The Hidden Brain

How Our Unconscious Minds Elect Presidents, Control Markets, Wage Wars, and Save Our Lives

By: Shankar Vedantam

Narrated by: Steve West

Most of us would agree that there’s a clear—and even obvious—connection between the things we believe and the way we behave. But what if our actions are driven not by our conscious values and beliefs but by hidden motivations we’re not even aware of? The “hidden brain” is Shankar Vedantam’s shorthand for a host of brain functions, emotional responses, and cognitive processes that happen outside our conscious awareness but have a decisive effect on how we behave. The hidden brain has its finger on the scale when we make all our most complex and important decisions: It decides whom we fall in love with, whether we should convict someone of murder, and which way to run when someone yells “Fire!” It explains why we can become riveted by the story of a single puppy adrift on the ocean but are quickly bored by a story of genocide. The hidden brain can also be deliberately manipulated to convince people to vote against their own interests, or even become suicide terrorists. But the most disturbing thing is that it does all this without our knowing.

Shankar Vedantam, author of The Washington Post’s popular “Department of Human Behavior” column, takes us on a tour of this phenomenon and explores its consequences. Using original reporting that combines the latest scientific research with compulsively readable narratives that take readers from the American campaign trail to terrorist indoctrination camps, from the World Trade Center on 9/11 to, yes, a puppy adrift on the Pacific Ocean, Vedantam illuminates the dark recesses of our minds while making an original argument about how we can compensate for our blind spots—and what happens when we don’t.

©2010 Shankar Vedantam (P)2010 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"In The Hidden Brain, one of America's best science journalists describes how our unconscious minds influence everything from criminal trials to charitable giving, from suicide bombers to presidential elections. The Hidden Brain is a smart and engaging exploration of the science behind the headlines—and of the little man behind the screen. Don't miss it."—Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness

"Shankar Vedantam brings his critical eye to a question that has haunted scientists and writers for centuries: Does the unconscious matter, and if so, how? With a light touch, the book takes us through the complicated landscape of research on psychology and human behavior. We come away not only understanding how we act, but Vedantam moves past mainstream economic reasoning to shed light on the relationships we create with each other. The book addresses the madness and beauty of our struggles to create a moral and just world." —Sudhir Venkatesh, author of Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets

A great look inside the mind.

My newfound knowledge of how the mind works was a little isolating at first, but it's given me a great starting point from which to begin to forgive and deal more constructively with others, realizing that no one is immune to, and most people are most of the time completely in the sway of, the unconscious.

Brilliant!

What a remarkable book! I love the Hidden Brain podcast and only wish that Shankar himself narrated the book. Steve West does a great job, but I particularly like Shankar's voice and gentle style.

A lovely, insightful, sobering, and extraordinary book worth reading /listening to time after time.

Fascinating Information on Human Instinct

This book provided fascinating information about the instinctual nature of humans. The book unwittingly argues for smaller homogenous group governance over mass group governance. The book implicitly indicates that humans are hardwired to work successfully in smaller groups and units of government; i.e. a state over a large nation, a city over a state, etc. The book's data supports the conclusion that smaller, more homogenous groups working intergroup will be more successful - as they go with the flow of human instinct, which empathizes and loves closely on a small scale and favors those who are familiar. The book tries to posit that we could somehow overcome, through using reasoning to thwart, this bias toward the small kindred group, but it does not provide any factual evidence that this has ever occurred successfully. Very good read and it tickled my genius synapses.

Need to Read

I don’t care how someone feels about the events in the world. This is a must read for people to call themselves out on their own stuff. This is the only way for the world to become better

This is an absolute must read if you want to understand and counteract the biases caused by our unconscious or 'hidden' brain.

Spoiler alert....

I was shocked, dismayed and intrigued to learn how many experiments and studies show that even if we consider ourselves non racist or sexist, our hidden brain causes us to perceive others in prejudiced ways- without our consent or awareness. This book covered topics such as the mindset of suicide bombers (the total opposite of what I expected -and I am well read on psychology), presidential elections, our responses to humanitarian crises and much more. I was fuming while listening to the studies done on the sexism that males who have transitioned to female encounter in the workplace, likewise, the females who struggle against invisible currents of sexism, only to transition to male and find themselves getting pay rises, more support, less criticism and more respect in general. This book packed a lot of solid data and research into a highly interesting, entertaining and eye opening read. The narrator did a fantastic job also. I believe this should be required reading for people of all walks of life. After all, who wants to spend their life being manipulated by their own brain? By being aware, we can counter the effects of insidious biases.

Excellent Review of undecoded memory traces

Great examples of defining what it means to express hidden memory traces that lead to various human behavior...

Found it so fascinating, I had to buy the physical book

The books is insightful and makes a lot of sense. Found it so fascinating, I bought the physical book to read again. Explains so much of how people think and why people sometimes behave in the ways that they do that doesn’t seem to make any sense to me.

Adjunct Instructor of Psychology

This is a fascinating look at behavior. I use it to strengthen my classes in Psychology and Human Development. I would highly recommend it for anyone interested in human behavior and the brain.

For the love of Shankar!

I have listened and relistened to every episode of Shankar's podcast by the same name as this book. To finally listen to this book is a treat! His writing is thorough enough for my critical Psychologist/Sociologist lense, and engaging enough to be enjoyable to those who don't have social science degrees. Steve West's performance is good, though I deeply wish I had been able to listen to the book in Vedantam's voice. I can't wait to relisten, just like I do with all his stuff.

Excellent!

I loved it! Intriguing, well-written, and well-researched.