A Mind of Its Own: How Your Brain Distorts and Deceives.

The human brain has the amazing capacity to simultaneously perform multiple tasks of perception, emotion, and reasoning, making it the most powerful computational tool in existence. Fine, a psychologist, nevertheless examines a side of our brains that few people focus on or are consciously aware of: the side that distorts reality. Our brains do that, Fine explains, to protect our egos from unpleasant truths or to maintain a sense of control and continuity in an otherwise unpredictable world. Citing the latest psychological research but writing in an informal style, she shows readers how greatly emotions, whether or not we are aware of them, can affect our decision making. The author also reveals the great lengths to which a person's mind will go to protect his or her sense of self-esteem or belief in a just world. Fine probes what separates everyday delusions, such as the experience of deja vu or fleeting hallucinations, from the delusions of madness. She explains why people find it easy to believe what they're told and difficult to doubt it and why brains are so susceptible to the power of suggestion. Norton, 2006, 243 p., hardcover, $24.95.