What Makes Your Brain Happy and Why You Should Do the Opposite
By David DiSalvo
Prometheus Books, $11.99, 288 pages
ISBN 9781616144845
Being happy is not always what it should be about.What Makes Your Brain Happy and Why You Should Do the Opposite explores what makes our brains happy and why that kind of thinking is bad for us. The problem is that our brains seek the path of least resistance, and that can easily put us in the mode of least thinking. This book explores how to take the path of most resistance in order to encourage more effective thinking, and how we can encourage our brains to do so.
Although it does get bogged down in technical language every so often, overall this is a great book. It explores some of the more interesting recesses of our minds and why they work the way they do. It is a really fascinating look into the workings of the brain, combining a physiological and psychological model, with chapters that are linked together like literary sausages, making it hard to put the book down. There is even a deleted scenes section for vignettes that were just too fun to not include but did not fit anywhere else. This makes for an interesting read for anyone looking for a fun read on neuroscience.
Reviewed by Jamais Jochim