Op de dagen dat de cursussen 12 euro kosten, doe ik mijn aankopen. Ik volg vandaag een cursus van Gregory, een man met een donkere trui, die op ongeveer elke cursuscoverfoto met twee helften van een brein staat, alsof hij ermee gaat telefoneren. Ik ben me gaan hechten aan Gregory, die zijn filmpjes zelf in elkaar geknutseld lijkt te hebben. Hij zoomt in op een presentatie met stockfoto’s tot hij bij woorden komt die erin verscholen liggen, alsof ik naar een primitieve versie van wat online kan zit te kijken. Hij gaat tegenover zichzelf aan een tafel zitten en heeft dan een dialoog met zijn slechtere zelf. Hij waarschuwt ervoor dat je te veel online cursussen kunt volgen en hij legt uit dat je dan waarschijnlijk iets aan het compenseren bent. Hij verontschuldigt zich dat je niet zoveel kunt vinden over zijn gedragsmodel, Neurocognitive and Behavioural Approach, het stond eerst allemaal in het Frans online, als ik hem goed begrijp, dat googlet en rankt niet zo lekker. Hij blijft er optimistisch onder. Zijn favoriete breinstructuur is niet de prefrontale cortex, het deel dat de mens zo uniek maakt, niet omdat we die hebben, want dolfijnen en honden hebben die ook, maar vanwege de relatieve omvang ervan. Nee, we leven ons leven ergens anders zegt hij: in het limbische systeem, zijn favoriet. We zijn eerst en vooral emotionele wezens, altijd, elk moment van de dag, voordat we aan dat geweldige prefrontale vermogen toekomen, wat wel een soort doel lijkt te zijn van zijn cursus, die zonder prefrontale cortex niet te volgen is. Ik moet focussen en reflecteren en kennis toepassen: wie in mijn omgeving zie ik op welke manier reageren? Gregory zou aan je kunnen vragen, als hij tegenover je zit (hij verkoopt ook live online aanwezigheid): ben je nu in Paleolimbic mode? Hij raadt dat overigens niet aan om te doen in gewone situaties. Met vrienden of partners. Je kunt mensen ook beïnvloeden zonder dat je je kennis zo nadrukkelijk deelt. Familiarity bias. Liking. De man leest boeken. Ik duw op zijn koopknop. Na 5 uur Gregory is Gregory een goede bekende die al niet meer is weg te denken uit mijn online leven.
Hello brain lovers, Gregory here from the Brain Academy and today we’re going to speak about some of my favorite books about the brain. Yeah, books, books, I love books.
I read all the time you know, to learn more about the brain but also to find some new research and to get general knowledge. So when I look at my books, it’s like I’m meeting old friends and it makes me nostalgic. Some of them I’ve hated, some of them are boring, yeah, okay, good, but some of them were just fantastic.
I just wanted to share with you the ones that hit home for me.
Thinking fast and slow
So it all started with of course the one and only Daniel Kahneman. Thinking Fast and Slow was for me the revelation, the real revelation, about the brain. I was back in those days totally immersed in the neuro cognitive and behavioral approach which I talked a lot about in my courses. Some courses that are only dedicated on that. Once I read Daniel Kahneman the whole new world went open. Now, this is not really stuff for beginners however if you already have quite some background about the brain and you want to go to next level… Thinking Fast and Slow is really well explained and it makes so much sense so yeah.
The social animal Second one. Well I just said that Kahneman is probably not for people who start. The social animal from David Brooks will be for anybody who’s interested in just a good read because this is actually the only book about the brain that was able to make me cry. Really, I cried. I’m not going to tell you why of course. I’m not going to give it away, there are no spoiler alerts here. The social animal talks about how we are social beings and it talks a lot about the brain. It follows the story of two people from the birth until their old age and it’s very human, very warm and you really get attached to these people. Certain things happen in their life and then he explains scientifically with studies etc the why and how. It’s really really well done. David brooks is not a scientist, he’s a journalist who just loves the brain science and wrote a brilliant book about it. That’s a thing you know. Many scientists are good at being scientists but they’re not communicators
The brain that changes itself
You know by now that one of my specialties and my favorite topics is neuroplasticity, the brain that changes itself. Norman Doidge is an absolute must-read when it comes to neuroplasticity. The very interesting thing about this book is that you get ten different stories about people who had some issues with their brain after a stroke or brain damage or sometimes they were just born this way. This book tells their story and how they overcame against all odds the challenges they were facing.
Behave
You’re in for a treat from Robert Sapolsky. Remember what I said about scientists who aren’t able to write. All are able to write but not in Robert Sapolsky’s fun and entertaining way with Robert Sapolsky. This guy’s brilliant. He’s funny but he talks about very complex matters about the brain. It’s really advanced stuff however it’s well written and the guy is epic. If you’ve ever seen a picture of him: he has this huge beard and he looks bigger than life. It’s definitely one of my favorite books.
The gendered brain
Ginna Rippons book’s about basically the whole controversy about male and female brain. You know, there are so much brain myths about some brains being more male or female. In the end the whole Mars and Venus thing just goes on and on there have been books written about it that I definitely would not recommend, that were just so wrong on so many levels. If you want the definite answer about what it is about brains that make you male or female, or want to know what it is, and the influence of context and culture, read this book. The gendered brain is not easy literature because it’s very serious. It goes really into facts, study after study, it goes debunking all the other studies that people refer to that are just not right
Why we sleep
Matt Walker explains in detail the reasons why we should sleep and why we should really care about our sleep. For me, in my courses I explain how sleep is really the ultimate cornerstone about the brain. When I give conferences every single time I say the same thing. If there’s only one thing one thing that you remember about today about the conference that I just gave to you, please, let it be to sleep enough. Sleep is so important. Matt Walker is really good at explaining why and what’s happening in our brain during our sleep. So if you’re interested about your brain and sleep you definitely should read this one. By the way, reading this book gave me ideas about a course about sleep and dreams, but that’s for later.
Sapiens
Yuval Harari writes a fascinating book that was not so much entertaining as it was eye-opening. He really looks into history. Basically the last hundred thousand years of our species. He looks at it from a perspective that I haven’t really heard before. Sapiens is a really interesting read. A brief history. Well brief… everything is relative of course, but a brief history of mankind. This book is not really about the brain, this is really about us humans.
So that’s it, seven books about the brain that I’ve really enjoyed and recommend.
- Daniel Kahneman, Thinking Fast and Slow
- David Brooks, The social animal
- Norman Doidge, The brain that changes itself
- Robert Sapolski, Behave
- Gina Rippon, The gendered brain
- Mattew Walker, Why we sleep
- Yuval Harari, Sapiens