Before You Know It
The Unconscious Reasons We Do What We Do
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Before You Know It
Buy for $15.98
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
John Bargh
-
George Newbern
-
By:
-
John Bargh
About this listen
Random House presents the audiobook edition of Before You Know It by John Bargh, read by George Newbern and with an introduction by the author.
The world's leading expert on the unconscious mind reveals the hidden mental processes that secretly govern every aspect of our behaviour.
For more than three decades, Dr John Bargh has been conducting revolutionary research into the unconscious mind - not Freud's dark, malevolent unconscious but the new unconscious, a helpful and powerful part of the mind that we can access and understand through experimental science. Now, Dr Bargh presents an engaging and enlightening tour of the influential psychological forces that are at work as we go about our daily lives - checking a dating app, holding a cup of hot coffee, or getting a flu shot.
Dr Bargh takes you into his labs at New York University and Yale where his ingenious experiments have shown how the unconscious guides our behaviour, goals and motivations in areas like race relations, parenting, business, consumer behaviour and addiction. He reveals the pervasive influence of the unconscious mind in who we choose to date or vote for, what we buy, where we live, how we perform on tests and in job interviews, and much more. Before You Know It is full of surprising and entertaining revelations as well as tricks to help you remember to-do items, shop smarter and sleep better.
Before You Know It will profoundly change the way you understand yourself by introducing you to a fascinating world only recently discovered, the world that exists below the surface of your awareness and yet is the key to unlocking new ways of thinking, feeling and behaving.
©2017 John Bargh (P)2017 Random House AudiobooksListeners also enjoyed...
-
Subliminal
- How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior
- By: Leonard Mlodinow
- Narrated by: Leonard Mlodinow
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 941
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 782
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 777
Leonard Mlodinow, the best-selling author of The Drunkard’s Walk and coauthor of The Grand Design (with Stephen Hawking), gives us a startling and eye-opening examination of how the unconscious mind shapes our experience of the world and how, for instance, we often misperceive our relationships with family, friends, and business associates, misunderstand the reasons for our investment decisions, and misremember important events.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Pretty Good
- By Bob on 06-24-12
By: Leonard Mlodinow
-
Emotional
- How Feelings Shape Our Thinking
- By: Leonard Mlodinow
- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 121
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 109
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 107
You make hundreds of decisions every day, from what to eat for breakfast to how you should invest, and not one of them could be made without the essential component of emotion. It has long been held that thinking and feeling are separate and opposing forces in our behavior. But as Leonard Mlodinow, the best-selling author of Subliminal, tells us, extraordinary advances in psychology and neuroscience have proven that emotions are as critical to our well-being as is rational thinking.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Widely misleading
- By Kevin Richardson on 01-30-22
By: Leonard Mlodinow
-
Incognito
- The Secret Lives of the Brain
- By: David Eagleman
- Narrated by: David Eagleman
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,433
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,974
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,946
In this sparkling and provocative new book, the renowned neuroscientist David Eagleman navigates the depths of the subconscious brain to illuminate surprising mysteries. Taking in brain damage, plane spotting, dating, drugs, beauty, infidelity, synesthesia, criminal law, artificial intelligence, and visual illusions, Incognito is a thrilling subsurface exploration of the mind and all its contradictions.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
The author is NOT a good reader
- By MaryEllen on 06-17-11
By: David Eagleman
-
How to Know a Person
- The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen
- By: David Brooks
- Narrated by: David Brooks
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,014
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,877
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,875
As David Brooks observes, “There is one skill that lies at the heart of any healthy person, family, school, community organization, or society: the ability to see someone else deeply and make them feel seen—to accurately know another person, to let them feel valued, heard, and understood.” And yet we humans don’t do this well. All around us are people who feel invisible, unseen, misunderstood. In How to Know a Person, Brooks sets out to help us do better, posing questions that are essential for all of us: If you want to know a person, what kind of attention should you cast on them?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A book he was ready to write
- By Adam Shields on 11-17-23
By: David Brooks
-
Elastic
- Flexible Thinking in a Time of Change
- By: Leonard Mlodinow
- Narrated by: Leonard Mlodinow
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 304
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 266
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 264
With rapid technological innovation leading the charge, today's world is transforming itself at an extraordinary and unprecedented pace. As jobs become more multifaceted, as information streams multiply, and as myriad devices place increasing demands on our attention, we are confronted every day with a plethora of new challenges. Fortunately, as Leonard Mlodinow shows, the human brain is uniquely engineered to adapt.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Very different Mlodinow
- By Petr Kubat on 08-06-18
By: Leonard Mlodinow
-
Determined
- A Science of Life Without Free Will
- By: Robert M. Sapolsky
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 737
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 674
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 674
Robert Sapolsky’s Behave, his now classic account of why humans do good and why they do bad, pointed toward an unsettling conclusion: We may not grasp the precise marriage of nature and nurture that creates the physics and chemistry at the base of human behavior, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Now, in Determined, Sapolsky takes his argument all the way, mounting a brilliant (and in his inimitable way, delightful) full-frontal assault on the pleasant fantasy that there is some separate self telling our biology what to do.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Abridged - no Appendix!
- By Amazon Customer on 11-02-23
-
Subliminal
- How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior
- By: Leonard Mlodinow
- Narrated by: Leonard Mlodinow
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 941
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 782
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 777
Leonard Mlodinow, the best-selling author of The Drunkard’s Walk and coauthor of The Grand Design (with Stephen Hawking), gives us a startling and eye-opening examination of how the unconscious mind shapes our experience of the world and how, for instance, we often misperceive our relationships with family, friends, and business associates, misunderstand the reasons for our investment decisions, and misremember important events.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Pretty Good
- By Bob on 06-24-12
By: Leonard Mlodinow
-
Emotional
- How Feelings Shape Our Thinking
- By: Leonard Mlodinow
- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 121
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 109
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 107
You make hundreds of decisions every day, from what to eat for breakfast to how you should invest, and not one of them could be made without the essential component of emotion. It has long been held that thinking and feeling are separate and opposing forces in our behavior. But as Leonard Mlodinow, the best-selling author of Subliminal, tells us, extraordinary advances in psychology and neuroscience have proven that emotions are as critical to our well-being as is rational thinking.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Widely misleading
- By Kevin Richardson on 01-30-22
By: Leonard Mlodinow
-
Incognito
- The Secret Lives of the Brain
- By: David Eagleman
- Narrated by: David Eagleman
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,433
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,974
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,946
In this sparkling and provocative new book, the renowned neuroscientist David Eagleman navigates the depths of the subconscious brain to illuminate surprising mysteries. Taking in brain damage, plane spotting, dating, drugs, beauty, infidelity, synesthesia, criminal law, artificial intelligence, and visual illusions, Incognito is a thrilling subsurface exploration of the mind and all its contradictions.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
The author is NOT a good reader
- By MaryEllen on 06-17-11
By: David Eagleman
-
How to Know a Person
- The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen
- By: David Brooks
- Narrated by: David Brooks
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,014
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,877
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,875
As David Brooks observes, “There is one skill that lies at the heart of any healthy person, family, school, community organization, or society: the ability to see someone else deeply and make them feel seen—to accurately know another person, to let them feel valued, heard, and understood.” And yet we humans don’t do this well. All around us are people who feel invisible, unseen, misunderstood. In How to Know a Person, Brooks sets out to help us do better, posing questions that are essential for all of us: If you want to know a person, what kind of attention should you cast on them?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A book he was ready to write
- By Adam Shields on 11-17-23
By: David Brooks
-
Elastic
- Flexible Thinking in a Time of Change
- By: Leonard Mlodinow
- Narrated by: Leonard Mlodinow
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 304
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 266
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 264
With rapid technological innovation leading the charge, today's world is transforming itself at an extraordinary and unprecedented pace. As jobs become more multifaceted, as information streams multiply, and as myriad devices place increasing demands on our attention, we are confronted every day with a plethora of new challenges. Fortunately, as Leonard Mlodinow shows, the human brain is uniquely engineered to adapt.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Very different Mlodinow
- By Petr Kubat on 08-06-18
By: Leonard Mlodinow
-
Determined
- A Science of Life Without Free Will
- By: Robert M. Sapolsky
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 737
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 674
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 674
Robert Sapolsky’s Behave, his now classic account of why humans do good and why they do bad, pointed toward an unsettling conclusion: We may not grasp the precise marriage of nature and nurture that creates the physics and chemistry at the base of human behavior, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Now, in Determined, Sapolsky takes his argument all the way, mounting a brilliant (and in his inimitable way, delightful) full-frontal assault on the pleasant fantasy that there is some separate self telling our biology what to do.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Abridged - no Appendix!
- By Amazon Customer on 11-02-23
-
Psych
- The Story of the Human Mind
- By: Paul Bloom
- Narrated by: Graham Halstead
- Length: 15 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 116
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 102
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 102
How does the brain—a three-pound wrinkly mass—give rise to intelligence and conscious experience? Was Freud right that we are all plagued by forbidden sexual desires? What is the function of emotions such as disgust, gratitude, and shame? Renowned psychologist Paul Bloom answers these questions and many more in Psych, his riveting new book about the science of the mind.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Not particularly interesting
- By michelle gourgeot on 07-10-23
By: Paul Bloom
-
Misbelief
- What Makes Rational People Believe Irrational Things
- By: Dan Ariely
- Narrated by: Simon Jones
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 117
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 104
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 103
Misinformation affects all of us on a daily basis—from social media to larger political challenges, from casual conversations in supermarkets, to even our closest relationships. While we recognize the dangers that misinformation poses, the problem is complex—far beyond what policing social media alone can achieve—and too often our limited solutions are shaped by partisan politics and individual interpretations of truth. In Misbelief, preeminent social scientist Dan Ariely argues that to understand the irrational appeal of misinformation, we must first understand the behavior of “misbelief”.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Horrible narrator
- By Tamara Aviv on 10-02-23
By: Dan Ariely
-
Outlive
- The Science and Art of Longevity
- By: Peter Attia MD, Bill Gifford - contributor
- Narrated by: Peter Attia MD
- Length: 17 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 6,509
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 5,726
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 5,715
Wouldn’t you like to live longer? And better? In this operating manual for longevity, Dr. Peter Attia draws on the latest science to deliver innovative nutritional interventions, techniques for optimizing exercise and sleep, and tools for addressing emotional and mental health.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Too Much Filler
- By J. Badaracco on 04-09-23
By: Peter Attia MD, and others
-
The Coddling of the American Mind
- How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure
- By: Jonathan Haidt, Greg Lukianoff
- Narrated by: Jonathan Haidt
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 12,680
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 10,681
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 10,562
The culture of “safety” and its intolerance of opposing viewpoints has left many young people anxious and unprepared for adult life. Lukianoff and Haidt offer a comprehensive set of reforms that will strengthen young people and institutions, allowing us all to reap the benefits of diversity, including viewpoint diversity. This is a book for anyone who is confused by what’s happening on college campuses today, or has children, or is concerned about the growing inability of Americans to live and work and cooperate across party lines.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Only Praise
- By TJ on 12-02-18
By: Jonathan Haidt, and others
-
Strangers to Ourselves
- Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious
- By: Timothy D. Wilson
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 497
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 416
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 404
In an eye-opening tour of the unconscious, as contemporary psychological science has redefined it, Timothy D. Wilson introduces us to a hidden mental world of judgments, feelings, and motives that introspection may never show us. This is not your psychoanalyst's unconscious. The adaptive unconscious that empirical psychology has revealed, and that Wilson describes, is much more than a repository of primative drives and conflict-ridden memories.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting, engaging, entertaining, informative
- By Lynn on 10-27-12
-
Reframe Your Brain
- The User Interface for Happiness and Success
- By: Scott Adams
- Narrated by: Andrew Baldwin
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 216
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 185
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 185
In Reframe Your Brain, Scott Adams, the contrarian genius behind Dilbert and author of the most influential personal success book of all time—How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big—gives you the complete operating system for lasting happiness.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
More impactful than any other self help book.
- By $cott Piggot Airmont on 08-29-23
By: Scott Adams
-
Blink
- The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
- By: Malcolm Gladwell
- Narrated by: Malcolm Gladwell
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 26,400
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 18,488
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 18,408
In his landmark best seller The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell redefined how we understand the world around us. Now, in Blink, he revolutionizes the way we understand the world within. Blink is a book about how we think without thinking, about choices that seem to be made in an instant, in the blink of an eye, that actually aren't as simple as they seem. Why are some people brilliant decision makers, while others are consistently inept?
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting read with contradictory messages
- By Danny on 04-21-05
By: Malcolm Gladwell
-
How Emotions Are Made
- The Secret Life of the Brain
- By: Lisa Feldman Barrett
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,476
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,110
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,094
The science of emotion is in the midst of a revolution on par with the discovery of relativity in physics and natural selection in biology. Leading the charge is psychologist and neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett, whose research overturns the long-standing belief that emotions are automatic, universal, and hardwired in different brain regions. Instead, Barrett shows, we construct each instance of emotion through a unique interplay of brain, body, and culture.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Emotions are not things!!!!!!
- By Gary on 03-14-17
-
Perfectly Confident
- How to Calibrate Your Decisions Wisely
- By: Don A. Moore
- Narrated by: Don A. Moore
- Length: 6 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
Decades of research demonstrates that we often have an over-inflated sense of self and are rarely as good as we believe. Perfectly Confident is the first book to bring together the best psychological and economic studies to explain exactly what confidence is, when it can be helpful, and when it can be destructive in our lives.
By: Don A. Moore
-
Thinking, Fast and Slow
- By: Daniel Kahneman
- Narrated by: Patrick Egan
- Length: 20 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 19,557
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 16,234
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 16,078
The guru to the gurus at last shares his knowledge with the rest of us. Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman's seminal studies in behavioral psychology, behavioral economics, and happiness studies have influenced numerous other authors, including Steven Pinker and Malcolm Gladwell. In Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman at last offers his own, first book for the general public. It is a lucid and enlightening summary of his life's work. It will change the way you think about thinking. Two systems drive the way we think and make choices, Kahneman explains....
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Difficult Listen, but Probably a Great Read
- By Mike Kircher on 01-12-12
By: Daniel Kahneman
-
Social
- Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect
- By: Matthew D. Lieberman
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 902
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 755
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 749
In Social, renowned psychologist Matthew Lieberman explores groundbreaking research in social neuroscience, revealing that our need to connect with other people is even more fundamental, more basic, than our need for food or shelter. Because of this, our brain uses its spare time to learn about the social world-other people and our relation to them.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
"Bowling Alone" For Your Brain...
- By Douglas on 12-08-13
-
You Are Now Less Dumb
- How to Conquer Mob Mentality, How to Buy Happiness, and All the Other Ways to Outsmart Yourself
- By: David McRaney
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,662
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,461
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,455
You Are Now Less Dumb is grounded in the idea that we all believe ourselves to be objective observers of reality - except we’re not. But that's okay, because our delusions keep us sane. Expanding on this premise, McRaney provides eye-opening analyses of 15 more ways we fool ourselves every day. This smart and highly entertaining audiobook will be wowing listeners for years to come.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Not a lot of guidance
- By A. Yoshida on 02-08-14
By: David McRaney
Critic reviews
Related to this topic
-
You Are Now Less Dumb
- How to Conquer Mob Mentality, How to Buy Happiness, and All the Other Ways to Outsmart Yourself
- By: David McRaney
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,662
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,461
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,455
You Are Now Less Dumb is grounded in the idea that we all believe ourselves to be objective observers of reality - except we’re not. But that's okay, because our delusions keep us sane. Expanding on this premise, McRaney provides eye-opening analyses of 15 more ways we fool ourselves every day. This smart and highly entertaining audiobook will be wowing listeners for years to come.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Not a lot of guidance
- By A. Yoshida on 02-08-14
By: David McRaney
-
Mindwise
- Why We Misunderstand What Others Think, Believe, Feel, and Want
- By: Nicholas Epley
- Narrated by: Nicholas Epley
- Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 382
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 326
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 319
You are a mind reader, born with an extraordinary ability to understand what others think, feel, believe, want, and know. It's a sixth sense you use every day, in every personal and professional relationship you have. At its best, this ability allows you to achieve the most important goal in almost any life: connecting, deeply and intimately and honestly, to other human beings. At its worst, it is a source of misunderstanding and unnecessary conflict, leading to damaged relationships and broken dreams. How good are you at knowing the minds of others?
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Finally gave up - no real point
- By Thomas on 05-12-14
By: Nicholas Epley
-
Sex, Murder, and the Meaning of Life
- A Psychologist Investigates How Evolution, Cognition, and Complexity Are Revolutionizing Our View of Human Nature
- By: Douglas T. Kenrick
- Narrated by: Fred Stella
- Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 153
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 110
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 106
Between what can be learned from evolutionary psychology and cognitive science a picture emerges. In Sex, Murder, and the Meaning of Life, social psychologist Douglas Kenrick fuses these two fields to create a coherent story of human nature. In his analysis, many ingrained, apparently irrational behaviors—one-night stands, prejudice, conspicuous consumption, even art and religious devotion—are quite explicable and (when desired) avoidable.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Rather dated and self-aggrandizing
- By Laurie Frick on 07-21-11
-
The Self Illusion
- Why There Is No "You" Inside Your Head
- By: Bruce Hood
- Narrated by: Bruce Hood
- Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 197
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 171
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 167
The Self Illusion provides a fascinating examination of how the latest science shows that our individual concept of a self is in fact an illusion. Most of us believe that we possess a self - an internal individual who resides inside our bodies, making decisions, authoring actions and possessing free will. The feeling that a single, unified, enduring self inhabits the body is compelling and inescapable. But that sovereignty of the self is increasingly under threat from science as our understanding of the brain advances.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Disappointing
- By David R Pinsof on 05-10-12
By: Bruce Hood
-
The 7 Laws of Magical Thinking
- How Irrational Beliefs Keep Us Happy, Healthy, and Sane
- By: Matthew Hutson
- Narrated by: Matthew Hutson, Don Hagen
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 63
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 51
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 51
In this witty and perceptive debut, a former editor at Psychology Today shows us how magical thinking makes life worth living. Psychologists have documented a litany of cognitive biases and explained their positive functions. Now, Matthew Hutson shows us that even the most hardcore skeptic indulges in magical thinking all the time - and it's crucial to our survival. Drawing on evolution, cognitive science, and neuroscience, Hutson shows us that magical thinking has been so useful to us that it's hardwired into our brains.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Highly enjoyable
- By David R Pinsof on 05-01-12
By: Matthew Hutson
-
The Upside of Your Dark Side
- Why Being Your Whole Self - Not Just Your "Good" Self - Drives Success and Fulfillment
- By: Todd Kashdan, Robert Biswas-Diener
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 790
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 692
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 684
In The Upside of Your Dark Side, two pioneering researchers in the field of psychology show that while mindfulness, kindness, and positivity can take us far, they cannot take us all the way. Sometimes, they can even hold us back. Emotions like anger, anxiety, or doubt might be uncomfortable, but it turns out that they are also incredibly useful.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Boring and learned nothing
- By Taryn on 07-25-16
By: Todd Kashdan, and others
-
You Are Now Less Dumb
- How to Conquer Mob Mentality, How to Buy Happiness, and All the Other Ways to Outsmart Yourself
- By: David McRaney
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,662
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,461
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,455
You Are Now Less Dumb is grounded in the idea that we all believe ourselves to be objective observers of reality - except we’re not. But that's okay, because our delusions keep us sane. Expanding on this premise, McRaney provides eye-opening analyses of 15 more ways we fool ourselves every day. This smart and highly entertaining audiobook will be wowing listeners for years to come.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Not a lot of guidance
- By A. Yoshida on 02-08-14
By: David McRaney
-
Mindwise
- Why We Misunderstand What Others Think, Believe, Feel, and Want
- By: Nicholas Epley
- Narrated by: Nicholas Epley
- Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 382
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 326
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 319
You are a mind reader, born with an extraordinary ability to understand what others think, feel, believe, want, and know. It's a sixth sense you use every day, in every personal and professional relationship you have. At its best, this ability allows you to achieve the most important goal in almost any life: connecting, deeply and intimately and honestly, to other human beings. At its worst, it is a source of misunderstanding and unnecessary conflict, leading to damaged relationships and broken dreams. How good are you at knowing the minds of others?
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Finally gave up - no real point
- By Thomas on 05-12-14
By: Nicholas Epley
-
Sex, Murder, and the Meaning of Life
- A Psychologist Investigates How Evolution, Cognition, and Complexity Are Revolutionizing Our View of Human Nature
- By: Douglas T. Kenrick
- Narrated by: Fred Stella
- Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 153
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 110
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 106
Between what can be learned from evolutionary psychology and cognitive science a picture emerges. In Sex, Murder, and the Meaning of Life, social psychologist Douglas Kenrick fuses these two fields to create a coherent story of human nature. In his analysis, many ingrained, apparently irrational behaviors—one-night stands, prejudice, conspicuous consumption, even art and religious devotion—are quite explicable and (when desired) avoidable.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Rather dated and self-aggrandizing
- By Laurie Frick on 07-21-11
-
The Self Illusion
- Why There Is No "You" Inside Your Head
- By: Bruce Hood
- Narrated by: Bruce Hood
- Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 197
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 171
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 167
The Self Illusion provides a fascinating examination of how the latest science shows that our individual concept of a self is in fact an illusion. Most of us believe that we possess a self - an internal individual who resides inside our bodies, making decisions, authoring actions and possessing free will. The feeling that a single, unified, enduring self inhabits the body is compelling and inescapable. But that sovereignty of the self is increasingly under threat from science as our understanding of the brain advances.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Disappointing
- By David R Pinsof on 05-10-12
By: Bruce Hood
-
The 7 Laws of Magical Thinking
- How Irrational Beliefs Keep Us Happy, Healthy, and Sane
- By: Matthew Hutson
- Narrated by: Matthew Hutson, Don Hagen
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 63
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 51
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 51
In this witty and perceptive debut, a former editor at Psychology Today shows us how magical thinking makes life worth living. Psychologists have documented a litany of cognitive biases and explained their positive functions. Now, Matthew Hutson shows us that even the most hardcore skeptic indulges in magical thinking all the time - and it's crucial to our survival. Drawing on evolution, cognitive science, and neuroscience, Hutson shows us that magical thinking has been so useful to us that it's hardwired into our brains.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Highly enjoyable
- By David R Pinsof on 05-01-12
By: Matthew Hutson
-
The Upside of Your Dark Side
- Why Being Your Whole Self - Not Just Your "Good" Self - Drives Success and Fulfillment
- By: Todd Kashdan, Robert Biswas-Diener
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 790
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 692
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 684
In The Upside of Your Dark Side, two pioneering researchers in the field of psychology show that while mindfulness, kindness, and positivity can take us far, they cannot take us all the way. Sometimes, they can even hold us back. Emotions like anger, anxiety, or doubt might be uncomfortable, but it turns out that they are also incredibly useful.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Boring and learned nothing
- By Taryn on 07-25-16
By: Todd Kashdan, and others
-
The Mind Club
- Who Thinks, What Feels, and Why It Matters
- By: Daniel M. Wegner, Kurt Gray
- Narrated by: David Marantz
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 760
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 670
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 673
Nothing seems more real than the minds of other people. When you consider what your boss is thinking or whether your spouse is happy, you are admitting them into the "mind club". It's easy to assume other humans can think and feel, but what about a cow, a computer, a corporation? What kinds of minds do they have? Daniel M. Wegner and Kurt Gray are award-winning psychologists who have discovered that minds - while incredibly important - are a matter of perception.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Who is the self in me? Am I part of something bigger?
- By Philomath on 03-24-16
By: Daniel M. Wegner, and others
-
The Molecule of More
- How a Single Chemical in Your Brain Drives Love, Sex, and Creativity - And Will Determine the Fate of the Human Race
- By: Daniel Z. Lieberman MD, Michael E. Long
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,733
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,313
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,293
In The Molecule of More: How a Single Chemical in Your Brain Drives Love, Sex, and Creativity—and will Determine the Fate of the Human Race, George Washington University professor and psychiatrist Daniel Z. Lieberman, MD, and Georgetown University lecturer Michael E. Long present a potentially life-changing proposal: Much of human life has an unconsidered component that explains an array of behaviors previously thought to be unrelated, including why winners cheat, why geniuses often suffer with mental illness, why nearly all diets fail, and more.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Did you know conservatives have more orgasms?
- By Josh on 10-21-20
By: Daniel Z. Lieberman MD, and others
-
The Marshmallow Test
- Mastering Self-Control
- By: Walter Mischel
- Narrated by: Alan Alda
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,767
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,562
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,547
In The Marshmallow Test, Mischel explains how self-control can be mastered and applied to challenges in everyday life - from weight control to quitting smoking, overcoming heartbreak, making major decisions, and planning for retirement. With profound implications for the choices we make in parenting, education, public policy and self-care, The Marshmallow Test will change the way you think about who we are and what we can be.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great performance, but lacking in content
- By Hilary - San Francisco on 09-27-14
By: Walter Mischel
-
Bozo Sapiens
- Why to Err Is Human
- By: Michael Kaplan, Ellen Kaplan
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 93
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 48
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 46
Our species, it appears, is hardwired to get things wrong in myriad different ways. Why did recipients of a loan offer accept a higher rate of interest when a pretty woman's face was printed on the flyer? Why did one poll on immigration find the most despised aliens were ones from a group that did not exist? What made four of the Air Force's best pilots fly their planes, in formation, straight into the ground?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A tour de force
- By Ivan on 07-05-11
By: Michael Kaplan, and others
-
Blindspot
- By: Mahzarin R. Banaji, Anthony G. Greenwald
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 562
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 459
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 456
I know my own mind. I am able to assess others in a fair and accurate way. These self-perceptions are challenged by leading psychologists Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald as they explore the hidden biases we all carry from a lifetime of exposure to cultural attitudes about age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, social class, sexuality, disability status, and nationality. Blindspot is the authors’ metaphor for the portion of the mind that houses hidden biases.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Difficult to interpret.
- By Ryan Arnold on 12-21-15
By: Mahzarin R. Banaji, and others
-
How the Body Knows Its Mind
- The Surprising Power of the Physical Environment to Influence How You Think and Feel
- By: Sian Beilock
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 6 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 47
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 42
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 42
An award-winning scientist offers a groundbreaking new understanding of the mind-body connection and its profound impact on everything from advertising to romance. The human body is not just a passive device carrying out messages sent by the brain but rather an integral part of how we think and make decisions.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The New Science Of The Mind Body Connection!
- By Dianne on 04-06-15
By: Sian Beilock
-
The Upside of Irrationality
- The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home
- By: Dan Ariely
- Narrated by: Simon Jones
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,667
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 999
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 989
In his groundbreaking book Predictably Irrational, social scientist Dan Ariely revealed the multiple biases that lead us into making unwise decisions. Now, in The Upside of Irrationality, he exposes the surprising negative and positive effects irrationality can have on our lives. Focusing on our behaviors at work and in relationships, he offers new insights and eye-opening truths about what really motivates us on the job.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Not as good as the first
- By Stephen on 06-20-10
By: Dan Ariely
-
Making Habits, Breaking Habits
- Why We Do Things, Why We Don't, and How to Make Any Change Stick
- By: Jeremy Dean
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 901
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 780
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 766
Say you want to start going to the gym or practicing a musical instrument. How long should it take before you stop having to force it and start doing it automatically? The surprising answers are found in Making Habits, Breaking Habits, a leading psychologist’s popular examination of one of the most powerful and underappreciated processes in the brain. Although people like to think that they are in control, the vast majority of human behavior occurs without any decision-making or conscious thought.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Get the actual book
- By Trish Vidal on 05-22-14
By: Jeremy Dean
-
Brain Rules (Updated and Expanded)
- 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School
- By: John Medina
- Narrated by: John Medina
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,220
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,060
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,050
In the New York Times bestseller Brain Rules, Dr. John Medina, a molecular biologist, shares his lifelong interest in how the brain sciences might influence the way we teach our children and the way we work. In each chapter, he describes a brain rule - what scientists know for sure about how our brains work - and then offers transformative ideas for our daily lives. Medina’s fascinating stories and infectious sense of humor breathe life into brain science.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Dear Publishers . . .
- By Bekah on 04-06-17
By: John Medina
-
The Bond
- Connecting Through the Space Between Us
- By: Lynne McTaggart
- Narrated by: Karen White
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 118
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 91
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 86
From the best-selling author of The Intention Experiment and The Field comes a groundbreaking new work---a book that uses the interconnectedness of mind and matter to demonstrate that the key to life is in the relationship between things. We are always connected with others, hardwired at our most elemental level---from the quantum level to the cellular, from personal relationships to business and societal structures.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Horrible narrator
- By Cotran on 09-19-11
By: Lynne McTaggart
-
Perception
- How Our Bodies Shape Our Minds
- By: Dennis Proffitt, Drake Baer
- Narrated by: Angela Dawe
- Length: 7 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 43
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
Perception marries academic rigor with mainstream accessibility. The research presented and the personalities profiled will show what it means to not only have, but be, your unique human body. The positive ramifications of viewing ourselves from this embodied perspective include greater athletic, academic, and professional achievement, more nourishing relationships, and greater personal well-being. The better we can understand what our bodies are - what they excel at, what they need, what they must avoid - the better we can live our lives.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The body-mind connection well explained
- By Lucy A. Pithecus on 12-11-22
By: Dennis Proffitt, and others
-
The Psychopath Inside
- A Neuroscientist's Personal Journey into the Dark Side of the Brain
- By: James Fallon
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 4 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 592
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 506
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 501
The memoir of a neuroscientist whose research led him to a bizarre personal discovery, James Fallon had spent an entire career studying how our brains affect our behavior when his research suddenly turned personal. While studying brain scans of several family members, he discovered that one perfectly matched a pattern he’d found in the brains of serial killers. This meant one of two things: Either his family’s scans had been mixed up with those of felons or someone in his family was a psychopath.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Entertaining story with some quick neuroscience
- By smarmer on 09-21-14
By: James Fallon