Tag Archives: psychology

Nerve

Posted on January 27, 2025 by smellincoffee

Nerve is an odd little title, a memoir of a woman trying to overcome some specific fears — falling from heights, and driving — occasionally interspersed dips into psychology and neurology. Eva Holland’s fear of heights is enough that she … Continue reading →

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The Psychopath Test

Posted on June 21, 2023 by smellincoffee

The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry© 2011 Jon Ronson290 pages Jon Ronson’s journalistic niche is the weird, so when he learned that numerous intellectuals across the western world had received identical volumes of the same modified book … Continue reading →

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Adventures with the Enemies of Science

Posted on May 30, 2023 by smellincoffee

The Heretics / The Unpersuadables: Adventures with the Enemies of Science© 2014 Will Storr368 pages Outside ideas of right-doing and wrong-doing, there is a field. Will Storr will meet you there, because at this point he’s not sure that there’s … Continue reading →

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Books books books

Posted on October 14, 2021 by smellincoffee

Between the nonfunctional hospital wifi and the only decent television programs being overtaken by baseball, most of my entertainment last week was good ol’ fashioned books. Midnight at Chernobyl popped onto my radar after I watched the excellent HBO series … Continue reading →

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Spark

Posted on September 23, 2019 by smellincoffee

© 2008 308 pages Are you fat? Exercise! Are you  stressed? Depressed? Exercise! Do you have ADHD? Exercise!  Do you fear dementia? Exercise!  Do you want to learn more, and more quickly? Exercise! Do you struggle with an addiction to … Continue reading →

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Alone Together

Posted on March 7, 2019 by smellincoffee

Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less From Each Other © 2011 Sherry Turkle 384 pages Alone Together has been on my to-read list since it was released, though it’s taken me years to actually read it.  … Continue reading →

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The Believing Brain

Posted on August 31, 2018 by smellincoffee

The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies – How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them As Truths© 2011 Michael Shermer400 pages The human brain is an incredible organ, capable of storing vast amounts of information and … Continue reading →

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The Future of the Mind

Posted on February 5, 2017 by smellincoffee

The Future of the Mind: the Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance, and Empower the Mind© 2014 Michio Kaku400 pages In The Future of the Mind, physicist Michio Kaku talks with psychologists and neurologists like V.S. Ramachandran (Phantoms in the Brain, … Continue reading →

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The Red Queen

Posted on January 12, 2014 by smellincoffee

The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature© 1993 Matthew Ridley404 pages The Red Queen begins with a question: why do creatures have sex? Why did it evolve? The answer, Matt Ridley believes, lies in the principle of the … Continue reading →

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The Righteous Mind

Posted on August 26, 2013 by smellincoffee

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion© 2013 Jonathan Haidt528 pages The Righteous Mind begins with a question, seriously posed: why  can’t we all get along? To find the answer, Jonathan Haidt delves into the … Continue reading →

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