Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Where is the Invisible Gorilla?

If you are looking for business books, I recommend the excellent Farnam street blog, which has pointed me to a number of excellent titles in the last couple of years, many concerning the workings of the brain, a topic very much of the moment. Today, he reviews Brain Rules, which I stumbled on a year or two ago in the 612 section of the library, the place to find these types of books.

In a ridiculously reductive act of precis, I've summarized his summary of the rules; but they're good to keep in mind, so at the very least, typing this will help set them in my own long term memory.


  1. Exercise improves brain power;
  2. The brain evolves (it is a survival organ);
  3. Every brain is wired differently;
  4. We can only focus on one thing at a time;
  5. Repetition improves memory;
  6. Sleep is key to development and maintenance;
  7. Long term stress damages memory, executive function and motor skills;
  8. All of the senses assist memory, but vision is strongest.


Of all the books I've read on this topic, the ones I would most highly recommend are Thinking: Fast and Slow and The Brain That Changes Itself. The others are sprinkled throughout my library, and I can't think of one that I didn't enjoy.

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