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Psych: The Story of the Human Mind
A Next Big Idea Club Must-Read
A compelling and accessible new perspective on the modern science of psychology, based on one of Yale’s most popular courses of all time
How does the brain—a three-pound wrinkly mass—give rise to intelligence and conscious experience? Was Freud right that we are all plagued by forbidden sexual desires? What is the function of emotions such as disgust, gratitude, and shame? Renowned psychologist Paul Bloom answers these questions and many more in Psych, his riveting new book about the science of the mind.
Psych is an expert and passionate guide to the most intimate aspects of our nature, serving up the equivalent of a serious university course while being funny, engaging, and full of memorable anecdotes. But Psych is much more than a comprehensive overview of the field of psychology. Bloom reveals what psychology can tell us about the most pressing moral and political issues of our time—including belief in conspiracy theories, the role of genes in explaining human differences, and the nature of prejudice and hatred.
Bloom also shows how psychology can give us practical insights into important issues—from the treatment of mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety to the best way to lead happy and fulfilling lives. Psych is an engrossing guide to the most important topic there is: it is the story of us.
A compelling and accessible new perspective on the modern science of psychology, based on one of Yale’s most popular courses of all time
How does the brain—a three-pound wrinkly mass—give rise to intelligence and conscious experience? Was Freud right that we are all plagued by forbidden sexual desires? What is the function of emotions such as disgust, gratitude, and shame? Renowned psychologist Paul Bloom answers these questions and many more in Psych, his riveting new book about the science of the mind.
Psych is an expert and passionate guide to the most intimate aspects of our nature, serving up the equivalent of a serious university course while being funny, engaging, and full of memorable anecdotes. But Psych is much more than a comprehensive overview of the field of psychology. Bloom reveals what psychology can tell us about the most pressing moral and political issues of our time—including belief in conspiracy theories, the role of genes in explaining human differences, and the nature of prejudice and hatred.
Bloom also shows how psychology can give us practical insights into important issues—from the treatment of mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety to the best way to lead happy and fulfilling lives. Psych is an engrossing guide to the most important topic there is: it is the story of us.
464 pages, Hardcover
First published February 28, 2023
About the author
Paul Bloom
27 books754 followersPaul Bloom is the Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science at Yale University. His research explores how children and adults understand the physical and social world, with special focus on morality, religion, fiction, and art. He has published more than a hundred scientific articles in journals such as Science and Nature, and his popular writing has appeared in the New York Times, the New Yorker, the Atlantic Monthly, Slate, Natural History, and many other publications. He has won numerous awards for his research and teaching. His newest book--Just Babies: The Origins of Good and Evil--is coming out in November. Paul Bloom lives in New Haven with his wife and two sons.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 158 reviews
February 20, 2023
Fantastic read! Paul Bloom offers an insightful and highly engaging read on psychological science. This is the psych class i would have lived in college, and if i were still teaching, this is the book i would use. Highly recommend, even for psychologists like myself.
March 23, 2023
Bloom’s a good writer with a nice sense of humor and he’s sensitive without being sappy. If you’re not familiar with the field of psychology this would be a great intro. Unfortunately I’ve read a ton of books about psychology over the years (what causes THAT?) so very little in this book seemed new or different. But, he’s a fine writer so the book was still enjoyable.
April 26, 2023
Full review at Holodoxa on Substack
Psych: The Story of the Human Mind by psychology professor Paul Bloom is a distillation of the lessons of his Pscyh 101 course. It is a course he's taught at top universities and was broadly popular. The book is organized into five sections: Foundations, Thinking, Appetites, Relations, and Differences. Bloom focuses on high impact psychological findings and concepts and the ideas of famous psychologists. The work is meaty, coming in at roughly 450 pages, but there are of course things that have to be omitted. However, I think Bloom's chosen selections will be resonant and meaningful to his target audience, curious lay readers. Plus, he bravely and delicately addresses controversial ideas and findings and gently illustrates which models have withstood scientific reappraisal and which haven't.
In the prologue to the work Bloom provides a great summary of what a reader will learn about modern psychology from this book:
We'll see that modern psychology accepts a mechanistic conception of mental life, one that is materialist (seeing the mind as a physical thing), evolutionary (seeing our psychologies as the product of biological evolution, shaped to a large extent by natural selection), and causal (seeing our thoughts and actions as the product of the forces of genes, culture, and individual experience)..
I guess I am a bit of a Paul Bloom fan. I've read three of Bloom's other books (Against Empathy, Just Babies, and The Sweet Spot) and have found them eminently accessible yet thoughtful. I enjoy his writing and share many of his interests and ideas. I often return to things his work introduced me too to learn more about them. This remains true with Psych. Given that I am fairly well-read in psychology content and have read his other books, much of the content was familiar to me. Despite this, I wasn't bored by the work at all. Bloom often quotes from the work of others I've read too: Harden, Pinker, Ritchie, and Henrich. This tended to serve as a nicer refresher of those works. Bloom also filled in his own perspective on their ideas, which was enriching. So I think many readers can enjoy Psych even though it may be best suited for those with less exposure to psychology.
I most enjoyed the early and late portions of the book. I felt those were highest yield and will matter most to audiences. It may also just be a function of what I am most interested in. The only thing that I think the work needed more of was methodology and statistics. Bloom does discuss metascientific concepts like p-hacking and HARKing in order to report on the replication crisis that especially afflicts the field of social psychology (he also touches on conditional probability), but it would be helpful for lay readers to have some more on the basics of experimental design, inference testing, effect sizes, and factor analysis where relevant to topics.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in a good introduction to modern psychology. It will help many shake off some old but popular ideas from the likes of Freud and Skinner, and it will introduce many to exciting science about the mind.
Disclaimer: I received this as an ARC through Netgalley
April 4, 2024
Intro and refresher
I am looking at this book slightly differently. It is based on Paul Bloom's Introduction to Psychology course, but for people like me who have studied psychology but have not stayed in the field, it is a great refresher. It is also great to see how some of the theories and psychologists I did study are brewed today.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in psychology it will catch you up on everything you would need to know. I might be age, experience or that Paul Bloom is just a better teacher but many of the things I found boring whilst studying psychology like linguistics are explained very well here are I think I can understand them better now.
I am looking at this book slightly differently. It is based on Paul Bloom's Introduction to Psychology course, but for people like me who have studied psychology but have not stayed in the field, it is a great refresher. It is also great to see how some of the theories and psychologists I did study are brewed today.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in psychology it will catch you up on everything you would need to know. I might be age, experience or that Paul Bloom is just a better teacher but many of the things I found boring whilst studying psychology like linguistics are explained very well here are I think I can understand them better now.
March 1, 2023
Basically, it is a college course in psychology in one book. This sounds cool because I thought that it might be directed toward an average reader. I have never been so painfully wrong. Painfully, mostly because my psychology-loving brain was brought into trans after a couple of pages. I do not remember much from this book, yet I do remember almost everything from my college textbook. Mostly because the author decided to diverge more than was necessary, making discussion and argument towards things that supposedly nobody does, hence my thought about who should be an audience. This surprises me even more because allegedly he is a college professor. From where I stand, I'd hate learning from him. Instead of having a nice compendium of psych knowledge, there are much of random facts that are explained on endless pages at the time with no conclusion in sight. I think I'd rather read research papers.
As much, as I requested this book from @netgalley I do not recommend it unless you are an expert in the matter and want to build on the knowledge and experience you already have.
As much, as I requested this book from @netgalley I do not recommend it unless you are an expert in the matter and want to build on the knowledge and experience you already have.
May 27, 2023
This book is a very good comprehensive guide to the modern psych field. Basically all major schools of psychology are explained in a competent and easy to digest manner and are applied in a way that the average person can get some use out of them. It also makes sure to explain where the field is more locked in and where certain theories are hotly contested, and Bloom does a great job adding his own voice without being biased from the overall goal.
The only time I think Bloom gets too in the weeds is during how children learn languages, which he randomly just devotes a chunk of the book to very specific information about language learning. Regardless, my go to recommendation for people to learn some shit about psychology and stop annoying me with all the dumb stuff they don't know about 😜
Also Bloom mentions The Wire several times, so who cares if he's accurate.
9.5/10
The only time I think Bloom gets too in the weeds is during how children learn languages, which he randomly just devotes a chunk of the book to very specific information about language learning. Regardless, my go to recommendation for people to learn some shit about psychology and stop annoying me with all the dumb stuff they don't know about 😜
Also Bloom mentions The Wire several times, so who cares if he's accurate.
9.5/10
December 28, 2023
In his book, psychologist Paul Bloom suggests the mechanistic view of mental life, seeing the mind as a physical thing shaped by both biological evolution and individual experiences. This perspective contrasts with ideas positing that the mind is not entirely physical, unlike the brain.
The book covers five themes: Foundations, Thinking, Appetites, Relations, and Differences.
The section on Appetites, explaining themes that altered my thinking, especially regarding rationality/irrationality, was fascinating. I used to wonder why people, myself included, make seemingly foolish decisions despite being rational beings. Now, I've developed a higher tolerance for embracing irrationality at times and accepting moments of "being dumb." The exploration of the decision-making process, particularly understanding confirmation biases, is also crucial because its importance in our daily choices.
Having read several books on human psychology, this one is universal, providing almost complete knowledge in crucial aspects of our minds and how they shape and function.If you're interested in understanding yourself, your mind, and behavior from a psychological perspective, I recommend starting with this book.
The book covers five themes: Foundations, Thinking, Appetites, Relations, and Differences.
The section on Appetites, explaining themes that altered my thinking, especially regarding rationality/irrationality, was fascinating. I used to wonder why people, myself included, make seemingly foolish decisions despite being rational beings. Now, I've developed a higher tolerance for embracing irrationality at times and accepting moments of "being dumb." The exploration of the decision-making process, particularly understanding confirmation biases, is also crucial because its importance in our daily choices.
Having read several books on human psychology, this one is universal, providing almost complete knowledge in crucial aspects of our minds and how they shape and function.If you're interested in understanding yourself, your mind, and behavior from a psychological perspective, I recommend starting with this book.
November 11, 2022
Psych by Paul Bloom is an excellent overview of the history of and current ideas in the field of psychology. Based partly on his teaching outline for his Intro to Psychology course, this offers a very accessible tour with enough depth to generate even more curiosity.
I first heard of Bloom when I took one of his MOOCs back in 2014 (or so) and have since taken another one as well as read several of his books. One of the strong aspects of his other books has been his voice, you can almost hear him (if you have taken one of his courses). Coupled with the almost conversational tone you learn so much without realizing it, like when you're talking with a friend who is knowledgeable, and you suddenly realize how much you now understand. I was actually surprised, quite pleasantly, by how much of that delivery made it into this book.
This is not a textbook but offers the reader a similar type of tour. Just far more interesting and less sleep-inducing. An ideal book to build a course around, basically doing the opposite of what Bloom did. I don't, however, want to emphasize that. This is a wonderful book for those who simply want a better understanding of what psychology is and, as a result, who we as human beings are. Don't be put off by talk of formal courses, this is that rare book that easily serves both formal learning and informal self-education.
Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in how we think and feel, and why. Whether you have previous education in the field or just coming to it, this will reward you.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
I first heard of Bloom when I took one of his MOOCs back in 2014 (or so) and have since taken another one as well as read several of his books. One of the strong aspects of his other books has been his voice, you can almost hear him (if you have taken one of his courses). Coupled with the almost conversational tone you learn so much without realizing it, like when you're talking with a friend who is knowledgeable, and you suddenly realize how much you now understand. I was actually surprised, quite pleasantly, by how much of that delivery made it into this book.
This is not a textbook but offers the reader a similar type of tour. Just far more interesting and less sleep-inducing. An ideal book to build a course around, basically doing the opposite of what Bloom did. I don't, however, want to emphasize that. This is a wonderful book for those who simply want a better understanding of what psychology is and, as a result, who we as human beings are. Don't be put off by talk of formal courses, this is that rare book that easily serves both formal learning and informal self-education.
Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in how we think and feel, and why. Whether you have previous education in the field or just coming to it, this will reward you.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
March 4, 2023
لن يشكل اللاوعي مشكلة لو كان مثل جهاز كمبيوتر عقلاني يراعي مصلحتك. لكن كما يراه لفرويد ، إنه فوضوي - ثالوث مثير للجدل ، مع ثلاث عمليات متميزة في صراع عنيف.
العملية الأولى هي الهو ، وهو موجود منذ الولادة. هذا هو الجزء الحيواني من الذات. الهو يريد أن يأكل ويشرب ويفرز ويحصل على اللذة الحسية. إنه يعمل وفقًا لما أسماه فرويد مبدأ اللذة - إنه يريد إشباعًا فوريًا.
للأسف ، العالم لا يعمل بهذه الطريقة. نادرًا ما يتم إشباع رغبات حتى أكثر الأطفال تدليلًا - على الفور. قد يرغب الطفل في الحليب ، لكن ثدي الأم غير متوفر ؛ يحتاج الطفل إلى عناق ، ولكن الأم في الغرفة الأخرى.
يؤدي فشل العالم في إعطائك ما تريد إلى نظام ثانٍ يسمى الأنا. هذا هو المكان الذي ينبثق فيه الوعي - الأنا هي أنت. مع ظهور الأنا ، يحدث بعض الفهم للواقع ؛ تمكّنك الأنا من إشباع رغباتك بشكل عملي أو قمعها. هنا نرى مبدأ الواقع في العمل.
في وقت لاحق من التطور ، يصبح الثالوث كاملاً - تظهر الأنا العليا. هذا هو الجزء من العقل الذي يستوعب مدونة أخلاقية ما ، أولاً من الوالدين ، ثم من المجتمع بشكل عام. قد يرغب الطفل الغاضب في ضرب والده على وجهه ، فيفعل ذلك قبل أن يكون وا��ياً . في وقت لاحق ، بعد تشكل الأنا ، يعتقد الطفل أن هذا الفعل سيكون له نتيجة سيئة - غضب الأب - وبالتالي يمتنع عن ذلك. ولكن بعد ذلك بوقت طويل ، يقرر الطفل امتلاك الأنا العليا ، كبح جماح نفسه لمجرد أنه الفعل خاطئ. في مرحلة معينة ، يتم كبح رغبات المرء ليس فقط بسبب الخوف من العواقب ولكن من خلال الإيمان بنوع معين من القواعد الأخلاقية.
.
Paul Bloom
Psych
Translated By #Maher_Razouk
العملية الأولى هي الهو ، وهو موجود منذ الولادة. هذا هو الجزء الحيواني من الذات. الهو يريد أن يأكل ويشرب ويفرز ويحصل على اللذة الحسية. إنه يعمل وفقًا لما أسماه فرويد مبدأ اللذة - إنه يريد إشباعًا فوريًا.
للأسف ، العالم لا يعمل بهذه الطريقة. نادرًا ما يتم إشباع رغبات حتى أكثر الأطفال تدليلًا - على الفور. قد يرغب الطفل في الحليب ، لكن ثدي الأم غير متوفر ؛ يحتاج الطفل إلى عناق ، ولكن الأم في الغرفة الأخرى.
يؤدي فشل العالم في إعطائك ما تريد إلى نظام ثانٍ يسمى الأنا. هذا هو المكان الذي ينبثق فيه الوعي - الأنا هي أنت. مع ظهور الأنا ، يحدث بعض الفهم للواقع ؛ تمكّنك الأنا من إشباع رغباتك بشكل عملي أو قمعها. هنا نرى مبدأ الواقع في العمل.
في وقت لاحق من التطور ، يصبح الثالوث كاملاً - تظهر الأنا العليا. هذا هو الجزء من العقل الذي يستوعب مدونة أخلاقية ما ، أولاً من الوالدين ، ثم من المجتمع بشكل عام. قد يرغب الطفل الغاضب في ضرب والده على وجهه ، فيفعل ذلك قبل أن يكون وا��ياً . في وقت لاحق ، بعد تشكل الأنا ، يعتقد الطفل أن هذا الفعل سيكون له نتيجة سيئة - غضب الأب - وبالتالي يمتنع عن ذلك. ولكن بعد ذلك بوقت طويل ، يقرر الطفل امتلاك الأنا العليا ، كبح جماح نفسه لمجرد أنه الفعل خاطئ. في مرحلة معينة ، يتم كبح رغبات المرء ليس فقط بسبب الخوف من العواقب ولكن من خلال الإيمان بنوع معين من القواعد الأخلاقية.
.
Paul Bloom
Psych
Translated By #Maher_Razouk
March 6, 2023
I don’t know how Paul Bloom does it, but he just keeps writing incredible books. He’s one of my favorite psychology and philosophy writers, and this book didn’t disappoint. This book was longer than I expected, but I breezed through it because I couldn’t put it down. Paul does such an incredible job teaching the history of psychology while also discussing how it affects us in everyday life as well as some of the controversies throughout the history of psychological research.
When I heard this book was about “the history of psychology”, I figured I wouldn’t like it because I’m not a huge history book fan, but I loved this book. It felt less like a history book and more like what I imagine Paul’s introductory to psych class is (which is what inspired this book).
My son is 14 and getting interested in human behavior and psychology like myself, and I can’t wait to read this book again with him. If you’re even slightly interested in psychology, you need to get this book ASAP.
When I heard this book was about “the history of psychology”, I figured I wouldn’t like it because I’m not a huge history book fan, but I loved this book. It felt less like a history book and more like what I imagine Paul’s introductory to psych class is (which is what inspired this book).
My son is 14 and getting interested in human behavior and psychology like myself, and I can’t wait to read this book again with him. If you’re even slightly interested in psychology, you need to get this book ASAP.
October 26, 2023
McKenzie is taking AP Psychology, and that inspired me to learn more about the subject. This was an accessible, engaging overview of the subject. I especially enjoyed the chapter on language learning.
February 2, 2024
Ehhhh. Idk. I listened to him on a podcast and loved it. So I requested his book at the library, but it ended up not having the same effect on me. I think the study of psychology just feels a bit more abstract to me. Maybe someone more interested in psychology would enjoy this. I think I prefer neuroscience because it feels more tangible.
August 12, 2023
Good. Interesting. Academic. Jump around chapters to suit your fancy. Basically a Yale Psychology 101 class.
Isn’t the world great these days that you can essentially get a first class university education if you simply want it? No excuses anymore, except indifference, for not expanding one’s intellectual horizon. Use the internet for purposes beyond cat videos, conspiracy theories, or vice, and you can stuff your brain full of all kinds of interesting information.
Isn’t the world great these days that you can essentially get a first class university education if you simply want it? No excuses anymore, except indifference, for not expanding one’s intellectual horizon. Use the internet for purposes beyond cat videos, conspiracy theories, or vice, and you can stuff your brain full of all kinds of interesting information.
March 30, 2023
A lot of lessons learned from reading Psych: The Story of Human Mind. So invested in this book. Is like taking a psychology classes just like I dreamed of.
Psych has an excellent overview of the history and it includes insightful informations about the psychology of human mind and also what the philosophers said about the certain topic regarding the psychology and the development of human mind including in how children's minds developed.
Paul Bloom done such as incredible job writing and discussing how the psychology affecrs us in our daily life. I loved a topic called 'Is Everyone a Little Bit Racist Sometimes?'.
I think this is a good book to know learn something about psychology and it looks like a text book to me. Each chapter can be read as a stand alone.
Thank you Times Reads for sending me Psych: The Story of Human Mind in return for an honest review.
Psych has an excellent overview of the history and it includes insightful informations about the psychology of human mind and also what the philosophers said about the certain topic regarding the psychology and the development of human mind including in how children's minds developed.
Paul Bloom done such as incredible job writing and discussing how the psychology affecrs us in our daily life. I loved a topic called 'Is Everyone a Little Bit Racist Sometimes?'.
I think this is a good book to know learn something about psychology and it looks like a text book to me. Each chapter can be read as a stand alone.
Thank you Times Reads for sending me Psych: The Story of Human Mind in return for an honest review.
April 25, 2023
Nicely written but I had heard most of the most interesting findings before.
Chapter on Freud and Skinner was interesting.
And if someone hasn’t heard any psych podcasts or read any psych books before this would be more fun I think.
Chapter on Freud and Skinner was interesting.
And if someone hasn’t heard any psych podcasts or read any psych books before this would be more fun I think.
May 7, 2023
Very insightful! Received this book as a gift from one of the smartest and most cultured person I have ever known. A person with a brilliant mind and a good eye for literary treasures…On that note, this book did not disappoint. I breezed through these pages and felt like I was at Yale taking a class in Introductory Psych. Highly recommend if Psych and the complexities of the human mind are your thing!
August 19, 2023
I'm sorry, but this book is just not for me. In my opinion, it was too long and covered too many topics. There were interesting parts, but it felt so much like a textbook that I couldn't get excited about anything.
December 24, 2023
I wish I read this book when I did my introduction to psychology class in college. Certainly a better read than a dry text book. Although it covered several subjects, this book has inspired me to read more on Sigmund Freud, Jung and history of psychoanalysis. Understanding from the top down.
March 9, 2023
The scope of this book is way too broad for me, it was not only about past and modern psychology, but also about philosohy, existence, the human brain, thoughts, mind vs body, intelligence, desires, and even the Cosmos. The content/research was definitely a 5. But only read this book if you are not bored with every little tibits and history, and already have moderate knoeledge about science,physics neuroscience, philosophy and the human mind.
June 14, 2023
If you’ve taken a basic psych course in college, you do not need to read this book. I was hoping for more but it felt like a syllabus typed out in greater detail. Would be interesting if you’ve never taken a course like that though!
April 22, 2023
Psych: The Story of the Human Mind takes us on a journey through all aspects of the human mind, we go through neuroscience, psychology, and even philosophy.
It's a fun and informative read backed up by many studies about the brain, personality, happiness, intelligence, mental illness, biases, and many other topics.
Our understanding of the human mind is still primitive and genuine puzzles remain, but I learnt a great deal from this book. Here are the most memorable lessons I learnt, some of them in the author's own words:
- We're complicated beings, we have different personalities, beliefs and thoughts that are shaped by our personal experiences. Sometimes we use our own experience as a stand-in for the experience of others, we rely too much on it and fail to appreciate how different others are.
- If you want to teach something quickly, reinforce it every time. But if you want it to stick once the teaching phase is over, reinforce it occasionally.
- Initial machinery (nature) typically requires some contact with the world (nurture) to work. Even mental systems like color vision, which we are tempted to see as pretty much hardwired and built in, won’t operate without some experience.
- We don’t see the world as it is, we see it as we are. Our interpretations of the physical world, for example what we find adorable or disgusting, are products of our mind.
- To get information into long-term memory, think deeply about it. The more sense you add to it, the easier it is to remember. Another technique is to make your experience vivid, make it stand out, make it interesting through visual imagery. Finally, get some good sleep.
- When we think about past events, we tend to focus on two things— the peak (the most intense moment) and the ending.
- Our brains have evolved to make the most reasonable inferences based on the limited information we have. We are often irrational, we believe weird things, and we screw up regularly and consistently. We also want to be liked and accepted, and one way to do this is by sharing others’ prejudices and animosities. We are vulnerable to those who know about our biases and blind spots and use them to exploit us.
- Sometimes we make fast judgments and reach the wrong conclusions due to the availability bias. If something comes to mind quickly, we infer that it is more likely.
- A technique for inducing compliance known as “foot in the door,” exploits the tendency to be more likely to agree to a request if you just agreed to a less extreme one. We're subject to authority, prone to obey and be conformist. Under the right circumstances, we may do horrible things.
- We are prone to see distinctive properties of some groups as reflecting deep facts about their natures. Distinctions that start off as arbitrary can become real if enough people believe they are. This is why social differences are so slow to eradicate: they are self-perpetuating.
- When thinking about human variability more generally is that even small differences in group averages can have large real-world effects, because they lead to bigger differences at the extremes. When we notice a large group difference at the tail ends, we should be careful to realize that is compatible with average group differences that are not so large after all.
- Genes contribute to human differences in a variety of traits. Traits tend to be more heritable in environments where people are allowed to flourish and less heritable in more impoverished environments.
- Knowing how heritable a trait is tells us nothing about the mechanism through which genes influence that trait. Consider a country where there’s discrimination against red-haired children; they have a more difficult time getting accepted into good schools. Since red hair is genetic, this would mean that certain genes would be reliably correlated with a lack of educational attainment, even if these genes had nothing to do with brains.
- Are personality disorders real illnesses or just personalities that most of us don’t like? There are some successful people, after all, who look like they have narcissistic personality disorder. Is it reasonable to point to someone who is thriving— maybe doing better in every tangible way than the psychologist or psychiatrist who is evaluating them— and insist that they have a problem and need treatment? Perhaps yes, but then the problem might be more of a moral one, rooted in ideas about what a good life should be and how people should treat others.
- When thinking about disorders like depression, anxiety, addiction, autism spectrum disorder, and schizophrenia, we can no longer simply view them as problems to be solved. Rather, they are the names we give to certain extremes of human variation. What counts as extreme enough to warrant treatment isn’t just a psychological question. It is a moral and political one.
It's a fun and informative read backed up by many studies about the brain, personality, happiness, intelligence, mental illness, biases, and many other topics.
Our understanding of the human mind is still primitive and genuine puzzles remain, but I learnt a great deal from this book. Here are the most memorable lessons I learnt, some of them in the author's own words:
- We're complicated beings, we have different personalities, beliefs and thoughts that are shaped by our personal experiences. Sometimes we use our own experience as a stand-in for the experience of others, we rely too much on it and fail to appreciate how different others are.
- If you want to teach something quickly, reinforce it every time. But if you want it to stick once the teaching phase is over, reinforce it occasionally.
- Initial machinery (nature) typically requires some contact with the world (nurture) to work. Even mental systems like color vision, which we are tempted to see as pretty much hardwired and built in, won’t operate without some experience.
- We don’t see the world as it is, we see it as we are. Our interpretations of the physical world, for example what we find adorable or disgusting, are products of our mind.
- To get information into long-term memory, think deeply about it. The more sense you add to it, the easier it is to remember. Another technique is to make your experience vivid, make it stand out, make it interesting through visual imagery. Finally, get some good sleep.
- When we think about past events, we tend to focus on two things— the peak (the most intense moment) and the ending.
- Our brains have evolved to make the most reasonable inferences based on the limited information we have. We are often irrational, we believe weird things, and we screw up regularly and consistently. We also want to be liked and accepted, and one way to do this is by sharing others’ prejudices and animosities. We are vulnerable to those who know about our biases and blind spots and use them to exploit us.
- Sometimes we make fast judgments and reach the wrong conclusions due to the availability bias. If something comes to mind quickly, we infer that it is more likely.
- A technique for inducing compliance known as “foot in the door,” exploits the tendency to be more likely to agree to a request if you just agreed to a less extreme one. We're subject to authority, prone to obey and be conformist. Under the right circumstances, we may do horrible things.
- We are prone to see distinctive properties of some groups as reflecting deep facts about their natures. Distinctions that start off as arbitrary can become real if enough people believe they are. This is why social differences are so slow to eradicate: they are self-perpetuating.
- When thinking about human variability more generally is that even small differences in group averages can have large real-world effects, because they lead to bigger differences at the extremes. When we notice a large group difference at the tail ends, we should be careful to realize that is compatible with average group differences that are not so large after all.
- Genes contribute to human differences in a variety of traits. Traits tend to be more heritable in environments where people are allowed to flourish and less heritable in more impoverished environments.
- Knowing how heritable a trait is tells us nothing about the mechanism through which genes influence that trait. Consider a country where there’s discrimination against red-haired children; they have a more difficult time getting accepted into good schools. Since red hair is genetic, this would mean that certain genes would be reliably correlated with a lack of educational attainment, even if these genes had nothing to do with brains.
- Are personality disorders real illnesses or just personalities that most of us don’t like? There are some successful people, after all, who look like they have narcissistic personality disorder. Is it reasonable to point to someone who is thriving— maybe doing better in every tangible way than the psychologist or psychiatrist who is evaluating them— and insist that they have a problem and need treatment? Perhaps yes, but then the problem might be more of a moral one, rooted in ideas about what a good life should be and how people should treat others.
- When thinking about disorders like depression, anxiety, addiction, autism spectrum disorder, and schizophrenia, we can no longer simply view them as problems to be solved. Rather, they are the names we give to certain extremes of human variation. What counts as extreme enough to warrant treatment isn’t just a psychological question. It is a moral and political one.
May 9, 2023
[Imported automatically from my blog. Some formatting there may not have translated here.]
The author, Paul Bloom, based this book off an "Introduction to Psychology" course he taught at Yale. (He's now mainly at the University of Toronto.) It shows, and in a good way: the text is accessible to the general reader, full of interesting anecdotes, funny asides, and colorful language. An easy read, and you nevertheless find yourself learning things.
He discusses some famed luminaries of the field in detail: Freud, Piaget, Skinner. But most of the book focuses on broad concepts, broken into clearly demarcated, stand-alone chapters: the materialist origins of thought and consciousness; language development; rationality (and irrationality); biases and racism; mental illness; the nature of happiness.
Bloom is a research psychologist, but he's straightforward about the troubles in his own field, and full of healthy skepticism. Thomas Szasz is discussed; Bloom disagrees with his radicalism, but respectfully. He looks at that pesky replication crisis. And, although Bloom's got evidence on his side that psychological therapy works—that lady telling you to "seek professional help" is actually giving you good advice—there's not been a lot of actual progress in that area for a long time. The most damning quote Bloom provides is from Thomas Insel, onetime director of the National Institute for Mental Health: after 13 years at NIMH, spending an estimated $20 billion on research, he admits not "moving the needle" on suicide, hospitalization, or patient recovery.
He's not refunding that money, however.
When Bloom discusses racial/gender differences, he's not that far off from Charles Murray, although not in any way that would cause Yale students to shriek. He notes that formally egalitarian societies can "max out" genetic potential: people can literally "be all they can be". But he doesn't go on to mention (as Murray does) that those racial/gender disparities still persist in the most egalitarian countries. So?
When discussing schizophrenia, Bloom rattles off the symptoms, including "disorganized speech" (the tendency to produce word salad) and "odd and inappropriate actions, such as inappropriate giggling". Gee, I didn't previously think Kamala Harris was schizophrenic, but now I'm open to the possibility. I'll keep my eyes open for other telltale signs.
And Bloom mentions an ongoing mystery: why we behave so darn oddly when seeing cute babies: the urge to pinch, squeeze, and nibble. Prof Bloom, that happens to me all the time. Why? When psychology solves that enigma, I'll be more comfortable calling it a science.
April 8, 2023
I had two conflicting thoughts about this book as it follows:
1st at the beginning it does seem like it's a psychology 101 book( as he said in the introduction) for those who are new to this subject matter and would like to catch up to history/ Up to date summary.
At 1st it seemed like there is nothing new if you are across the main ideas.
2nd
As I pushed along I saw the obvious benefits to this book.
That Paul Bloom's way of writing is so engaging and helpful to reiterate some of the key well established key points in human psychology and underlying science.
The book provides a really good summary to most of the aspects and gives a jumping off points if one might explore a subject matter in depth if chooses to do so.
Since the scope of the book is wide so inevitably some people will find it a reputation of what they already know and others will find it absolutely fascinating.
I do see both points .
It's a well balanced book and we do need this kind of writing in every field of human knowledge.
1st at the beginning it does seem like it's a psychology 101 book( as he said in the introduction) for those who are new to this subject matter and would like to catch up to history/ Up to date summary.
At 1st it seemed like there is nothing new if you are across the main ideas.
2nd
As I pushed along I saw the obvious benefits to this book.
That Paul Bloom's way of writing is so engaging and helpful to reiterate some of the key well established key points in human psychology and underlying science.
The book provides a really good summary to most of the aspects and gives a jumping off points if one might explore a subject matter in depth if chooses to do so.
Since the scope of the book is wide so inevitably some people will find it a reputation of what they already know and others will find it absolutely fascinating.
I do see both points .
It's a well balanced book and we do need this kind of writing in every field of human knowledge.
January 22, 2024
About as good an overview of modern psychological thought as one could hope for. If you're relatively seasoned to the mainstream texts (Thinking, Fast and Slow, The Blank Slate etc) you may be familiar with much of this book, though many schools of thought are assimilated and contextualised quite a coherent, delightful way. Paul Bloom has a special interest in paediatric psychology, and those sections are wonderful stand-outs. Fascinating too was how pre-verbal thought and understanding is examined and understood. Docking a star for this is perhaps a little harsh - but Bloom is certainly no Proust, and the prose at times could be a little clunky. Absolutely worth a read.
March 31, 2023
"Know Thyself" may start from learning a bit of psychology. Oh well, to some extent. In the interview in EconTalk, Bloom recognized that this book is a systematic overview on the subject of psychology, not a book to reveal surprising human nature. For that, better to read novels. This I agree with.
But I did learn a useful term called "partial reinforcement." It may explain why pick-up artist works "so well" in some relationship. People find it hard to resist those random rewards. Now it makes sense why people cannot seem to easily escape from those toxic relationships.
I want to apply this knowledge to sweets. I know it is bad for me, but I can't seem to stop it. The reason may be that I used to think: okay let me not eat sweets for weekdays and then I can get a treat on Saturday... This turns out to be a terrible strategy. I should just not eat it at all.
Here is the related quote from the book: “I often think of the power of partial reinforcement, of how a diet of rare and random rewards can make a behavior difficult to extinguish. I don’t currently have to deal with toddlers who throw tantrums and I’ve never been tempted by slot machines. But I often find myself lost online, staring at my phone, numbly clicking on links, watching videos, doing the drag-down-to-refresh gesture in the hopes of seeing something that makes me feel good, and when I do all this, I am reminded of a rat in the behaviorist’s cage.”
But I did learn a useful term called "partial reinforcement." It may explain why pick-up artist works "so well" in some relationship. People find it hard to resist those random rewards. Now it makes sense why people cannot seem to easily escape from those toxic relationships.
I want to apply this knowledge to sweets. I know it is bad for me, but I can't seem to stop it. The reason may be that I used to think: okay let me not eat sweets for weekdays and then I can get a treat on Saturday... This turns out to be a terrible strategy. I should just not eat it at all.
Here is the related quote from the book: “I often think of the power of partial reinforcement, of how a diet of rare and random rewards can make a behavior difficult to extinguish. I don’t currently have to deal with toddlers who throw tantrums and I’ve never been tempted by slot machines. But I often find myself lost online, staring at my phone, numbly clicking on links, watching videos, doing the drag-down-to-refresh gesture in the hopes of seeing something that makes me feel good, and when I do all this, I am reminded of a rat in the behaviorist’s cage.”
February 11, 2024
Nearly 15 years ago I fell in love with the field of psychology and now I have the privilege to consider myself a researcher and teacher in applied psychology. While my day-to-day focus has narrowed, my curiosity hasn't. So when I came across Paul Bloom's book, I couldn't wait to read it. Paul is a fantastic writer and always offers a refreshing and insightful perspective on various topics (he's also one of my favourite guests on various podcasts like Very Bad Wizards and Making Sense). Needless to say, I was not disappointed with Psych. This "intro psych class in a book" was a very welcome trip down memory lane, supplemented with rich story-telling, humour, and compelling open-mindedness. If you are curious about what psychology is all about, I highly recommend this book! Or if you are already generally interested in psychology, this is also for you.
September 1, 2023
كتاب قيم ومفيد للمهتمين بدراسة علم النفس. يلخص الكتاب أهم المواضيع الأساسية في هذا المجال. سبق وأن درست مقررا دراسيا (عن بعد) قدمه البروفيسور بول بلوم مؤلف الكتاب في جامعة ييل وجاء هذا الكتاب مكملا للاستفادة من المقرر. أنصح به.
April 29, 2023
I thoroughly enjoyed this as an audiobook. It is fairly broad in scope, doesn't shy away from contradicting long-held beliefs, and appears to me to be thoroughly researched.
June 6, 2023
It does a pretty good job of sweeping through the main topics in psychology. So, whilst it's not totally mind blowing, it deserves credit for being an easy to read primer on the topic.
Shelved as 'dnf'
June 26, 2023I like the author and his writing style. The only reason I'm DNFing this is because I think I took too many psychology classes for this to be useful. About 20% in I realized I already knew almost everything he was discussing.
This would be a great book for those who have never studied pyschology.
This would be a great book for those who have never studied pyschology.
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