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This book is a well-researched, in-depth review of the latest science of the mind......from 2007.
While terrific at that level,
a. it is one of many books that should have been papers or magazine articles, and
b. everything here is already baked in the cake imo. that is,
1. the brain is a plastic - that is, trainable - thing....throughout our lives.
2. brain activity is intrinsically connected to the mind, at the EEG level!
3. one way to train the brain is through meditation. Compassion and happiness can be learned!
While terrific at that level,
a. it is one of many books that should have been papers or magazine articles, and
b. everything here is already baked in the cake imo. that is,
1. the brain is a plastic - that is, trainable - thing....throughout our lives.
2. brain activity is intrinsically connected to the mind, at the EEG level!
3. one way to train the brain is through meditation. Compassion and happiness can be learned!
I started this book and got to about page 100 before I had to put it down. I was surprised that I couldn't get through it as I enjoy Mind/Brain research, but this was just covering obvious things that brain researchers should have known forever, that I just got fed up with the research. Also, in the first 100 pages, there was little interaction between the Dali Lama and the scientists, so the book had no value to me.
This book is an excellent collection of stories and studies on how it appears that animals - and humans - can rewire their brains. Rewire in case of damage, rewire in cases of missing senses (sight, sound), rewire via training to compensate for certain learning disabilities like dyslexia.
If you don't know much about this field *raises hand* it's exciting, and Begley's writing is excellent. But in many ways it feels like a first quarter report card. There's still so much we DON'T know, that the overall impact is impossible to truly measure, yet, and to the author's credit, she doesn't try to tie up all the loose ends.
I recommend this read, and at the same time, maybe it's me being used to instant gratification, I feel frustrated because I know people whose brains could use rewiring (including mine) but am pretty sure I can't invest tens of thousands of hours in meditation like a Buddhist monk. If you're looking for a self-help formula to make your own life better, this isn't it... There are hints, there are ideas, but there is no spoon feeding, and no guarantees.
If you don't know much about this field *raises hand* it's exciting, and Begley's writing is excellent. But in many ways it feels like a first quarter report card. There's still so much we DON'T know, that the overall impact is impossible to truly measure, yet, and to the author's credit, she doesn't try to tie up all the loose ends.
I recommend this read, and at the same time, maybe it's me being used to instant gratification, I feel frustrated because I know people whose brains could use rewiring (including mine) but am pretty sure I can't invest tens of thousands of hours in meditation like a Buddhist monk. If you're looking for a self-help formula to make your own life better, this isn't it... There are hints, there are ideas, but there is no spoon feeding, and no guarantees.
The human mind (and body) is one of the great frontiers yet to be explored and understood.
This book wasn't exactly what I was expecting. I thought it would be sort of a how-to type book. It's more intense descriptions on brain development research. Until very recently it was believed that a person's brain was essentially formed in early childhood. New research shows that people can make changes in how their brains are wired throughout life. A lot of very interesting research, but it had a little more history of the field and relating the studies to Buddhism than I'm interested in.
Begley has written an excellent and understandable synopsis of neuroplasticity, explaining and referencing the numerous and varied studies done on the subject. I particularly appreciated the insights on cause and effect as well as nature versus nurture in regards to the brain as a result of our actions and choices. This is a good place to start your journey towards understanding how you can literally change and shape your physical brain.
I've read this before, and it's worth reading again. Really interesting account of recent research on neuro-plasticity, which is a fancy way of saying that the brain, it's phsycial structure, can change a lot more than brain scientists originally thought. This includes the ways in which the mind can change the brain, or the ways in which we can change our brain through our thinking, including meditation. The book starts from this project of the Dalai Lama of bringing together various scientific disciplines with Buddhism, and so that part is also fascinating. But very hopeful and helpful read, I think.
I didn't really read the entire book, but the chapters I did read were interesting. Scientists working in areas of neuroscience have been meeting with the Dalai Lama to discuss the intersection of Buddhism and science. I didn't give it more stars because of the writing style, not the subject or the conclusions.
A very intriguing book full of interesting science and research to back up the idea that “thoughts change hone way you think”. However, there was so much information that there wasn’t much room to breathe, so you have to really pay attention and take notes. In the end, mental training and focusing and self-compassion will help you change your brain—it was cool learning the science behind that, but I already knew that, as well as most of the theories. This book does inspire me to implement new practices and taught me some interesting things for sure, but it was kinda an info dump!