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MindReal: How the Mind Creates its Own Virtual Reality
This is a book that shows, in simple detail, one of the most startling findings of modern We don’t experience the world as it is, but as virtual reality. And while much of the latest scientific work demonstrates this, as do many of the classical psychological illusions, it is an important meeting point for students of the mind, brain, philosophy and religion because, as we can now see in light of this book, all these disciplines begin at the same place.This is not an abstruse treatise, but part graphic novel and part direct address. It allows the reader a breakthrough understanding of the mind which is not available anywhere else. It is, in part, a summa of Dr. Ornstein’s research and writing of the past 35 years (with pieces and references to many of his works) as well as a seminal introduction to new readers.
174 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2008
5 people are currently reading
125 people want to read
About the author
Robert Ornstein
28 books99 followersPsychologist Robert Ornstein's wide-ranging and multidisciplinary work has won him awards from more than a dozen organizations, including the American Psychological Association and UNESCO. His pioneering research on the bilateral specialization of the brain has done much to advance our understanding of how we think.
He received his bachelor's degree in psychology from City University of New York in 1964 and his Ph.D. in psychology from Stanford University in 1968. His doctoral thesis won the American Institutes for Research Creative Talent Award and was published immediately as a book, On the Experience of Time.
Since then he has written or co-written more than twenty other books on the nature of the human mind and brain and their relationship to thought, health and individual and social consciousness, which have sold over six million copies and been translated into a dozen other languages. His textbooks have been used in more than 20,000 university classes.
Dr. Ornstein has taught at the University of California Medical Center and Stanford University, and he has lectured at more than 200 colleges and universities in the U.S. and overseas. He is the president and founder of the Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge (ISHK), an educational nonprofit dedicated to bringing important discoveries concerning human nature to the general public.
Among his many honors and awards are the UNESCO award for Best Contribution to Psychology and the American Psychological Foundation Media Award "for increasing the public understanding of psychology."
He received his bachelor's degree in psychology from City University of New York in 1964 and his Ph.D. in psychology from Stanford University in 1968. His doctoral thesis won the American Institutes for Research Creative Talent Award and was published immediately as a book, On the Experience of Time.
Since then he has written or co-written more than twenty other books on the nature of the human mind and brain and their relationship to thought, health and individual and social consciousness, which have sold over six million copies and been translated into a dozen other languages. His textbooks have been used in more than 20,000 university classes.
Dr. Ornstein has taught at the University of California Medical Center and Stanford University, and he has lectured at more than 200 colleges and universities in the U.S. and overseas. He is the president and founder of the Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge (ISHK), an educational nonprofit dedicated to bringing important discoveries concerning human nature to the general public.
Among his many honors and awards are the UNESCO award for Best Contribution to Psychology and the American Psychological Foundation Media Award "for increasing the public understanding of psychology."
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 21, 2012
Must give this 5 stars."The mind is nothing like what you've been taught to believe." Part graphic novel; part essay..A fast paced romp through Robert Ornstein's 35 years of insight into brain, mind and consciousness. It's critical we understand how our mind really works. Our survival depends upon it.
December 16, 2023
Basically OK. But fairly trite. I did not like the cartoons much. More confusing than illuminating or even clever.
Calling it virtual reality is I think a bit opportunistic. A marketing ploy.
That what we experience is representational is hardly new.
That the brain mind introduces all sorts of short cuts and prejudices is not particularly news either.
I guwaan if you haven't come across these two basic facts this book might be useful to you.
If you have you will probably find it tedious and repetitive.
Calling it virtual reality is I think a bit opportunistic. A marketing ploy.
That what we experience is representational is hardly new.
That the brain mind introduces all sorts of short cuts and prejudices is not particularly news either.
I guwaan if you haven't come across these two basic facts this book might be useful to you.
If you have you will probably find it tedious and repetitive.
November 22, 2009
Raucous. The cartoons, an obvious homage to Larry Gonick, just didn't work for me: I found them busy, distracting, and not entirely illustrative of the important points. Ornstein's tone is heavyhanded, feeling more like a lecture than a presentation. This is unfortunate, because the topics covered in this book are important ones that every self-aware person should understand: how our mind works, how it can trick us.
For those curious, I might instead recommend On Being Certain Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not or the works of Robert Sapolsky or John Allen Paulos.
For those curious, I might instead recommend On Being Certain Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not or the works of Robert Sapolsky or John Allen Paulos.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews