucid prose, penetrating insight, and cutting-edge research. Wilson uses modern science to examine a problem that has troubled philosophers for millennia—how and how well can we know ourselves?—and concludes that people rarely know the causes of their own behavior. Anyone who still believes that they know what they want, feel, or think, should read this fascinating book, which is sure to stimulate research in laboratories and debate around water-coolers for decades to come.”—Daniel Gilbert, Professor of Psychology, Harvard University “Timothy Wilson tackles one of the central questions in psychology: can we truly know ourselves? Drawing on a career of thoughtful research, Wilson takes the reader on a fascinating journey through a wonderland of studies and ideas in contemporary psychology, with side trips into anthropology, medicine, and philosophy. Strangers to Ourselves is a book of great breadth and depth that will captivate anyone with an interest in consciousness, self-knowledge, and the very essence of being human.”—James W. Pennebaker, author of Opening Up: The Healing Power of Expressing Emotions
Is introspection the best path to self-knowledge? What are we trying to discover? In a tour of the unconscious, as contemporary psychological science has redefined it, Timothy D. Wilson introduces a hidden mental world of judgements, feelings, and motives that introspection may never show. No library descriptions found. |
Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)154.2Philosophy and Psychology Psychology Subconsciousness The Subconscious Per SeLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |