Book Review 2023.03: Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain, 2020, 166 pages, Paperback, ₹499
This is another book picked up from Nagasri Book House in Jayanagar Shopping Complex, Bangalore, a treasure drove for book lovers. What caught my attention was the blurb on the back cover from the author that this is a book on neuroscience that people could read on the beach and warned the reader that their world could be turned upside down.
The book is short, crisp and easy to read without scientific jargons or terminologies, as the academic rigor is discreetly encapsuled in endnotes for the more discerning reader. I was sub-consciously looking for opportunities where I could use this new interesting information that I was exposed to and pleasantly surprised to find a few that had ready application or strongly reinforced my long-held beliefs.
This book presents new insights from neuroscience on the two fundamental philosophical questions of ‘nature vs. nurture’, and ‘free will vs. destiny’. Presenting the primary role of brain as a device for allostasis, the scientific name for body budgeting, and explaining how decision making takes place in the brain using cost benefit analysis of caloric consumption, it helps us understand many of our daily behavior like jumping to conclusions without considering all the facts before us, leveraging our social groups for decision making, watching TV channels or reading newspapers that is aligned to our world-view, all of which and many others can be traced to our brain conserving calories.
The need for infant care by the immediate family of cuddling and engaging the baby to develop all its latent capabilities is convincingly explained by why human infants are incomplete at birth and how this initial care makes them complete to adapt to their environment and flourish. Likewise, the role of a peaceful and calm environment for a child’s development is highlighted by the need for a noise pollution free environment which is as important as nutrition for a child’s development. Other implications of our brains’ response based on the social environment we live-in at a societal level, and as productive team members the need for a caring and trusting work environment to realize our full potential is forcefully brought out in this book.
I recommend this book to all readers interested in learning more about who we are and why we do what we do. In particular, this book is of value to all couples and family members expecting babies or having babies at home, and business leaders and managers on how the environment they create shapes their team members attitude and performance.
Happy reading
