Brain
by David Eagleman · first published 2015
78% recommend22% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A popular-science tour of the brain by a neuroscientist, written as an accessible guide to how the mind works. It presents a model of the mind as many independent agents that together shape consciousness.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Locked in the silence and darkness of your skull, your brain fashions the rich narratives of your reality and your identity. Join renowned neuroscientist David Eagleman for a journey into the questions at the mysterious heart of our existence. What is reality? Who are “you”? How do you make decisions? Why does your brain need other people? How is technology poised to change what it means to be human? In the course of his investigations, Eagleman guides us through the world of extreme sports, criminal justice, facial expressions, genocide, brain surgery, gut feelings, robotics, and the search f
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2011–2024Incognito
David Eagleman
Recommended by 13 · mentioned by 1513 recommend · 15 mention13 recommend · 1513 recommend
2010–2026The Wise Man’s Fear
Patrick Rothfuss
Recommended by 16 · mentioned by 2516 recommend · 25 mention16 recommend · 2516 recommend
2008–2026Phantoms in the brain
V. S. Ramachandran (neurology), Sandra Blakeslee
Recommended by 19 · mentioned by 2619 recommend · 26 mention19 recommend · 2619 recommend
2008–2026Everything and more
David Foster Wallace
Recommended by 30 · mentioned by 3530 recommend · 35 mention30 recommend · 3530 recommend
2009–2026Glasshouse
Charles Stross
Recommended by 19 · mentioned by 3219 recommend · 32 mention19 recommend · 3219 recommend
2011–2026The Guns of August
Barbara Tuchman
Recommended by 19 · mentioned by 4119 recommend · 41 mention19 recommend · 4119 recommend
100 Years of Solitude
Gabriel García Márquez
Recommended by 26 · mentioned by 4926 recommend · 49 mention26 recommend · 4926 recommend
2008–2026Pale Fire
Vladimir Nabokov
Recommended by 41 · mentioned by 8041 recommend · 80 mention41 recommend · 8041 recommend
…scan through the books on the shelves next to me: * Beyond good and evil: Nietzsche * The Temple of the Golden Pavilion: Yukio Mishima * Steppenwolf: Hermann Hese * Library of babel: Borges * The Brain: David Eagleman * The Magical Mountain: Thomas Mann * The Dark Tower: Stephen King(actually tons of King books - I am a bit of a fanboy) * Factfulness: Hans Rosling * William Blake: selected poetry…
on “Ask HN: What are some must read books?” ↗* The Brain by David Eagleman * Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse * A Universe From Nothing by Lawrence Krauss
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?” ↗Incognito: The Secret Lives of The Brain - David Eagleman. A much recommended read. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Incognito-Secret-Lives-Brain-ebook/d...
on “Ask HN: Best book you read in 2011” ↗Another author (and neuroscientist) is David Eagleman. His book - Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain, is fantastic.
on “What Happens When a Neurosurgeon Removes Your Hippocampus ” ↗For me: * Godel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter * The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins * Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain by David Eagleman * Occult America: The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped Our Nation by Mitch Horowitz * Little Brother by Cory Doctorow * Siddhartha by Herman Hesse * The Culture novels by Ian…
on “Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?” ↗My own personal theory of mind is heavily inspired by David Eagleman's Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain. There he describes a model of mind in which a multitude of independent "agents" propose "ideas", which bubble up to our consciousness (the top-level agents), which pick some of these ideas according…
on “Writing Is Thinking: Learning to Write with Confidence” ↗Studies of split brain patients play a good part in illustrating how little our consciousness is in control in "Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain" by David Eagleman, a book I highly recommend.
on “Split Brain Psychology” ↗I have quite enjoyed a couple of books by David Eagleman: The Brain, and Sum.
on “Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?” ↗The History of Medieval Europe by Maurice Keen Reality is Not What it Seems by Carlo Rovelli The Brain: The Story of You by David Eagleman I had a crack at reading the first Game of Thrones novel (I think it's just called A Game of Thrones) but my brain seems to be in non-fiction mode at the moment. I…
on “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” ↗…reasoning is in a debate? > May be hypnosis is just a prompt injection attack. No need to go into hypnosis. Mere prompts can inject false memories. This has been proven multiple times [1]. [1] The Brain: The Story of You, David Eagleman.
on “We're Afraid Language Models Aren't Modeling Ambiguity” ↗