Brain book read online. Book Brain read online David Rock Brain instructions for use read

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Dedicated to my wife

Lisa and daughters Trinity and India

Preface

After reading the manuscript for How the Brain Works for the first time, I asked David Rock if I could give it to my wife and my teenage children. The book is written very clearly, the thoughts in it are presented clearly - and the plot is simply fabulous: scenes are played out in ordinary life, at home and at work, twice (each scene is played a second time, when the characters have already learned to think and act, “not forgetting about brain"). Having learned to more deeply understand the principles of how their minds work, the heroes have the opportunity to choose exactly how to occupy their brains and the ability to change their habits.

Consciousness—the way we regulate the flow of energy and information—exists at the base of the brain. Therefore, the new, nascent science of the brain is a natural place to develop more effective strategies for achieving success, particularly at work. David Rock has taken complex concepts from neuroscience and cognition and presented them in a precise yet accessible way. He interacted directly with scientists, visited laboratories, and spent hundreds of hours understanding how the best available scientific evidence shows the brain influences our lives.

The techniques proposed in the book are powerful tools based on rigorous scientific data and can help every person, no matter what they do. If you are an ordinary employee, then the stories and data in this book will help you become more effective at work and avoid physical and mental exhaustion. If you are a mid-level manager, then the information received will teach you to delegate responsibility more correctly and successfully monitor several projects at the same time. And if you are a manager, then ideas about the work of the brain will help you create an organizational structure at your enterprise that will awaken in your employees pride in their work, help them put more effort into it, and teach them to find a common language with colleagues.

Learning to live with your brain in mind is a surefire way to develop your intellectual abilities and improve your professional life. The better you can manage the flow of energy and information, the more efficiently you can work and the more satisfaction you will receive. David Rock can make the brain work as it should. We should all thank him for sharing his hard-won information with us—and for doing so with humor.

Daniel Siegel, MD, professor of clinical medicine at UCLA School of Medicine; co-director of the Consciousness Research Center at the University of California, Los Angeles; Director of the Mindsight Institute; author of Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation, The Mindful Brain: Reflection and Attunement in the Cultivation of Well-Being, and The Developing Mind ( The Developing Mind

Introduction

Avalanche of emails.

Information overload.

Exhausting schedule of business meetings.

More and more change and uncertainty.

Rare luck that allows you to stay afloat.

If all of the above sounds like a typical workday for you, you've chosen the right book.

It will help you work better, teach you focus and productivity, keep you cool in stressful environments, and reduce the length of business meetings. Moreover, with its help you can learn the most difficult thing: influencing people. It is possible that at the same time, this book will prepare you to play the role of a better parent and partner, and maybe even allow you to live longer. She will even make coffee for you... I think I'm a little carried away here, but everything else is said seriously.

This book will improve your productivity at work by introducing you to important recent discoveries related to the study of the human brain. You'll learn to focus better and be more productive because you'll understand how your own brain works while you're doing it. Only by understanding the brain can you change it. (You will also learn from this book how he can change himself through understanding the mechanisms of his own work.)

I know a lot about how easy it is for the brain to become overwhelmed and confused, so I'm not going to bog you down with complicated scientific theories. No, in this book you will get to know your brain the way it likes to do: by reading an interesting story. In it, two characters - Emily and Paul - will deal with all sorts of problems that confront them during one single working day. As you watch Emily and Paul work, scientists (including some of the world's best neuroscientists) will explain to you why they find it so difficult to manage email, stay on schedule, and communicate with colleagues. Not only that, but you'll see what Emily and Paul could have done differently if they had understood their brains better.

Before I explain how this book is structured, let me tell you a little about how and why it came to be. I'm not a neuroscientist, I'm a business consultant. I help organizations like Accenture, EDS, Ericsson and NASA improve their operations and increase productivity. In my decade of work, I have discovered, partly by accident, that people who have received detailed information about how the brain works begin to work much more efficiently - and often their lives change for the better. When I couldn’t find a single book that would describe the most important (and most useful) discoveries in neurobiology in simple language for busy people, I decided to write such a book myself.

It took three years to collect the information, and I spent several more years finalizing individual parts of the book. It is based on conversations with 30 leading neuroscientists from the USA, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region; In addition, I used more than 300 scientific articles written on the basis of thousands of neurobiological and psychological studies conducted in recent years. Throughout the writing process, I had a scientific mentor by my side to help me navigate the science: neuroscientist Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz. In addition, I organized three meetings on the connection between brain function and work performance: in Italy, Australia and the USA. I participated in the publication of an academic journal based on the results of such meetings, and gave hundreds of lectures and seminars around the world. The ideas that came to me as a result of all this activity are presented in the book.

But enough about me. Let's look at how the book itself is structured. I wanted it to be as useful as possible to readers. This is not easy when we are talking about the most complex thing in the world - the human brain. After several attempts to explain his work in various ways, I decided to structure my book as a play.

It has four acts. The first two are about our own brain, while the latter are mostly about how it interacts with the brain of another person or people. There is also an intermission in the play, during which we will analyze a little more deeply certain themes that arose during the action.

In Act One, which I called “Problems and Solutions,” we will talk about the fundamental principles of thinking. In Act Two, "Keeping Your Cool in a Challenging Environment," we'll talk about emotions and motivations and how both influence thinking. Act three, “Collaborate with Others,” will highlight research into how people could get along better with each other. In Act Four, “Promote Change,” we will focus on how to get others to change—sometimes the hardest part.

Each act consists of several scenes, and each scene begins with Emily and Paul facing some problem at home or at work (for example, it could be an avalanche of emails that must be dealt with correctly and on time). I chose the everyday problems for the characters based on information I collected online through an online survey; More than 100 people took part in it and may also read this book. I also used data from several studies on corporate culture.

By watching how Emily or Paul deals with each problem at the beginning of the scene, you will understand what is going on in his or her head and what exactly makes their life so difficult; then hear from the experts I spoke with and see what other studies have found on the subject. The most interesting part of the book, in my opinion, is the “second attempt” at the end of each scene. Here, Emily and Paul, with a better understanding of how their brains work, behave differently and make different decisions in the same situations. Their behavior changes just a little, but tiny changes in behavior lead to a significantly different overall result. The slightest internal changes, which occur in a split second and are often simply unnoticeable to the outside world, sometimes decide everything. This book will help you understand them, isolate them and reproduce them.

At the end of each scene, I summarize and summarize the amazing findings from brain research. If you want to use this book to change your brain on a deeper level, at the end of each scene you will find a list of specific actions that you should try to do yourself.

The book ends with an encore that summarizes the scientific data on the brain and examines the most significant conclusions drawn from it. In addition, I included in the book a list of additional sources of information that I used. I tried to clearly show how and on what basis I made my conclusions; If that's not enough for you, the ideas in the book are taken from hundreds of scientific articles that you can also read if you want.

The performance is about to start, so it's time to introduce you to the main characters of our play and the setting in which the action takes place. Emily and Paul are a couple in their early 40s. They live in a small town and have two teenage children, a daughter, Michelle, and a son, Josh. Emily is a manager at a conference management company. Paul worked for many years in a large firm and now makes his living as an independent IT consultant.

All the action takes place on one day - an ordinary Monday, not counting the fact that Emily received a promotion just a week ago. Now it has larger funds at its disposal, and more people under its leadership. She feels excited and eager to perform well in her new role, but she needs to learn some new skills. Paul is promoting a new project that he thinks will take his business to the next level. Paul believes that five years of independent work gives him reason to hope for this. The spouses have many other hopes and desires; Despite their busy work schedule, they dream of raising their children well.

Let us raise the curtain and begin our show.

Act one
Problems and solutions

More and more people in the modern world get paid for what they think, and not for simply doing routine work. But a person - or rather, his brain - is designed in such a way that he cannot constantly make complex decisions and solve new problems for a long time. There are purely biological limitations. Surprisingly, understanding what they are is one of the best ways to improve your mental performance.

In the first act, Emily discovers why thinking takes so much energy and invents new ways to deal with the backlog of work. Paul learns about the limitations of his brain and figures out how to cope with information overload. Emily will understand why it is so difficult to do two things at once and rethink ways to organize her work. Paul will discover why he gets distracted so easily and reflect on how to stay focused. Then he will figure out how to create the best conditions for the brain to work. In the final scene, Emily discovers that her problem-solving techniques need improvement and learns how to make critical shifts when she needs them most.

Scene one
Morning flood of emails

7.30am, Monday. Emily, having had breakfast, gets up from the table, kisses Paul and the children goodbye, closes the door behind her and heads to the car. All weekend she had to reconcile her offspring, who were constantly quarreling over trifles, and now she was looking forward to the start of the working day; she wants to quickly start new responsibilities and focus on work. As she pulls out and heads toward the highway, Emily thinks about the week ahead and how excited she is to get off to a good start in her new job. About halfway through, she comes up with an idea for a new conference, and it takes a lot of effort to keep the idea in her head while moving.

At 8.00 Emily is in her place. She turns on the computer, intending to immediately throw out an idea for a new conference into her work file. But hundreds of emails immediately fall into her inbox, and Emily is overcome with anxiety. Emails alone can take a whole day to respond to, but she has several more meetings scheduled that will take more than an hour, and three tasks must be resolved by 6 p.m. Emily's excitement about her promotion begins to wear off. The thought of extra money and extra responsibility is certainly exciting, but can she cope with the extra workload?

Half an hour later, Emily realizes that she only managed to respond to 20 letters. We need to speed up the work. She tries to read emails and listen to voicemail messages at the same time. The thought arises: now you will have to work longer, how will this affect the children? Emily is momentarily distracted. She remembers how she would lash out at Michelle and Josh when she was too busy with work, but she also remembers the promise she made to herself: to become a model businesswoman and get serious about her career. Lost in thought, Emily accidentally deletes a voicemail from her boss from her computer.

The surge of adrenaline caused by the lost message brings Emily's attention back to the present. She stops typing and tries to think about the issues that must be resolved by the evening: she needs to write a proposal for a new conference, write an advertising text and choose one of the candidates for the assistant position. And also all these emails on dozens of different topics, and you need to sort them all out. Emily thinks for a few seconds about how to set up a priority system, but nothing comes to mind. She tries to remember the advice she once heard in a time management course, tries to concentrate on it for a few seconds, but her memory doesn’t listen. Emily goes back to her mail and tries to type faster.

By the end of the hour, 40 letters had been processed, but not only Emily’s workday had started, so the number of letters in the queue had also increased: there were already 120. And she couldn’t spare a minute for the idea of a new conference. Despite the best intentions, the new day, week, and work in a new position does not start very well for Emily.

Emily is not alone in her problems. Being overwhelmed at work is a real epidemic among office workers. For some it is due to stress over promotion; for others, with staff reduction or reorganization. But for many, every day involves a constant, massive, overwhelming barrage of work. The world around us is digitizing, globalizing, opening up and reorganizing; There is more and more work, and there is absolutely nowhere to escape from it.

Emily, in order to work effectively in a new position and not ruin either her health or her family, she needs to change the way her brain works. She needs new neural networks that can cope with an expanded and complex work schedule.

The problem is that when it comes to problem solving and decision making - which is what Emily is trying to do this morning - it turns out that the human brain has surprising limitations on its performance. On the one hand, the brain is an extraordinarily powerful tool; on the other hand, even the brain of a Harvard graduate can easily be turned into the brain of an eight-year-old child if you force him to do two things at the same time. In this and the next few scenes, Emily and Paul learn about the biological limitations of mental performance and come up with more brain-smart approaches to everyday tasks. You can work with them to try to change your brain.

Goldilocks in all of us

When making decisions and thinking about problems, a person uses an area of the brain known as the prefrontal cortex. In general, the cortex is the outer layer of the brain, the same gray matter pitted with convolutions that we see in the pictures. This layer, about 2.5 mm thick, covers the brain like a blanket. The prefrontal cortex, located behind the frontal bone, is quite small. This section, the last to appear in humans during the process of evolution, makes up a measly 4–5% of the total brain volume.

However, do not be deceived. There are not always many good things; for example, diamonds and espresso coffee are remarkable even in small quantities. Without the prefrontal cortex, you wouldn't be able to set any goals for yourself. The thought “I need to buy milk” would never occur to you. You wouldn't be able to plan anything either. It would be impossible, for example, to say to oneself: “Now I need to go up the hill, go to the store and buy milk, and then come back.” You would not be able to control your impulses, so the spontaneous desire to lie on the sun-warmed road on a cold day could get you into trouble. And you would not be able to solve a single problem - for example, figure out how to get to the hospital after being hit by a car. In addition, it would be difficult for you to imagine a situation that you have not encountered before - and, accordingly, to figure out what things might be needed in the hospital. And finally, you would not be able to think creatively, so you would not be able to really tell what happened to you after returning home from the hospital.

The prefrontal cortex is the biological instrument of your conscious interaction with the world around you. This is the part of your brain that is responsible for thinking, as opposed to the “autopilot” that you use in everyday life. In the last decade, neuroscientists have made many important discoveries related to this area of the brain. In particular, we are talking about a group of scientists led by Amy Arnsten, a professor of neurobiology at Yale University School of Medicine. Like her mentor, the late Patricia Goldman-Rakic, Arnsten has dedicated her professional career to unraveling the mysteries of the prefrontal cortex. “The prefrontal cortex contains the contents of your consciousness,” explains Arnsten. – This is where thoughts are located, excited not by external sources or sensations. We generate them ourselves."

The prefrontal cortex has great potential, but it also has serious limitations. Here's a simple comparison. Imagine that the brain's ability to process and store current thoughts is equivalent to the total value of the coins that are now in your pockets. If this were the case, then the processing capacity of the rest of the brain would be roughly equivalent to the size of the entire US economy (perhaps before the 2008 financial crisis). Or you could say, as Arnsten explains, that “the prefrontal cortex behaves in the brain like Goldilocks from a fairy tale. Her every whim must be satisfied, and immediately, otherwise she will not work properly.” Creating the best conditions for the prefrontal cortex is exactly what Emily must learn to cope with the influx of additional information and perform at her best in her new job.

Brain. Instructions for use. How to use your capabilities to the maximum and without overload David Rock

Why do smart people sometimes act illogically and recklessly? For example, do they waste time on secondary tasks, forgetting about the main thing? Do you burden yourself with work that you cannot complete? Do they quarrel over trifles every now and then? Do they react painfully to criticism? It turns out that the cause of these and other problems is not only human psychology, but also the peculiarities of the structure of our brain, which cannot be changed, but can and should be taken into account both at work and in everyday life.

The author explains why our brain feels overloaded and what we can do to make the most of our thinking capabilities; how to remain calm in any situation and make the only right decision; how to increase the chances of insight, which is so necessary when solving complex creative problems; how to learn to influence others without conflict.

Review of the book LiveLib

How the brain works when we think or perform certain actions. This book will help you prioritize your work and structure your time. A person can only fully perform one action; if we start doing several things at once, productivity drops, it’s better to do it sequentially. We can store several pictures, images, tasks in memory at the same time, but only one action is complete. If we start several things at once, more energy is spent on it. The brain is like a muscle; it has worked hard and needs to rest. This is just one point I described, in the book you will find a lot of interesting information about how the brain works at one time or another, and how best to use it. The book will be especially useful for people who have a lot of work, family, and a lot of things that need to be constantly switched on and are not interconnected. The books describe methods of influencing your brain using the example of a married couple. Cases at work and in life, communication with children, perception of the situation and how they behaved in it are described. And then either the method of influence is described, or how our brain accepted this situation, and how it needs to be influenced in a certain way and the path to solution.
Many situations that we encounter are described in books and the solution turns out to be so easy and understandable, you just need to think about it and understand.
Everything that happens is not only a coincidence of circumstance, but also explainable laws of brain function.
After reading, I look at many situations differently, realizing that now not only my emotions, but also my physiology were at work.
The study of the brain is a whole science that is still little studied, but now it is in its prime. There are so many interesting things you can learn about him and understand why we behave this way in certain situations.

Key excerpts from the book:
1. A person needs self-affirmation. At least in some situations to be higher or better than others.
2. You need to let go of the situation or emotions for a while, and return after some time to solving the problem so that the emotions subside.
3. Insight comes to a person if he lets go of the problem for a while.
4. The happier a person is, the more correct decisions he makes.
5. Director's method. Let the director come to the fore in difficult situations. Stop in time and observe your behavior from the outside.
6. Uncertainty leads to loss of control of the situation and incorrect decision-making.
7. Justice is important to a person.
8. Waiting - the right dose can be as effective as an effective dose of morphine.
9. But expectations must be fulfilled periodically, even if not all of them.
10. Cooperation with others should not begin with a conversation with a claim; the opponent will always take a defensive position. And listen to his opinion and lead him to solving the problem.
11. Let a person reach the right decision on his own, and not give it away. Otherwise, he may reject your proposal, only because he could have guessed it himself, but didn’t have time. As W. Churchill said, “I am always glad to learn, but I am not always glad to be taught.”
12. One part of the brain concentrates on studying science, the other on behavior in society and communicating with people. Therefore, whoever spends more time, for example in science, another area responsible for communication is less involved in even ordinary life. For thousands of years, philosophers have said that the key to a healthy and long life is knowing yourself, the book suggests knowing yourself through knowing how your brain works.

Rated the book

The book has many positives, but I'll start with the negative.

The negative is as follows: for a person who has slightly above average knowledge of the physiology of the nervous system (at the level of a decent psychological, biological or medical higher education), the book is a collection of platitudes. I dare to say that 80% of what is written is not the “latest” scientific data, but quite the “basics” of neurophysiology, which are in any textbook 10-15 years ago.

At first the author delighted me with his, um, spontaneity :). I read about his many titles; of course, about the “unique author’s methodology for the development of neuro-leadership”; on the creation of secret management techniques based on knowledge of human neurophysiology; and so on. guru titles... And I sincerely admired: “Oh, young man, I finally found a way to monetize the boring and distant science of neurophysiology!”

But then my delight subsided somewhat... Because, in my opinion, the author is doing very risky and not entirely correct things. Let me explain - using the example of my beloved :))) Once upon a time, at a tender student age, I was very much inspired by the example of the creators of NLP. Who widely used a variety of psycho-physiological correlates (connections) in their model. One of these correlates, probably known today even to schoolchildren, is the so-called. "eye access keys".

So an idea struck me - after all, we live in the most advanced country (at that time - the end of the 80s) in the world of neurophysiology! It’s enough to rummage through specialized and the latest publications, find some super-correlates there, and I can come up with a psychotechnology that’s cooler than NLP! I seriously began to study abstracts of dissertations, collections of the latest articles, journals on neurophysiology (I even subscribed to some :))).

To make the knowledge extracted from these texts usable, I tried to reduce it to a simple scheme: there is a certain stimulus/situation - there is a certain neural mechanism - there is a behavioral response. That is, a simple three-term equation is obtained. It doesn’t seem difficult to understand the pattern (how the parameters change when at least one of them is purposefully changed) of the system described by this equation...

By the way, it is precisely these primitive schemes: “stimulus/situation - mechanism - behavior” that the entire book consists of. Based on an understanding of the nature of the relationship between stimulus and mechanism, the author offers simple recommendations for behavior change.

Well, well... Have you ever tried to read a decent scientific text on neuroscience? I dare to say that simple correlates in neurophysiology existed only in the time of grandfather Pavlov :))), that is, at the beginning of the 20th century. The brain is a damn complex and plastic thing, with many degrees of freedom. There simply are no reliable correlates-constants in it.

There seem to be some patterns, but... for every pattern there are dozens of exceptions and hundreds of caveats. Therefore, when they try to explain quite complex things to you using highly simplified models, this means that in fact, in your head everything can happen exactly the opposite :))).
And, accordingly, it turns out that the author’s wonderful models work in a very limited range of cases (and you can easily find yourself outside of it).

This is why I am writing all this: knowledge of the “basics” of psychophysiology of behavior outlined in the book will, of course, be useful for any person engaged in self-development. But don’t be surprised if you suddenly discover that some “simple schemes” (stimulus - mechanism - behavior) “don’t work” for you. In this case, you just need to contact a specialist who will simply dig deeper, identify your “personal patterns”, and tell you how to effectively use your brain in the future :)

Now let's move on to the positives... The author has created an excellent popular science book about how the brain works! He really has a talent for telling complex things simply. Very lively written! Each chapter begins with a case study illustrating a “wrong way” situation.

The book has 4 chapters, each of which describes a specific stimulus situation:

Chapter 1 - a situation of information overload, well known to the modern office worker (when you are overwhelmed with a stream of incoming tasks, visitors, emails, calls, etc.).

Chapter 2 - a situation of severe emotional stress, when, due to internal or external reasons, we feel anxiety, irritation, restlessness, uncertainty, and worry about unmet expectations.

Chapter 3 is devoted to relationships with other people; special emphasis is on status relationships and concepts of fairness/injustice in relationships

Chapter 4 - the situation of “difficult changes” - how to interact with other people in a conflict situation constructively, so that mutual understanding can be achieved? The author also considers a conflict situation as a special case of the ability of the psyche (and brain) to undergo serious changes and development. And he tries to answer the question of how such development is even possible...

After a description of a problematic situation at the beginning of each chapter, what follows is a scientific analysis - what exactly is happening in the brain during this very stimulus situation? The author's scientific explanation is also quite elegant - with patterns of brain activation, links to studies, interesting figures and facts. Moreover, all this “scientific evidence” is not much, reading it clearly will not overstrain your brain :)))

Based on a scientific analysis of the brain mechanisms that “work” in the situation under consideration, the author offers various ways to change behavior. For example, a brain overloaded with information requires a lot of energy to process it. We, of course, can give the brain “direct energy doping” (glucose, caffeine, adrenaline), but this will be wrong! Because there will be many bad side effects and harmful consequences. Excess glucose provokes diabetes, caffeine damages the cardiovascular system, etc.

Where is the exit? Logically, two options are possible: 1) put the brain into energy saving mode; 2) find alternative sources of energy (“the right doping” in the form of dopamine and norepinephrine). Actually, the author goes on to suggest specific ways to save brain energy :))) and stimulate the release of alternative neurohormones.

The logic of the neurophysiologist here, of course, is iron-clad... But the author’s advice (recommended methods of action) often does not shine with much originality: (For example, in the above example, long-known and well-known methods in time management are offered as ways to save brain energy ways: eliminate multitasking, focus on only one task/action; eliminate interference and distractions; schematize (“collapse”) information; use visual images (they are less energy-consuming), etc.

I can say that for me personally the efficiency of the book is approximately 10%. But I’ve been in this topic for a long time, and it’s hard to surprise me with anything... Although I really liked some of the “highlights” in the book and really inspired me. For example, that in a state of undirected activity our brain goes into a narrative mode - i.e. we start telling stories to ourselves :) As an old storyteller, this simply delighted me!

For example, that the vaunted “Maslow’s pyramid” from the point of view of neurophysiology makes virtually no sense, because the activation mechanisms of both “higher” and “lower” needs are almost identical. From this, by the way, many interesting conclusions follow about how you can/cannot motivate a person! But that’s not about that now :)...

For example, the author’s SCARF model (status, confidence, independence, social community, justice) seemed very interesting. According to the author, activation of brain structures that ensure the experience of the five listed states is a key condition for any successful self-development.

Well, and so on... Despite the familiarity of the topic, after reading the book, there were 8 pages left in my notebook, covered in small handwriting :) This is what seemed to me the most interesting, valuable, controversial, and, of course, in need of verification in practice !

As a summary: 1) If your childhood was not overshadowed by reading textbooks or journals on neurophysiology, then read the book! Interesting + useful.

2) The author offers many good ideas for self-development - choose the ones that suit you and apply them!
But be careful! :) The brain is a subtle matter; therefore, if something suggested by the author does not work, then do not be surprised - contact a specialist. In any case, there is no bad advice in the book, which is good news :)))

3) In my opinion, the most interesting parts of the book are the third and fourth. The fact is that the informational and emotional mechanisms of the brain (chapters 1 and 2) were studied very well already in the mid-to-late 20th century. In principle, it is difficult to recommend something original. But correlates of brain mechanisms and social behavior (Chapter 3), as well as attempts to explain brain plasticity (Chapter 4) are relatively new!

/Although, in fairness, we add that the correlates of brain activity and social behavior are the most controversial section of neurophysiology. This is where most of the holivars are conducted among the scientific fraternity :) And the author, without hesitation, tells us about “simple schemes” :))))/.

P.S. A little secret: the book is easy to read and tastefully written. But if you don’t have time, then at the end of each chapter there are (in the form of brief abstracts) basic facts about the brain + brief practical recommendations. It turns out a kind of “summary”, a ready-made summary;)

Rated the book

1. The brain is capable of holding only one visual representation of an object in consciousness at a time. Remember the well-known optical illusion when in the same picture a person sees either a young girl or an old woman. It is impossible to see both at the same time; at each moment of time the brain must stop at one thing. But the most interesting and intriguing thing about such illusions is that a person can switch between dominant perception options at will.

2. Many people are simply unable to concentrate until time is pressed... using positive expectations or humor to increase attention is perhaps better than fear... An anecdote can be seen as a “vehicle for delivering insights”...

3. People who experience insights most often are those who most consciously perceive their inner experience.

4. It is difficult to find a book about the human experience that does not once say that “knowing yourself” is the first step to any change. This idea is so ubiquitous that it leads to certain thoughts. Either all the authors in question are terrible plagiarists and copy from each other, or there is something very important, universal and therefore biologically necessary in this idea.

5. The brain perceives uncertainty as a threat to your life. If you cannot predict how a situation will be resolved, an alarm signal automatically goes off in your brain: attention! There is a general negative reaction (away).

6. We all crave justice, and some are ready to part with not only their savings, but also their own lives for the sake of it... The “disgust for inequality” is so strong that a person is ready to give up personal gain just so that someone else does not get an exorbitantly large amount . Surprisingly, when a person receives $5 out of $10, the pleasure centers in his brain are more excited than if he was given, for example, $5 out of $20.

7. We don't like to be wrong because being wrong lowers our status, and this is unnerving and perceived as a danger... Even a tiny increase in status, say, as a result of winning a card game, is very pleasant.

8. Insights happen if a person thinks globally and broadly, and does not concentrate on details.

9. Horror films are a modern version of ancient community rituals, during which young men trained in managing emotions - preparing for the hunt.

10. When we try to help another person complete a certain task, we often simply offer him our version of the solution... Imposing ready-made solutions often leads to serious waste of time.

The book describes methods of influencing your brain using the example of a married couple. Cases at work and in life, communication with children, perception of the situation and how they behaved in it are described. And then either the method of influence is described, or how our brain accepted this situation, and how it needs to be influenced in a certain way and the path to solution.
Many situations that we encounter are described in books and the solution turns out to be so easy and understandable, you just need to think about it and understand.
Everything that happens is not only a coincidence of circumstance, but also explainable laws of brain function.
After reading, I look at many situations differently, realizing that now not only my emotions, but also my physiology were at work.
The study of the brain is a whole science that is still little studied, but now it is in its prime. There are so many interesting things you can learn about him and understand why we behave this way in certain situations.
Key excerpts from the book:
1. A person needs self-affirmation. At least in some situations to be higher or better than others.
2. You need to let go of the situation or emotions for a while, and return after some time to solving the problem so that the emotions subside.
3. Insight comes to a person if he lets go of the problem for a while.
4. The happier a person is, the more correct decisions he makes.
5. Director's method. Let the director come to the fore in difficult situations. Stop in time and observe your behavior from the outside.
6. Uncertainty leads to loss of control of the situation and incorrect decision-making.
7. Justice is important to a person.
8. Waiting - the right dose can act no worse than an effective dose of morphine.
9. But expectations must be fulfilled periodically, even if not all of them.
10. Cooperation with others should not begin with a conversation with a claim; the opponent will always take a defensive position. And listen to his opinion and lead him to solving the problem.
11. Let a person reach the right decision on his own, and not give it away. Otherwise, he may reject your proposal, only because he could have guessed it himself, but didn’t have time. As W. Churchill said, “I am always glad to learn, but I am not always glad to be taught.”
12. One part of the brain concentrates on studying science, the other on behavior in society and communicating with people. Therefore, whoever spends more time, for example in science, another area responsible for communication is less involved in even ordinary life.
For thousands of years, philosophers have said that the key to a healthy and long life is knowing yourself, the book suggests knowing yourself through knowing how your brain works.

Instructions for use. How to use your capabilities to the maximum and without overload

Lisa and daughters Trinity and India

Consciousness - the way we regulate the flow of energy and information - exists at the base of the brain. Therefore, the new, nascent science of the brain is a natural place to develop more effective strategies for achieving success, particularly at work. David Rock has taken complex concepts from neuroscience and cognition and presented them in a precise yet accessible way. He interacted directly with scientists, visited laboratories, and spent hundreds of hours understanding how the best available scientific evidence shows the brain influences our lives.

Information overload.

Exhausting schedule of business meetings.

More and more change and uncertainty.

Rare luck that allows you to stay afloat.

If all of the above sounds like a typical workday for you, you've chosen the right book.

This book will improve your productivity at work by introducing you to important recent discoveries related to the study of the human brain. You will learn to focus better and be more productive because you will understand how your own brain works while doing it. Only by understanding the brain can you change it. (You will also learn from this book how he can change himself through understanding the mechanisms of his own work.)

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What is this book about

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"More and more people in the modern world are getting paid for what they think, and not for simply doing routine work. But a person - or rather, his brain - is designed in such a way that he cannot constantly make complex decisions and carry out new ones for a long time tasks. There are purely biological limitations. Surprisingly, understanding what they are is one of the best ways to improve the efficiency of mental activity."

What is this book about
About how the human brain works. Why do smart people sometimes act illogically and recklessly? For example, do they waste time on secondary tasks, forgetting about the main thing? Do you burden yourself with work that you cannot complete? Do they quarrel over trifles every now and then? Do they react painfully to criticism? It turns out that the cause of these and other problems is not only human psychology, but also the peculiarities of the structure of our brain, which cannot be changed, but can and should be taken into account both at work and in everyday life.

Why the book is worth reading
- The book tells why our brain feels overloaded and what to do to use our thinking capabilities to the maximum, how to increase the chances of insight, how to learn to influence others without conflict.
- The author spoke with scientists, visited laboratories and spent hundreds of hours understanding how, according to the latest scientific evidence, the brain influences our lives.
- The methods proposed in the book are powerful tools based on strict scientific data and can help every person, no matter what they do.

Who is this book for?
For anyone who wants to learn more about the capabilities and features of their brain in order to improve their performance and achieve success faster.

Who is author
David Rock is a business consultant and leadership coach. Author of the books Coaching with the Brain in Mind, Quiet Leader ship and Personal Best, executive director of Results Coaching Systems. Member of the advisory board of the international business school CIMBA and one of the founders of the NeuroLeadership Institute and NeuroLeadership Summit.

Key Concepts
Human brain, neurobiology, productivity.
2nd edition.

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