THE ORIGIN OF MINDS: Evolution, Uniqueness and the New Science of the Self

Neuroscientists La Cerra and Bingham suggest our minds are forever in flux, and succeed in challenging if not outright convincing us. In lay terms, they illustrate how we are not so different from the bee and E. coli, because these lower life-forms are also eve r-adapting creatures, facing stimuli that help or hinder existence and adapting on the fly. Human minds are no different, they argue; consider how our moods change when we're hungry or sated. La Cerra and Bingham add that humans possess a "social signature" that's a collection of mutating selves depending on upbringing, workplace and other contexts. Midway through the book, the narrative segues into a quasi-self-help guide, delving into the neuroscience of subjects like beauty (it's not quite in the eye of the beholder) and personal fate (it may be determined by the always developing history of our thoughts, actions and reactions). What is disorienting about the authors' investigation, however, is its eclectic, almost flippant array of reference points (including the usual suspects like Darwin and Freud, but also to Julia Roberts and Jenny Craig). La Cerra and Bingham are more convincing when they rely on accounting metaphors, such as humans having "inner statisticians" that collate all social interactions and expectations. But whether these precepts are demonstrated through apt allusions, or curious ones, they coalesce simply because they're so sensible. (Nov.)