With its trillions of connections, the human brain is more beautiful and
complex than anything we could ever build, but it's far from perfect.
Our memory is unreliable; we can't multiply large sums in our heads;
advertising manipulates our judgment; we tend to distrust people who are
different from us; supernatural beliefs and superstitions are hard to
shake; we prefer instant gratification to long-term gain; and what we
presume to be rational decisions are often anything but. Drawing on
striking examples and fascinating studies, neuroscientist Dean Buonomano
illuminates the causes and consequences of these "bugs" in terms of the
brain's innermost workings and their evolutionary purposes. He then
goes one step further, examining how our brains function-and
malfunction-in the digital, predator-free, information-saturated,
special effects-addled world that we have built for ourselves. Along the
way, Brain Bugs gives us the tools to hone our cognitive strengths
while recognizing our inherent weaknesses. -- Publisher Marketing
