Incognito The Secret Lives Of The Brain Analysis

Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain by David Eagleman explores the inner processes of the brain to redefine how humans function as beings in everyday life. Eagleman makes a strong argument throughout the entirety of the book that who people are with a conscious mind is a completely different person than with an unconscious mind. Though people spend their whole lives trying to figure out who they are as a person—what characterizes them, their likes and dislikes, etc.—there is so much more hidden behind the complex workings of our brain that we overlook, not because we do not want to know but because it is just how the brain functions. Most of the processes of the brain are carried out without much thought, and people do not have to understand

Eagleman exemplifies that the majority of our actions and thoughts are due to the unconscious mind by sharing first-hand experiences of other people and explanations concerning how our mind works to analyze and perform activities that he supplements. I thought it was an interesting device for Eagleman to use examples and activities to further explain how the mind works, because there is no better way to learn than to perform and interact with the actual ideas being presented. He uses puzzles, like the ones dealing with cards and numbers, and visual representations that link to psychological traits like perception (p. 85-86). What sets this book apart from others is that Eagleman explains thoroughly as to why the mind does what it does when given a task, and it gives the audience an opportunity to learn about the unconscious processes we do not acknowledge behind the conscious decisions we make. In addition to the activities are real-life examples that Eagleman analyzes through psychology. More specifically, he uses Mel Gibson and questions his actual character in relation to his being arrested while intoxicated. A few aspects and themes of the book involve the use of alcohol and drugs, and how the substances reveal unconscious sides of people tremendously different from their sober selves. Mel Gibson, a public figure, was arrested for a DUI and his refusal to get into the cop car was accompanied with racist comments against Jews. Afterwards, he apologizes showing deep regrets with his previous actions. Eagleman questions whether the real Mel Gibson is the racist one under the influence of alcohol, or the apologetic one with seemingly right morals and a consciously sober mind. Both are still parts of Mel Gibson, regardless of which mind had control of his thoughts and