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Kluge: The Haphazard Construction of the Human Mind
Are we s only four words long.Marcus also offers surprisingly effective ways to outwit our inner kluge, for the betterment of ourselves and society. Throughout, he shows how only evolution -- haphazard and undirected -- could have produced the minds we humans have, while making a brilliant case for the power and usefulness of imperfection.
Hardcover, 224 pages
Published
March 18th 2008
by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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Kluge is a slang term for "a clumsy or inelegant solution to a problem." In this new book, psychologist Gary Marcus argues that the human mind itself is a kluge, and then goes on to discuss how this explains why you can't remember the name of that woman from your yoga class when you run into her at the movie theater.
The basis of Marcus' argument is that evolution was working with the tools at hand when it whipped up the more complex parts of our brain and that the result, ...more
The basis of Marcus' argument is that evolution was working with the tools at hand when it whipped up the more complex parts of our brain and that the result, ...more
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"My brain! It's my second favorite organ!" said Miles Monroe, aka Woody Allen, in Sleeper. I agree! And now Gary Marcus comes along to explain that the brain is just a patched-together mass of cells that rarely interact smoothly. How shocking. So much for God's loftiest of creations--humans.
There are three layers to the brain and each developed at a different period of human evolution. The hindbrain has been around the longest and is in charge of the real basics, breathing...more
There are three layers to the brain and each developed at a different period of human evolution. The hindbrain has been around the longest and is in charge of the real basics, breathing...more
Marcus presents in this short book the flip-side of the usual headlines in brain and cognition research: its flaws. Through a very methodical and entertaining account, the author breaks down our brain malfunctions, some of its evolutionary causes, and many experimental examples to illustrate his thesis.
The main theory is that evolution builds on top of what already exists. This, in turn, generates kludgy systems as opposed to perfectly engineered ones. The book discuss in detail how...more
The main theory is that evolution builds on top of what already exists. This, in turn, generates kludgy systems as opposed to perfectly engineered ones. The book discuss in detail how...more
I liked this all right, and thought the author had a good argument, about our shortcomings being the result of our brain adapting earlier structures for purposes nature never intended, as it were. I thought the section on memory was particularly enlightening; I've never thought of our memories before as being contextually based.
I do wish the author had spent more time on the original purposes of the brain's structures, though, rather than being didactic (to a Victorian degree, almost...more
I do wish the author had spent more time on the original purposes of the brain's structures, though, rather than being didactic (to a Victorian degree, almost...more
Gary Marcus, NYU professor of psychology, is intent on letting you know that your brain is not as rational as you think it is. This book focuses mainly on cognitive errors and what they tell us about the brain. Marcus relies heavily on the metaphor of the brain as computer and employs an engineerig term, "kluge", to say just how effective a computer he thinks it is. According to Marcus, a kluge is an effective, but inelegant solution to a problem. Seen this way, most of the difficul...more
In some ways the start of this is just The Psychology of Judgment and Decision Making put into chapters and continuous prose. Not that I mean that as a bad thing – quite the opposite. The ideas in both books are terribly important to anyone with a brain, particularly anyone who finds that brain getting away with terribly odd and distressing things at times.
When I Googled Kluge I found that there are quite a few people out there called Kluge – as my American friends might say “a bit...more
When I Googled Kluge I found that there are quite a few people out there called Kluge – as my American friends might say “a bit...more
Marcus takes a new slant: our brains are the products of evolution, and as such, are not perfect. In fact, they're a "kluge" of different evolutionary developments, each overlaying on top of each other. He ends the book with some advice on how we can handle our imperfect minds - sort of like a self-help book on how we can deal with our klugey minds.
One annoying thing - he gradually uses more footnotes toward the end of the book. For some reason, it began to annoy me. M
One annoying thing - he gradually uses more footnotes toward the end of the book. For some reason, it began to annoy me. M
This is a short (almost too short) and accessible introduction to the idea that the human mind is, well, not as perfect as we like to believe. While evolution does lead to supremely well-designed and efficient organisms and biological processes, it also leads to a lot of junk. Marcus uses the term "kluge" (from engineering) to describe the many ways in which the human mind is sub-optimal from the point of view of some imagined "perfect" design. He does (justifiably) grind ...more
Interesting read on the idiosyncrasies of the human mind with some theorizing on how it came to be that way.
Lots of interesting citations of psychology tests that support the basic theory that the human brain was not designed for today's lives, but for humanoids that hunt and gather.
I particularly liked how he developed his theme on contextual memory and took it through different aspects of life. And as I read I assimilated the previous book I read on the Numerati and si...more
Lots of interesting citations of psychology tests that support the basic theory that the human brain was not designed for today's lives, but for humanoids that hunt and gather.
I particularly liked how he developed his theme on contextual memory and took it through different aspects of life. And as I read I assimilated the previous book I read on the Numerati and si...more
Finally, a "pop science" book that doesn't sacrifice breadth or accuracy in a pleasant and short read. Think "Malcolm Gladwell", but from the perspective of a real scientist, and hence, a more accurate description of the studies cited to support the main point of the book. (Though I may be biased, since I am rather sympathetic to the views presented by Marcus.)
The central idea of this book is that the human mind is not a masterpiece of evolution that many of us li...more
The central idea of this book is that the human mind is not a masterpiece of evolution that many of us li...more
A lovely book about the imperfections of our mind that have been accumulated in the process of evolution, mostly from a psychological point of view, but including some neurobiology and the like along the way. Gary Marcus writes in an engaging and sometimes personal way without ever omitting the research that backs up his arguments. Also, in the course of the book, he gives many interesting hints to further literature about key aspects of his theories or funky trivia that might just make you curi...more
A long article stretched to a small book. This popsci book will be disappointing to anyone who tends to follow brain/mind science, but to someone who is new to the field will enjoy this book.
The premise is that the mind's faults are due to the brain's having been evolving in a stepwise fashion. Our original primate brain (reflexive) has had layered on top of it a "deliberative" section. These two parts are often fighting for control producing results that are not alway...more
The premise is that the mind's faults are due to the brain's having been evolving in a stepwise fashion. Our original primate brain (reflexive) has had layered on top of it a "deliberative" section. These two parts are often fighting for control producing results that are not alway...more
This is for you, Kirsti!
First of all, I learned a new word in reading "Kluge", and I have used that word in conversation already. And had to explain it. But that's hardly the point of this book.
The point, largely, is that the human brain, once so lauded (see the Bible, Shakespeare, etc.), is really just a somewhat cobbled-together affair which "does the job" but leaves much to be desired (the definition of "kluge" being a clumsy or inelegant...more
First of all, I learned a new word in reading "Kluge", and I have used that word in conversation already. And had to explain it. But that's hardly the point of this book.
The point, largely, is that the human brain, once so lauded (see the Bible, Shakespeare, etc.), is really just a somewhat cobbled-together affair which "does the job" but leaves much to be desired (the definition of "kluge" being a clumsy or inelegant...more
Written by a psychologist, this is a pop-science account of our imperfect brains. His premise is that our brains arose as naturally selected Rube Goldberg-style adaptations of existing structures between our ears. He then examines the consequences of our cobbled together heads and how we live and fail, and proposes guidelines for minimizing the latter. His quick conclusions: we are terrible at calculating odds, and as a result discount the future much too much - we are mostly unable to resist...more
I guess I went in to this book already agreeing with the author. I've held my memory in contempt for quite a while, and that was one of the chapters of the book. It was an enjoyable book, especially the many references to study that showed just how 'kluge-y' the brain is. However, I enjoyed On Intelligence better, if you've only got time to read one of the two.
From the book:
p.25: A study where people were given a bunch of words that they were to unscramble into a sentence, and ...more
From the book:
p.25: A study where people were given a bunch of words that they were to unscramble into a sentence, and ...more
In Kludge, Gary Marcus highlights a number of design problems with the mind and explains the corresponding evolutionary reasons why these problems have arisen. It's a very easy read but also very deep in knowledge. I found items in my own life explained that have always bothered me deeply (why is goal setting so difficult - it always seems like future discounting takes away the desire to to good goal setting). He also recommends some ideas on how to get past these mind design failures.
Listened to the audio after reading the book a year or so ago.
It's the kind of thing I adore, a cogent explication of why everything I know about my own mind is tragically wrong. Marcus is funny, the premise is one I embrace, and there are even helpful tips to keep a person from falling victim to many of the brain's little tricks. Highly recommended for the scientifically minded.
It's the kind of thing I adore, a cogent explication of why everything I know about my own mind is tragically wrong. Marcus is funny, the premise is one I embrace, and there are even helpful tips to keep a person from falling victim to many of the brain's little tricks. Highly recommended for the scientifically minded.
Great book. Short,, full of insight.
The only complaint is that clearly the publishers in the interest of making every non-fiction book have some tangible benefit to every reader had the author tack on some kind of "prescriptive element" at the end. This is ridiculous and clearly not something that makes any sense. But it's done a lot in non-fiction these days.
The only complaint is that clearly the publishers in the interest of making every non-fiction book have some tangible benefit to every reader had the author tack on some kind of "prescriptive element" at the end. This is ridiculous and clearly not something that makes any sense. But it's done a lot in non-fiction these days.
The most honest description of the workings of the mind I've ever read. I've been interested in the subject for many years now; I've read other perspectives of the mind/intelligence by authors like Steven Pinker, Daniel Goleman, and Pierce J. Howard. Marcus may not paint the most perfect image, but what he paints with his words is as true as a photograph... or an MRI scan.
I originally picked this book up to illustrate a point about studying to my students. It has since proven an invaluable book for me as an educator. Thinking about how the brain functions to acquire information and thus how the presentation of that information has to occur in a classroom structures every lesson and every public presentation I do.
Rather than being 'noble in thought,' Gary Marcus says that the human brain a collection of functional, yet haphazardly processes. A Kluge. Marcus, director of NYU's Infant Language Learning Center (CW was a study participant there), sets out various examples: We form beliefs without proper logic, our language is imprecise, we are tired and we make sloppy decisions. Evolutionary inertia it seems has left us each a mind that is not up to current standards for thinking devices - and yet it is serv...more
Marcus takes an interesting concept that would have made a fine feature in Newsweek and absolutely beats it to death with terrible jokes, borderline pathetic anecdotes, far too few examples to convince me of a lot of his main ideas, and a general rambling, unorganized style that makes each chapter unfold as an irregular orbit around a nebulous, ill-defined center. This book is a clumsy and awkward yet serviceable exploration of these ideas, but unlike our minds, Marcus had the opportunity to go ...more
I would have liked a more technical approach, but the author's behavioral approach makes the point. When the book descended into the idiom of self-help books, I became restive. But there are many good points, well made, and we should be aware of how our brains are less miraculous than just really, really interesting.
This is a fun pop-psychology book. It contains descriptions of lots of quirks in the human mind. However, the analyses concerning why our minds do strange things, are rather shallow.
If all you want to do is spend an enjoyable evening reading a popular, "dumbed-down" book, then this one is the ticket. But if you really want to understand why our minds work the way they do, then I strongly recommend How the Mind Works by Steven Pinker, instead.
If all you want to do is spend an enjoyable evening reading a popular, "dumbed-down" book, then this one is the ticket. But if you really want to understand why our minds work the way they do, then I strongly recommend How the Mind Works by Steven Pinker, instead.
Found the content very interesting, not only as it applies to me but also, as a teacher, as it applies to my students (and why some of them just can't memorize their math facts or other useful information :-) I'm reminded of the importance that learning be contextual and am further inspired to keep plugging away at best teaching practices!
This has some conclusions in strange parts that don't follow (Our brains are wired funny, so there is no Creator) but all in all it's an excellent account of evolution's legacy in our brains. It is really clear that we have limitations, but Oh my goodness!
Not a terribly convincing or interesting book. At least pop psych like ye olde "Naked Ape" had some funny theories. This one runs along with a theory that we're the haphazard product of evolution leading to some innate inconsistencies. Seems a bit obvious.
Interesting take on the kluginess of the human brain - the pro-tem additions made through evolution that have our logical human brain at odds with our more primitive brain. Marcus seems to bemoan the inefficiencies of the human brain as it has evolved, with its attendant errors; I wonder if evolution hasn't basically gotten things right. If were the kinds of automata that a perfect evolution might have created, we wouldn't have the adaptability to survive life's surprises. At least some of the a...more
Lots of interesting studies. For example, one showed that people tend to justify the status quo by asking what they thought the rule should be on, say, feeding stray cats. They told half the people that this was now forbidden, the other half that it was allowed. Most people agreed with whatever they were told that the rule was, and thought up reasons why it was a good rule.
I love books on the brain, and how strange it's workings are. And this books really explains it - a bit scary - with some good advice - quite a story. It sure makes you think...
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Gary Marcus is an award-wining Professor of Psychology at New York University and director of the NYU Center for Child Language. He has written three books about the origins and nature of the human mind, including Kluge (2008, Houghton Mifflin/Faber), and The Birth of the Mind (Basic Books, 2004, translated into 6 languages). He is also the editor of The Norton Psychology Reader, and the author of...more
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