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  • The Self Illusion

  • Why There Is No "You" Inside Your Head
  • By: Bruce Hood
  • Narrated by: Bruce Hood
  • Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (268 ratings)
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The Self Illusion cover art

The Self Illusion

By: Bruce Hood
Narrated by: Bruce Hood
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Summary

The Self Illusion provides a fascinating examination of how the latest science shows that our individual concept of a self is in fact an illusion. Most of us believe that we possess a self - an internal individual who resides inside our bodies, making decisions, authoring actions and possessing free will. The feeling that a single, unified, enduring self inhabits the body is compelling and inescapable. But that sovereignty of the self is increasingly under threat from science as our understanding of the brain advances.

©2012 Bruce Hood (P)2012 W F Howes Ltd

Critic reviews

“Fascinating, timely and important ... Hood's presentation of the science behind our supersense is crystal clear and utterly engaging” ( New Scientist)
“Wonderful. Illuminating. Full of insight, beauty, and humor. Get to know thyself” (David Eagleman, author of Sum)
“Startling and engrossing” (Robin Ince)

What listeners say about The Self Illusion

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Well written, well read! I enjoyed disagreeing.

This book really got my limbic system and ACC going. Brillantly engaging and deeply frustrating. Bruce Hood is a distinguished academic, (he's won prizes) and a fantastic communicator. "The Self Illusion"  is well written, flows seamlessly, and the author's delivery is delightful. The chapter on the www, avatars and social networking is excellent. Yet I spent much of the book shouting at my iPhone. It's not that I mind being an illusion - Allan Watts & Daniel Dennett have claimed as much - it's that it's never very clear what BH means by "the self". He freely hops between the "experiencing self", self as "personality", "self image" or our varied "personas". He rarely refers to the "self" without appending "illusion" thus implanting a paired association. Caveat emptor!

So, yes, we may be a "bundle of perceptions", but a necessary condition is a perceiver. Yes, we may be more or less influenced by other people (depending on our temperament). Yes, we may develop personalities adapted to our environment (mirror self). Yes, we may be deluded by own self image. Yes, we may present different self images (personas) in different situations. Yes, we make sense of our experience using imperfect memories to make a story. Yes, we are not a single "homunculus", but more like a hierarchy of committees (all of whom are "me"). Yes, the preparation for any decision may begin deep in our minds, probably way down in our awareness.

However, none of these for me indicate the self is an illusion, only that it is complex, multilayered, dynamic, adaptable, constrained & mysterious. BHs own mind/brain analogy of a web is helpful, but he misses out the obvious central point - that as the strands converge, sentience (self) emerges, then self awareness. As he states in ch1, "You are your brain", so his subtitle "Why there is no 'you' inside your head" is annoyingly contradictory. Overall however I really enjoyed disagreeing with this book. Well written, well read and much food for thought.

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92 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Failing to preach to the converted

I bought this book after reflecting on the 'subjective self' and 'free will' after reading a number of philosophy books. I am already convinced of the delusional nature of both and wanted a psychologist 's angle. I also should say I have a neurosciene background (BSc). The book is rambling with an large number of studies that sound both dubious and irrelevant. For example according to one study people seem to have more will power with a very full bladder. Some parts are a interesting but still largely irrelevant. I really feel Dr Hood fails to make the case of the title. He also seems to not really grasp or perhaps stick to some quite fundamental philosophical concepts related the self. Free will is conflated with executive decision making which of course are not one in the same. At times I found this very irritating especially when Dr Hood repeatedly told me (wrongly) what I apparently think or believe!

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A profound book on a complex topic

It explores a theme that I have been interested in, and have read a few books of this genre (most notably books like 'Sapiens', 'Predictably Irrational' and 'Thinking, Fast and Slow'). This book dives straight in to the latest scientific thinking on what constitutes an individual’s ‘self’ and shares research and experiments by the foremost experts in this field. While I have read many of the examples narrated here in other books, the author strings them together in a coherent way to make the passages stimulating.

The book is filled with insights and, in equal measure, imponderables. For anyone who likes to question the mysteries of the universe and the meaning of life, this is a great place to start. It is packed with powerful statements (which are then explored in detail) such as this quote by Isaac Bashevis Singer: “We must believe in free will. We have no choice.”
Or this one: “I am not who you think I am or who I think I am. I am who I think you think I am.”
Or indeed this one: “Our identity is the sum of our memories, but it turns out that memories are fluid, modified by context and sometimes simply confabulated. This means we cannot trust them, and our sense of self is compromised. Note how this leaves us with a glaring paradox—without a sense of self, memories have no meaning, and yet the self is a product of our memories.”

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Very interesting overview on the mind

I was a bit daunted to start this as the subject could make one a bit despondent but Bruce Hood delivers it in a thoughtful, positive and informative way. It think he goes off topic on occasion but its all ways interesting. This is a general science book for the general public. Recommended.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Patchy and erratic

Contains plenty of useful information but the argument rambles and contradicts itself. Having raised the hard problem the author spends much of the remainder of the book stating that the brain generates our experience. In spite of the metaphysical confusion the information presented makes its own case, though.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

depressing

Any additional comments?

Very depressing book. Yes, what he is saying is factual, but what a depressing and sad life it is to think that the love you feel for your family isn't 'real' and your identity isn't 'real'. Ignorance is bliss and I'd like to think life has a lot more to it then just atoms, molecules, cells and cold hard science.

I was sufficiently depressed after one chapter and stopped reading it.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

fascinating

beautifully read by the author, very interesting concepts about our self-illusions which will be helpful in everyday life and give us a greater understanding of human psychology.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Fascinating

This is a very enjoyable book with fascinating information about how the brain creates a sense of self which, in the end, is “an illusion“. It is written in a very straightforward style and is therefore very accessible to most people. It draws upon neuro biology psychology and interlaces the text with references to popular culture and very good real life examples.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Good argument,

This is a good book. The arguments are well presented. Overall some of these arguments take too long and from time to time there was a sense of frustration that the author was not getting to the point. The conclusion is a little shaky because if there is no me inside my head, after reading such a book, there should be an experiential understanding as well as an intellectual one.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful and refreshing

The narrator spoke clearly and at a pace that can be easily followed,the points and samples he mentions leave you in no doubt.After listening to this narrator over and over gives you new insight every time to me an e-book very hard to put down..

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1 person found this helpful