Joseph Giovannoli

A thorough yet readable tour through the architecture and evolution of the brain, but it takes the author a while to get around to his thesis: our brains are wired in a way that makes us vulnerable to psychological manipulation. Many chapters of solid science inform and educate and slowly lay the groundwork for an empowering message about the necessity and capability of each individual to take responsibility for achieving equanimity between the human drive to mythologize and the value of thinking critically. But, in the end, the author wanders off and indulges in personal biases that left me feeling unnecessarily hopeless and cynical. Read it as a primer on evolution and neuroscience, and then read, watch, or listen to Joseph Campbell's and Bill Moyers' The Power of Myth to round out the picture.… (mehr)