Why Choose This Book?: How We Make Decisions

Description

This is quite an unassuming book at first blush. With all the other books out there that deal with human decision-making, this one is by far the most advanced. There are lots of pop-psychology books in this genre (Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior, Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking or How We Decide) but believe me when I say that this is hands down the winner - to me at least. Montague is a neuroscientist, which means that he delves into the "meat" of the decision-making process; the other guys just look at the consequences. There are many things that Montague covers in this book - Turing's Computational Theory of Mind (CToM), Natural Selection/ Evolution, Reinforcement Learning, Neuroeconomics, Free Will and Philosophy of Mind - which to some reader's, may be overwhelming. However, in my view, it is well worth the effort to try and comprehend what Montague is proposing - a newer "Efficient Computational Theory of Mind (ECToM). His theory is a form of Physicalism, which simply means that what we regard as feelings and emotions are only physical states in the brain. And the brain is hardwired to find 'value' in these emotions; hence, it is possible for humans to disregard their instinct for survival in order to fulfill something that has a greater 'value' to that individual. Montague calls these 'values' that can override our need for survival "superpowers." This is a very interesting concept and helps explain irrational behaviors that people do, such as the cults that commit mass-suicide (Heaven's Gate, Order of the Solar Temple and Jonestown). This is a great book - I wore out my highlighter picking out my favorite passages. There are so many important concepts here that I can't even begin to write them all down. I highly recommend this book. Also, another book that marries well with Montague's is de Marchi and Hamilton's book: You Are What You Choose: The Habits of Mind that Really Determine How We Make Decisions.