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Neuropolis: A Brain Science Survival Guide
Are we our brains? How can you map the mind? Can brain scans read our minds?Based on Rob Newman’s live stand-up show and new BBC Radio 4 series, his thought-provoking new book explores the scientific breakthroughs that have turned received ideas of brain science upside down.
After imagining volunteering for a brain-imaging experiment meant to locate the part of the brain that lights up when you’re in love, comedian Robert Newman emerged with more questions than answers.
In Neuropolis Newman argues that the current claim that the brain is just a complicated computer derives from science, but from a combination of philosophical stowaways and a version of evolutionary biology that owes little to Darwin. He questions why brain science is devoted to such a peculiarly reductionist world view, when really exciting advances in neuroscience go untold, such as awe-inspiring discoveries about the origins of memory in ancient oceans. He also shows that our brains are inextricably and profoundly intertwined with our bodies, the natural world and the world we have made, including hilarious accounts of his own participation in neurological experiments.
Debunking the common, even brainless interpretations of brain science, he celebrates the more intriguing and underreported advances in neuroscience with zest and wit.
After imagining volunteering for a brain-imaging experiment meant to locate the part of the brain that lights up when you’re in love, comedian Robert Newman emerged with more questions than answers.
In Neuropolis Newman argues that the current claim that the brain is just a complicated computer derives from science, but from a combination of philosophical stowaways and a version of evolutionary biology that owes little to Darwin. He questions why brain science is devoted to such a peculiarly reductionist world view, when really exciting advances in neuroscience go untold, such as awe-inspiring discoveries about the origins of memory in ancient oceans. He also shows that our brains are inextricably and profoundly intertwined with our bodies, the natural world and the world we have made, including hilarious accounts of his own participation in neurological experiments.
Debunking the common, even brainless interpretations of brain science, he celebrates the more intriguing and underreported advances in neuroscience with zest and wit.
- GenresPsychologyScience
220 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 20, 2017
9 people are currently reading
86 people want to read
About the author
Robert Newman
71 books27 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author with this name in the Goodreads database.
Robert ("Rob") Newman (born 7 July 1964) is a British stand-up comedian, author and political activist. In 1993 Newman and his then comedy partner David Baddiel became the first comedians to play and sell out the 12,000-seat Wembley Arena in London. He was born to a Greek Cypriot father and British mother.
Newman's first speaking appearance was with Third World First (now known as People and Planet), the student political organisation. In addition to comedy and writing, he has also worked as a paperboy in Whitwell, Hertfordshire, farmhand, warehouse-man, house-painter, teacher, mail sorter, social worker, mover, and broadcaster.
Robert ("Rob") Newman (born 7 July 1964) is a British stand-up comedian, author and political activist. In 1993 Newman and his then comedy partner David Baddiel became the first comedians to play and sell out the 12,000-seat Wembley Arena in London. He was born to a Greek Cypriot father and British mother.
Newman's first speaking appearance was with Third World First (now known as People and Planet), the student political organisation. In addition to comedy and writing, he has also worked as a paperboy in Whitwell, Hertfordshire, farmhand, warehouse-man, house-painter, teacher, mail sorter, social worker, mover, and broadcaster.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 2, 2017
Yet another stunning book from Robert Newman - I'm biased, he might be my favourite living writer - light on jokes but impressively heavy on research and rendering scientific knowledge into intelligible prose. As ever, he can't help himself when there's a joke lurking in the wings and this adds such a great dimension to this tour de force of popular science.
But wouldn't another novel be good, Rob? It would, wouldn't it?
Go on.
Please.
But wouldn't another novel be good, Rob? It would, wouldn't it?
Go on.
Please.
December 3, 2019
Много приятна книжка. Смешна и полезна. Коментираща умните (безумни) рационализми на невроучените и писателите на невронаучни популярни книги, в които рационализми няма нищиаучно (т.е. Емперика). Има само разсъждения на учени представяни за наука - А РАЗСЪЖДЕНИЯТА НА УЧЕНИ, и на който и да е било НЕ Е НАУКА.
May 31, 2017
Superb. Funny, impassioned and wise. Skewers some big names for pseudo-science masquerading as neuroscience. And delivers a rousing and important point about the culture this muddle-headedness is creating.
March 20, 2022
Belki çeviri olduğu için verilen referanslar ve ironiler pek anlaşılmıyor. Deterministik nörobilim yaklaşımına farklı bir bakış açısı getiren hoş bir kitap.
December 9, 2019
Broadly sitting in between philosophy and science, if you are looking for deep philosophy or citeable science you will struggle with this, as Newman often dismisses the former with rhetorical flourishes, and the latter with extended comedy bits where it is frustratingly impossible to tell where reality stops and the bit starts, and are baggy as a result.
However, it is a refreshing re-introduction to some older (unresolved) arguments, an introduction to a few new ideas, and timely in terms of arguing for agency and humanity in a time where both seem lacking.
The comedy serves a demonstrative purpose, and for a consumer of popular science I’m sure the book will provide a few thinking points, and a few debating points down the pub.
However, it is a refreshing re-introduction to some older (unresolved) arguments, an introduction to a few new ideas, and timely in terms of arguing for agency and humanity in a time where both seem lacking.
The comedy serves a demonstrative purpose, and for a consumer of popular science I’m sure the book will provide a few thinking points, and a few debating points down the pub.
January 7, 2020
The author is reluctant to deviate from his own views of neurology and neuroscience. It is quite dogmatic but still an interesting read even though it only reflects one perspective on a very complex subject.
March 18, 2018
Interesting. A bit ranty though and the rants got a bit repetitive for my liking.
June 2, 2018
Laugh out loud funny, and also eye opening. A must read for anyone interested in popular science, cognition, and how culture spreads mangled myths.
March 31, 2020
Excellent and fascinating read - cuts through the psychobabble and pseudoscience while incorporating a good deal on humour.
February 14, 2026
Most amusing!
December 31, 2020
Newman presents a good argument against many books and studies on how our brain works and there are genuinely funny parts to this book, but on the whole I found it rather dense (or is it me that was dense?) and heavy going.
Another thing which rather detracted from my enjoyment was how poorly edited it was. There are numerous occasions where words are missing from sentences, or words repeated and other such errors that really should have been picked up at the proof reading stage. At one point a persons date of birth and death are switched so that they are stated to have died before they were born on another occasion a date is written where it quite clear from the context it is a hundred years out.
Another thing which rather detracted from my enjoyment was how poorly edited it was. There are numerous occasions where words are missing from sentences, or words repeated and other such errors that really should have been picked up at the proof reading stage. At one point a persons date of birth and death are switched so that they are stated to have died before they were born on another occasion a date is written where it quite clear from the context it is a hundred years out.
October 13, 2023
Reflections and lessons learned:
It all felt a bit random, but so many interesting elements (tower of silence and Pavlovs disobedient dogs, scientist misery with preemptive pessimism, Freudian lesser known take on evolution, Trousers!! Ability to recognise faces...), and I could listen to Rob talk all day... looking forward to trying a different book from this author
It all felt a bit random, but so many interesting elements (tower of silence and Pavlovs disobedient dogs, scientist misery with preemptive pessimism, Freudian lesser known take on evolution, Trousers!! Ability to recognise faces...), and I could listen to Rob talk all day... looking forward to trying a different book from this author
Read
October 4, 2018Interesting, informative, entertaining, and made me laugh out loud a few times, too. Exactly what I expected from Rob Newman. Well worth a read.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews