Social Cognition

Psychologists and neuroscientists struggle with how best to interpret human motivation and decision making. The assumption is that below a mental "surface" of conscious awareness lies a deep and complex set of inner beliefs, values, and desires that govern our thoughts, ideas, and actions, and that to know this depth is to know ourselves. In this profoundly original book, behavioral scientist Nick Chater contends just the opposite: Rather than being the plaything of unconscious currents, the brain generates behaviors in the moment based entirely on our past experiences.

Estamos tan conectados y, sin embargo, tan desesperadamente solos. Esta es la paradoja de nuestro tiempo: un mundo donde las pantallas dominan nuestras vidas, pero nuestros corazones duelen de vacío. Nuestra verdadera esencia a menudo está oculta en un mundo de notificaciones interminables, conversaciones virtuales y vidas seleccionadas en las redes sociales. Nos ponemos máscaras para el mundo, pero detrás de ellas, anhelamos libertad, conexión y propósito. Esta desconexión de nuestro yo auténtico nos saca de un estado de equilibrio natural y saludable.

When you work in foreign environments, it can seem like the principles for getting things done are blown out of the water. How do you accomplish your mission? And get home safe? Save Your Ammo is a practical guide to working with people from other cultures.

Between what can be learned from evolutionary psychology and cognitive science a picture emerges. In Sex, Murder, and the Meaning of Life, social psychologist Douglas Kenrick fuses these two fields to create a coherent story of human nature. In his analysis, many ingrained, apparently irrational behaviors—one-night stands, prejudice, conspicuous consumption, even art and religious devotion—are quite explicable and (when desired) avoidable.