Showing results by author "Bruce Hood" in All Categories

The Self Illusion provides a fascinating examination of how the latest science shows that our individual concept of a self is in fact an illusion. Most of us believe that we possess a self - an internal individual who resides inside our bodies, making decisions, authoring actions and possessing free will. The feeling that a single, unified, enduring self inhabits the body is compelling and inescapable. But that sovereignty of the self is increasingly under threat from science as our understanding of the brain advances.

We all want to be happier, but our brains often get in the way. At the heart of this is our perspective – when we are too inward-looking, we become overly concerned with our own inadequacies, compare ourselves with others and fail to appreciate the good in our lives. These patterns of thinking make us unhappy, anxious and apprehensive. World-leading psychologist Bruce Hood presents seven simple but life-changing lessons to break these patterns. He shows how we can form stronger connections with others, become more optimistic, learn to control our attention and finally get out of our own heads.

Director of the Bristol Cognitive Development Centre at the University of Bristol, Bruce M. Hood has been a research fellow at Cambridge, a visiting scientist at MIT, and a professor at Harvard. SuperSense is a fascinating exploration of the forces that shape people’s beliefs in the irrational - and also a compelling look at how these beliefs bind humans together in society.