Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind: How Intelligence Increases When You Think Less - Softcover

Claxton, Guy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060955414 ISBN 13: 9780060955410

Publisher: Ecco, 1999

Synopsis

In these accelerated times, our decisive and businesslike ways of thinking are unprepared for ambiguity, paradox, and sleeping on it." We assume that the quick-thinking "hare brain" will beat out the slower Intuition of the "tortoise mind." However, now research in cognitive science is changing this understanding of the human mind. It suggests that patience and confusion-rather than rigor and certainty-are the essential precursors of wisdom.

With a compelling argument that the mind works best when we trust our unconscious, or "undermind," psychologist Guy Claxton makes an appeal that we be less analytical and let our creativity have free rein. He also encourages reevaluation of society's obsession with results-oriented thinking and problem-solving under pressure. Packed with Interesting anecdotes, a dozen puzzles to test your reasoning, and the latest related research, Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind is an Illuminating, uplifting, stimulating read that focuses on a new kind of well-being and cognition.

About this title

Review:

Even though we all learned that "slow and steady wins the race" back in grade school, most of us tackle problems with the brute force of logic. Cognitive scientist Guy Claxton wrote Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind to show us another way. As he says, "voices of philosophy, poetry and imagery are relatively weak in a world that largely assumes that only science and reason speak with true authority." Yet that very authority suggests that there are many problems better served by slower, more intuitive thinking, rather than the linear, logical process Claxton calls the "d-mind."

Laboratory studies of subliminal perception, problem solving, and creativity point to a cacophony of intelligent voices murmuring just below our conscious levels of awareness yet influencing our behavior in subtle ways we are only just beginning to understand. Claxton argues persuasively that this unconscious intelligence is just what we need to handle complex situations, and that our culture's misplaced emphasis on logic and reason to the exclusion of all else is foolish, and even hypocritical, as most scientists will readily admit to abandoning their left-brains on occasion for bursts of nonlinear, inspired thinking. But his prose is never preachy; in fact, he sounds as warm and wise as the Buddhist monks he has studied with. If you're looking for a new way of thinking about thinking, you'll find it in Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind. --Rob Lightner

Review:

"The essential guide to creative thinking!"-- John Cleese "Guy Claxton backs up anecdotal studies of creativity with up-to-date Information about the latest research into brain function. The result is a fascinating book that told me many things I ought to know but didn't." -- Anthony Storr, author of "Solitude: A Return to Self"

About this edition

• Publisher: Ecco
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0060955414
• ISBN 13: 9780060955410
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272