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2nd out of 74 books
—
8 voters
Strangers to Ourselves: Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious
"Know thyself," a precept as old as Socrates, is still good advice. But is introspection the best path to self-knowledge? What are we trying to discover, anyway? In an eye-opening tour of the unconscious, as contemporary psychological science has redefined it, Timothy D. Wilson introduces us to a hidden mental world of judgments, feelings, and motives that introspection ma...more
Paperback, 262 pages
Published
May 15th 2004
by Belknap Press
(first published 2002)
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Jan 20, 2013
Richard
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommended to Richard by:
Cognitive Science reading group
In
On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not
, the author castigates Malcolm Gladwell for getting it wrong in Blink. Gladwell claims this book, Strangers to Ourselves as "probably the most influential book I've ever read", and cites it as instrumental in his decision to write Blink. And yet it appears that Gladwell fundamentally misunderstood the nature of how unconscious decision making takes place and whether it can be trusted.
(Selected for the Cognitive Science Reading &...more
(Selected for the Cognitive Science Reading &...more
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I liked this book a lot (which makes the 3 star ratting seem odd, even to myself). The central message in brief is; 1: although we commonly identify with our explicit (conscious) mental processes, implicit mettle processes (what the author terms the adaptive unconscious) play a much more central role in our daily functioning. 2: our explicit mental processes play much less of a causal role in our behavior than we commonly believe 3: the adaptive unconscious bares little resemblance to the uncons...more
The book is great. It is based strictly on research, but the author does much more than review some experimental data and come up with a conclusion. Wilson paints a grand all-inclusive picture of our inner structure which clarifies lots of age-old questions.
In short, there are two personalities in every one of us: one based on our consciousness, another based on our "adaptive unconscious". And neither do we know ourselves, nor can we gain this knowledge by introspection.
The parts of the books co...more
In short, there are two personalities in every one of us: one based on our consciousness, another based on our "adaptive unconscious". And neither do we know ourselves, nor can we gain this knowledge by introspection.
The parts of the books co...more
There were some interesting insights here. Wilson contrasts his ideas about the subconscious with those of Freud. He argues that most subconscious thoughts are the result not of repression, but of biology and evolution. We survive because with have a host of semi-automatic processes that handle a huge amount of our lives.
This is really a book that presents Wilson's theories in a readable way. It does not have a lot of practical advice; it does not purport to provide a good way to use much of th...more
This is really a book that presents Wilson's theories in a readable way. It does not have a lot of practical advice; it does not purport to provide a good way to use much of th...more
Beach reading. Most of this is general, common sense type "scientific findings." Though there is a notes section at the back and references throughout, the way they're presented are much more as anecdotes than scientific references with summary and conditions outwaying numbers/ stats. Most of this book can be skimmed, as all the potentially relevant information is really contained in a few sentences but quite thoroughly ensconced in filler.
Wilson makes a good argument for his conceptualisation of the (adaptive) unconscious. I agree with much of it and enjoyed the book - it had just the right balance of literature review and witty anecdata - but I personally believe we have far more power to bring our awareness to many of the processes Wilson assumes are inherently unconscious. I don't think he gives us enough credit there.
Also I hated the example of Susan assuming she was in love with Stephen because he was her idea of a model boy...more
Also I hated the example of Susan assuming she was in love with Stephen because he was her idea of a model boy...more
Pretty comprehensive book on understanding how we think, and why we behave the way we do. Covers a lot of ground from other books, but perhaps collects more work together in one place than most. Not the most riveting read, and I'd recommend reading it more slowly and taking notes (compared to listening to it on audiobook, like I did), if you're serious about getting the most from this book.
This is one of a growing number of books on the brain that argues that it is more plastic than previous thinkers have believed. We can change our minds, our habits, our fears, and so on. We can learn throughout our adulthood. We can even become better people by behaving better. The book is clearly written and an excellent introduction to the idea of brain plasticity.
this book is excellent.
it tells you why things happen.
what's behind intuition.
intuition isn't just some randome bullshit - it's a collection of the experiences you have that your brain computes faster than we comprehend to make decisions.
eat it google and ibm. how about you survive in the wild with dinosaurs.
it tells you why things happen.
what's behind intuition.
intuition isn't just some randome bullshit - it's a collection of the experiences you have that your brain computes faster than we comprehend to make decisions.
eat it google and ibm. how about you survive in the wild with dinosaurs.
I couldn't decide if "Strangers to Ourselves" earned 3 or 4 stars. The author conducted and here presents some fascinating research on how ignorant individuals are of why they do what they do and how they err when predicting and interpreting their emotions. That said, not all of Wilson's conclusions make sense, his stance as an evolutionist biased some of his interpretation (leading to some "of courses" there aren't "of courses"), and he seems to contradict himself in his discussion of which has...more
About halfway through the book the author makes reference to his colleague Daniel Gilbert,whose own book , "Stumbling on Happiness" won the Royal Society prize and henceforth voluminous authoritative accolades.In my opinion they overlooked the better writer as I found Wilson's Style,although drier and less frivolous, much more suited to its subject and although it lacked the humorous cultural anecdotes of Gilbert's' book I found it more engaging and informative and less like an exercise in popul...more
The first half of the book which explains the adaptive unconscious itself is quite good; the second part which tries to apply this information to people's daily life I found less valuable. "Thinking Fast or Slow" does a much better job there.
I just re-read this. Starts slow & meanders a little but the last few chapters are priceless. Wilson argues that we do have an unconscious (more or less) but it's not the one described by Freud. Want to know what science has found out about it? This is the book for you.
an interesting summary of research suggesting much of our behaviour and thought processes are beyond the reach of consciousness. a little bit like a thinking man's self-help book but still quite illuminating.
Jun 14, 2011
Simon Bostock
marked it as to-read
Not read it yet, but based on this interview at Edge.org Tim Wilson's work looks interesting:
http://edge.org/conversation/social_p...
http://edge.org/conversation/social_p...
Useful comparisons of 1) the new picture of the "adaptive subconscious" that is emerging from current neurological studies with 2) older theories of the subconscious, such as Freud's. But I grew tired of the endless looking-at-yet-another-alternative. In the end, it was a slow exposition with not much help for living with your active subconscious.
an amazing read-- albeit difficult to describe [In a nutshell, the book discusses the brain's parallel structure: the conscious focus and everything else, dubbed "adaptive unconscious" and how to two interact to create 'self.']
His discussion is wonderfully illustrated with fascinating experiments (great footnotes and reference list as well). Although there isn't a single mention of Buddhist precepts on self-observation-- this book provides a firm basis in brain science regarding the importance...more
His discussion is wonderfully illustrated with fascinating experiments (great footnotes and reference list as well). Although there isn't a single mention of Buddhist precepts on self-observation-- this book provides a firm basis in brain science regarding the importance...more
This is a book-group book, I'm reading in my women scientists' group. It was recommended for that purpose...
Interesting, but nothing new for me in the second half of the book.
A bit dry and timidly asserted, but worth it for the prescriptive bits. Raises a lot more questions than it answers, but will lead you to question the limits of introspection for self-knowledge, and whether you have any idea you have any idea what you want.
recommended by John Bargh
total beach read.
Very good.
Meh.
Feb 07, 2011
Emily
marked it as to-read
Wilson believes we must look at 'outward' at our own behaviour, in order to access our unconscious.
Apr 05, 2011
Jukka
added it
Strangers to Ourselves - Timothy Wilson
I am re-reading this book. I had forgotten how good it really is. It was recommended by Malcolm Gladwell. It examines how well can we know ourselves and the interaction of the concious and unconscious selves? (Not very well.)
I am re-reading this book. I had forgotten how good it really is. It was recommended by Malcolm Gladwell. It examines how well can we know ourselves and the interaction of the concious and unconscious selves? (Not very well.)
This was a very fascinating book. I found the experiments that he tried to be very interesting, and I think a lot of what he says is true. This isn't a "self-help" book, but rather a presentation of a theory he has and his experiments and data that back it up.
read it for school, applied to personal life usefully, good book but there were too many references to other research(which I could've done myself), I'd like it more if it was from a more subjective point of view. I recommend this book for everyone.
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.
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Timothy D. Wilson is the Sherrell J. Aston Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia. He has written for Science and The New York Times, among other publications and journals, and is the author of Strangers to Ourselves, which was named by New York Times Magazine as one of the Best 100 Ideas of 2002. Wilson is also the coauthor of the best-selling social psychology textbook, now in its...more
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