by Sidarta Ribeiro translated by Daniel Hahn ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 17, 2021
A stimulating and informative overview.
A comprehensive consideration of the sleeping mind.
Neuroscientist Ribeiro, founder and vice-director of the Brain Institute at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, in Brazil, offers a capacious examination of the phenomenon of dreaming. The author draws on biology, chemistry, neurophysiology, anthropology, mythology, history, literature, biography, and art—along with myriad examples of dream narratives—to create a rich history of the human mind. What is the purpose of dreaming? Is it “an evolutionary accident,” or does dreaming have implications for survival? Do animals dream? If so, why? Ribeiro reveals that “similar circadian rhythms are found in almost all living beings” and that birds and reptiles experience REM sleep, during which dreams occur. Dinosaurs, from which birds are descended, were capable of dreaming. Ribeiro maintains that prehistoric humans dreamed, perhaps about animals and stone. In antiquity, dreams were interpreted as communications from the dead or from gods—communications that Christianity deemed pagan and blasphemous. Praising Freud for focusing on the significance of dreams in understanding human experience, Ribeiro notes that traumatic dreams are monothematic rather than metaphorical. Dreams experienced by schizophrenic patients often contain more “hostile content” than those of others, and dreams vary from babies to old people, with children’s dreams “often impoverished in emotions and images.” Besides examining dreaming, the author investigates sleep overall, especially the connection of sleep to learning, creativity, and the formation of memories. Scientists differ about what happens in neural synapses during REM sleep; Ribeiro believes that synaptic remodeling occurs, during which some synapses are eliminated and others, strengthened. Although some of the molecular, electrophysiological, biochemical, and morphological discussion is daunting, much of the book is accessible. Ribeiro urges readers to spend a few minutes after waking to recall their dreams and even to engage in lucid dreaming, in which the dreamer exerts control over the dream.
A stimulating and informative overview.Pub Date: Aug. 17, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5247-4690-2
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: June 9, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
Share your opinion of this book
by Daniel Kahneman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 2011
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
Share your opinion of this book
More by Daniel Kahneman
BOOK REVIEW
More About This Book
IN THE NEWS
IN THE NEWS
by Erin Meyer ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 27, 2014
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.
A helpful guide to working effectively with people from other cultures.
“The sad truth is that the vast majority of managers who conduct business internationally have little understanding about how culture is impacting their work,” writes Meyer, a professor at INSEAD, an international business school. Yet they face a wider array of work styles than ever before in dealing with clients, suppliers and colleagues from around the world. When is it best to speak or stay quiet? What is the role of the leader in the room? When working with foreign business people, failing to take cultural differences into account can lead to frustration, misunderstanding or worse. Based on research and her experiences teaching cross-cultural behaviors to executive students, the author examines a handful of key areas. Among others, they include communicating (Anglo-Saxons are explicit; Asians communicate implicitly, requiring listeners to read between the lines), developing a sense of trust (Brazilians do it over long lunches), and decision-making (Germans rely on consensus, Americans on one decider). In each area, the author provides a “culture map scale” that positions behaviors in more than 20 countries along a continuum, allowing readers to anticipate the preferences of individuals from a particular country: Do they like direct or indirect negative feedback? Are they rigid or flexible regarding deadlines? Do they favor verbal or written commitments? And so on. Meyer discusses managers who have faced perplexing situations, such as knowledgeable team members who fail to speak up in meetings or Indians who offer a puzzling half-shake, half-nod of the head. Cultural differences—not personality quirks—are the motivating factors behind many behavioral styles. Depending on our cultures, we understand the world in a particular way, find certain arguments persuasive or lacking merit, and consider some ways of making decisions or measuring time natural and others quite strange.
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.Pub Date: May 27, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-61039-250-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
Share your opinion of this book
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Trouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Trouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.