Brain Bugs

With its trillions of connections, the human brain is more beautiful and complex than anything we could ever build, but its far from perfect: our memory is unreliable; we cant multiply large sums in our heads; advertising manipulates us; we tend to distrust people who are different from us; supernatural beliefs and superstitions are hard to shake; we prefer instant gratification to long-term gain; and what we presume to be rational decisions are often anything but. Drawing on striking examples and fascinating studies, neuroscientist Dean Buonomano illuminates the causes and consequences of these bugs in terms of the brains innermost workings and their evolutionary purposes. He then examines how our brains functionand malfunctionin the digital, predator-free, information-saturated, special-effects-addled world we have built for ourselves.