Cognitive Science Books

Showing 1-50 of 4,102
Thinking, Fast and Slow Thinking, Fast and Slow (Hardcover)
by (shelved 145 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 4.17 — 592,451 ratings — published 2011
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How the Mind Works How the Mind Works (Paperback)
by (shelved 108 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 3.99 — 21,108 ratings — published 1997
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Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid (Paperback)
by (shelved 91 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 4.29 — 52,705 ratings — published 1979
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The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language (Paperback)
by (shelved 83 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 4.01 — 22,546 ratings — published 1994
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Consciousness Explained Consciousness Explained (Paperback)
by (shelved 75 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 3.90 — 8,697 ratings — published 1991
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The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales (Paperback)
by (shelved 75 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 4.05 — 247,391 ratings — published 1985
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The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience (Paperback)
by (shelved 69 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 4.14 — 1,291 ratings — published 1991
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The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature (Paperback)
by (shelved 66 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 4.09 — 25,361 ratings — published 2002
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Metaphors We Live By Metaphors We Live By (Paperback)
by (shelved 65 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 4.09 — 6,973 ratings — published 1980
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Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain (Paperback)
by (shelved 56 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 3.95 — 10,008 ratings — published 1994
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Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (Paperback)
by (shelved 49 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 3.96 — 623,585 ratings — published 2005
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Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain (Hardcover)
by (shelved 47 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 4.09 — 34,579 ratings — published 2011
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The Mind’s I: Fantasies and Reflections on Self and Soul The Mind’s I: Fantasies and Reflections on Self and Soul (Paperback)
by (shelved 47 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 4.15 — 5,970 ratings — published 1981
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Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions (Hardcover)
by (shelved 47 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 4.12 — 131,443 ratings — published 2008
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The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science (Hardcover)
by (shelved 46 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 4.20 — 40,349 ratings — published 2007
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The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature (Hardcover)
by (shelved 46 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 3.91 — 11,225 ratings — published 2007
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I Am a Strange Loop I Am a Strange Loop (Hardcover)
by (shelved 45 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 3.95 — 8,697 ratings — published 2007
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The Society of Mind The Society of Mind (Paperback)
by (shelved 43 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 4.04 — 3,365 ratings — published 1985
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Philosophy in the Flesh: The Embodied Mind and its Challenge to Western Thought Philosophy in the Flesh: The Embodied Mind and its Challenge to Western Thought (Paperback)
by (shelved 36 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 4.08 — 1,287 ratings — published 1998
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Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind (Paperback)
by (shelved 35 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 4.27 — 20,604 ratings — published 1998
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Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain (Hardcover)
by (shelved 35 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 3.95 — 74,725 ratings — published 2007
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Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst (Hardcover)
by (shelved 34 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 4.38 — 32,195 ratings — published 2017
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Mindware: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Cognitive Science Mindware: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Cognitive Science (Paperback)
by (shelved 34 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 3.81 — 354 ratings — published 2000
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On Intelligence On Intelligence (Paperback)
by (shelved 33 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 4.11 — 6,975 ratings — published 2004
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Mind: Introduction to Cognitive Science Mind: Introduction to Cognitive Science (Paperback)
by (shelved 33 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 3.67 — 246 ratings — published 1996
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Cognitive Science: An Introduction to the Science of the Mind Cognitive Science: An Introduction to the Science of the Mind (Hardcover)
by (shelved 31 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 3.86 — 163 ratings — published 2010
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Supersizing the Mind: Embodiment, Action, and Cognitive Extension (Philosophy of Mind) Supersizing the Mind: Embodiment, Action, and Cognitive Extension (Philosophy of Mind)
by (shelved 31 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 3.88 — 312 ratings — published 2008
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The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains (Paperback)
by (shelved 31 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 3.89 — 33,126 ratings — published 2010
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How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain (Hardcover)
by (shelved 30 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 4.10 — 13,212 ratings — published 2017
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Consciousness and the Brain: Deciphering How the Brain Codes Our Thoughts Consciousness and the Brain: Deciphering How the Brain Codes Our Thoughts (Hardcover)
by (shelved 30 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 4.17 — 1,977 ratings — published 2014
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The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self (Hardcover)
by (shelved 30 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 4.10 — 3,284 ratings — published 2009
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This Is Your Brain on Music This Is Your Brain on Music (Hardcover)
by (shelved 30 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 3.89 — 68,050 ratings — published 2006
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The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human (Hardcover)
by (shelved 29 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 4.15 — 10,925 ratings — published 2010
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Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain (Hardcover)
by (shelved 29 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 3.97 — 3,257 ratings — published 2010
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How to Create a Mind: The Secret of Human Thought Revealed How to Create a Mind: The Secret of Human Thought Revealed (Hardcover)
by (shelved 28 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 3.96 — 7,805 ratings — published 2012
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Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions (Hardcover)
by (shelved 27 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 4.12 — 35,138 ratings — published 2016
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Where Mathematics Come From: How the Embodied Mind Brings Mathematics into Being Where Mathematics Come From: How the Embodied Mind Brings Mathematics into Being (Paperback)
by (shelved 27 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 3.95 — 397 ratings — published 2000
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Being You: A New Science of Consciousness Being You: A New Science of Consciousness (Hardcover)
by (shelved 26 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 4.10 — 4,936 ratings — published 2020
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The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World (Hardcover)
by (shelved 26 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 4.35 — 4,077 ratings — published 2009
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Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (Paperback)
by (shelved 26 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 4.11 — 88,987 ratings — published 1990
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Other Minds Other Minds (Hardcover)
by (shelved 25 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 3.88 — 28,163 ratings — published 2016
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Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain (Hardcover)
by (shelved 25 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 3.85 — 8,275 ratings — published 2007
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Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking (Paperback)
by (shelved 24 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 3.78 — 4,382 ratings — published 2013
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Menti tribali. Perché le brave persone si dividono su politica e religione Menti tribali. Perché le brave persone si dividono su politica e religione (Paperback)
by (shelved 24 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 4.19 — 66,448 ratings — published 2012
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The Emperor's New Mind The Emperor's New Mind (Paperback)
by (shelved 24 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 3.91 — 7,669 ratings — published 1989
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Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal About the Mind Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal About the Mind (Paperback)
by (shelved 24 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 4.11 — 1,114 ratings — published 1987
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How to Change Your Mind: The New Science of Psychedelics How to Change Your Mind: The New Science of Psychedelics (Hardcover)
by (shelved 23 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 4.27 — 84,684 ratings — published 2018
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The Brain: The Story of You The Brain: The Story of You (Hardcover)
by (shelved 23 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 4.25 — 22,940 ratings — published 2015
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Hallucinations Hallucinations (Hardcover)
by (shelved 23 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 3.93 — 25,383 ratings — published 2012
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From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds (Paperback)
by (shelved 22 times as cognitive-science)
avg rating 3.79 — 3,732 ratings — published 2017
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“The result is a narrowing of cultural imagination, where audiences are trained to expect entertainment that entertains but does not provoke, distracts but does not enlighten.”
E. Ravago, Bansang Pinipilas

Ashim Shanker
“Sound waves, regardless of their frequency or intensity, can only be detected by the Mole Fly’s acute sense of smell—it is a little known fact that the Mole Fly’s auditory receptors do not, in fact, have a corresponding center in the brain designated for the purposes of processing sensory stimuli and so, these stimuli, instead of being siphoned out as noise, bypass the filters to be translated, oddly enough, by the part of the brain that processes smell. Consequently, the Mole Fly’s brain, in its inevitable confusion, understands sound as an aroma, rendering the boundary line between the auditory and olfactory sense indistinguishable.

Sounds, thus, come in a variety of scents with an intensity proportional to its frequency. Sounds of shorter wavelength, for example, are particularly pungent. What results is a species of creature that cannot conceptualize the possibility that sound and smell are separate entities, despite its ability to discriminate between the exactitudes of pitch, timbre, tone, scent, and flavor to an alarming degree of precision. Yet, despite this ability to hyper-analyze, they lack the cognitive skill to laterally link successions of either sound or smell into a meaningful context, resulting in the equivalent of a data overflow.
And this may be the most defining element of the Mole Fly’s behavior: a blatant disregard for the context of perception, in favor of analyzing those remote and diminutive properties that distinguish one element from another. While sensory continuity seems logical to their visual perception, as things are subject to change from moment-to-moment, such is not the case with their olfactory sense, as delays in sensing new smells are granted a degree of normality by the brain. Thus, the Mole Fly’s olfactory-auditory complex seems to be deprived of the sensory continuity otherwise afforded in the auditory senses of other species. And so, instead of sensing aromas and sounds continuously over a period of time—for example, instead of sensing them 24-30 times per second, as would be the case with their visual perception—they tend to process changes in sound and smell much more slowly, thereby preventing them from effectively plotting the variations thereof into an array or any kind of meaningful framework that would allow the information provided by their olfactory and auditory stimuli to be lasting in their usefulness.

The Mole flies, themselves, being the structurally-obsessed and compulsive creatures that they are, in all their habitual collecting, organizing, and re-organizing of found objects into mammoth installations of optimal functional value, are remarkably easy to control, especially as they are given to a rather false and arbitrary sense of hierarchy, ascribing positions—that are otherwise trivial, yet necessarily mundane if only to obscure their true purpose—with an unfathomable amount of honor, to the logical extreme that the few chosen to serve in their most esteemed ranks are imbued with a kind of obligatory arrogance that begins in the pupal stages and extends indefinitely, as they are further nurtured well into adulthood by a society that infuses its heroes of middle management with an immeasurable sense of importance—a kind of celebrity status recognized by the masses as a living embodiment of their ideals. And yet, despite this culture of celebrity worship and vicarious living, all whims and impulses fall subservient, dropping humbly to the knees—yes, Mole Flies do, in fact, have knees!—before the grace of the merciful Queen, who is, in actuality, just a puppet dictator installed by the Melic papacy, using an old recycled Damsel fly-fishing lure. The dummy is crude, but convincing, as the Mole flies treat it as they would their true-born queen.”
Ashim Shanker, Don't Forget to Breathe

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