|
|
virginia-classifieds.net - Iconoclast: A Neuroscientist Reveals How to Think Differently
virginia-classifieds.net is the where to go for the great discount prices on hundreds of
leading worldwide brands. Our catalog is large and updated frequently with products that you want.
With thousands of products, you are sure to find what you are looking for.
Why pay regular prices when you can buy discount items
online from virginia-classifieds.net? To start browsing our catalog, click on one of our categories on the menu
on the left under the section marked "Products", or use our search utility on the top menu to search using keywords.
|
List Price: $29.95
Our Price: $18.08
Your Save: $ 11.87 ( 40% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Harvard Business School Press
|
Average Customer Rating:  
|
|
Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 612.8
EAN: 9781422115015
ISBN: 1422115011
Label: Harvard Business School Press
Manufacturer: Harvard Business School Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 224
Publication Date: 2008-09-29
Publisher: Harvard Business School Press
Studio: Harvard Business School Press
|
|
Buy this item today
|
|
|
|
Spotlight customer reviews:
|
Customer Rating:
Summary: good but flawed
Comment:
This is an interesting book, but one that has been difficult for me to read and review.
First, there is basically nothing new stated here insofar as iconoclasm itself is concerned. The author merely takes things which are well known about iconoclastic thinking and behavior, and dresses them up in the science bling du jour, neuroscience.
Most of what he has to say about the actual behavior and thinking of iconoclasts is true, and can be gotten directly from the people themselves. The author tries to show how all this is created by the materialistic determinism of brain science. I find this to be classic example of the "I only have a hammer so everything looks like a nail" syndrome. Specialists are forever trying to make the whole universe fit into their narrow, limited view.
Aside from the chicken-and-egg nature of brain science, I find that materialists who think everything is generated by matter make the mistake of thinking that the TV program originates in the components of the TV set. All the wonderful "brain mapping" being done falls apart when confronted with the example of people like the English mathematician whose cranium is filled with 95% fluid and only 5% brain tissue, yet functions with complete normalcy.
While I have no quarrel with his observations and conclusions about iconoclasts, I have many problems with the delivery and overall tone. The book rambles a bit, and I found myself distracted by factual errors and bad logic in many places. For example:
Marconi did not invent radio, Tesla did. This fiction persists despite the 1943 court decision concluding Marconi plagiarized Tesla's earlier patents, and awarding the patent (posthumously) to Tesla.
Steve Jobs did not create the Apple computer, he co-created it with Wozniak, who almost certainly did the majority of the technical work.
"Imagination comes from the visual system." (p.36) - so does this mean that congenitally blind people have no imagination? They might disagree.
The accommodation of the eye depends on the muscles controlling the shape of the eyeball as well as the lens, a fact well documented over 100 years ago by William Bates.
In the discussion on page 24 of the Kanizsa Triangle, the author states that there is no white triangle, but that your brain just makes it up. Having some knowledge of plane geometry, I beg to differ. It can be clearly shown in seconds with a straightedge that there is indeed a white triangle defined quite precisely by the so-called "pacmen" and the chevrons. To prove this conclusively, simply adjust the position slightly of the pacmen and chevrons, and the triangle will "magically" disappear. This is not an illusion, as is the example of false perspective tricking the eye in the Ponzo illusion on page 41. The triangle really does exist. Just because a line is not completely drawn in does not mean it does not exist. Ask any competent geometer. It would only be an illusion if it appeared to be something it was not.
These obvious errors cast doubt on the other information mentioned.
The book bounces back and forth between discussions of brain science and various examples of iconoclasts, much of which is fascinating information. It is not well organized, in my opinion. Toward the end, it degenerates into an infommercial for private exploration of space, then ends rather suddenly with a very strange and ambiguous section on drugs and brain function.
There are many things of interest in here, but I found I needed to do a lot of sorting and careful reading, making it much more work than it should have been.
Customer Rating:
Summary: You Too, Can Become an Iconoclast...Maybe
Comment: This book is about what makes someone into an iconoclast, that is, someone who does or accomplishes things others said could not be done or that no one knew could happen. Gregory Bernes tells us it boils down to three things: seeing things differently, lacking or controlling fear, and social intelligence. He gives as examples of iconoclasts people like Picasso, the father of cubism, and Steve Jobs, the father of Apple-ism. To support his thesis, Bernes sites various brain and psychological studies that support his three pillars of iconoclasm. To be honest, I get lost in the technical biological and chemical details, reaffirming my decision over twenty years ago to drop out of pre-med studies. Sadly, he concludes his work with a chapter on pharmaceuticals that could help people in the the areas above, including drugs like LSD, peyote and other more mainstream drugs like Prozac. He provides a disclaimer that this is not medical advice but then proceeds to list iconoclastic "benefits". I hope some desperate soul doesn't take this as "look the other way" advice to experiment.
I am not too sure that I agree that the three characteristics he mentioned are required for iconoclasm. For example, he compares Van Gogh to Picasso. According to Bernes, the latter is a true iconoclast because he was charismatic (socially intelligent) and made millions from his art; the former is not because he lacked social graces and died a pauper. So Van Gogh, the father of Impressionism takes the back seat in Bernes' iconoclasmobile, which I find hard to accept. To my mind, Van Gogh should be sitting aside Picasso as the car rushes by blurred landscapes.
For those who aspire to Bernes' description of iconoclasm, the book provides a basic checklist to see if you've got what it takes and steps to improve: to see things differently, you need new experiences (which is also advice given by others to improve creativity); to reduce your fears, face them; to improve your social intelligence, build a social network. Oh, and there is also a graduate level iconoclasm where you become an icon, like a Steve Jobs, who are inconoclasts who are worhipped by legions of fans for their reputation and accomplishments.
I think there is enough here to motivate the reader in the direction of iconoclasm, even if the reader does not achieve the great accomplishments of the examples included; perhaps in your own small world you can work toward becoming a local iconoclast, and improve your life and those of others around you, or at least make it more interesting, which may be a sufficient accomplishment in and of itself.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Some science and a lot of babble
Comment:
According to Berns there are three things that distinguish successful iconoclasts/innovators from other people. First, they perceive things differently. Second, they have less fear of failure or of the (social) consequences of coming up with new ideas. Third, they know how to connect with others and `sell' their ideas to them. Berns gives no defense of this classification, but goes on to seek the foundation of these traits in the physical workings of the brain.
The most interesting part about the book is the part on perception. Here, Berns gives relevant information about the way the brain processes and stores information. He shows how the brain tries to save energy by making use of preexisting structures and interpretations. This is why it is so hard to see things from a different perspective from the one you have learned from your own experience or from others.
The other two parts are less successful. Bern explains that fear is a reaction mediated by the amygdala, a specific part in the brain, but not many interesting things follow from this (other than that you should practice activities that you fear to overcome the bad experiences associated with it). The part about learning to network teaches that we should strive for familiarity of our person and product, maintaining a good reputation and getting to know the right people. We didn't really need a brain scientist for that. In fact, the neuroscience in this part would not merit more than a few footnotes in a Malcolm Gladwell book.
Which brings me to my central critique: a large part of the book is just blabla. Although some of this blabla contains interesting stories, nothing of it is rigorous. 30 pages would have been more than enough to deliver the core ideas and facts in the book. Instead, Berns, with the help of generous spacing, has managed to stretch it into a hardcover, just big enough (200 and a few pages) to make it cost 30 dollars. Furthermore, this is not a self-help book, because there is a large gap between the neuroscience of your brain and the practical exercises you need to do to actually think differently. Maybe this is not really the author's fault, but the subtitle is misleading. Get the paperback if you can, but don't expect it to make you an iconoclast.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The science of the pack
Comment: Iconoclast starts off slowly but then starts to roll along at a good pace.
Outlining the pathways of perception then how shifts occur before settling into incidents and experiments on populist opinions. That iconoclasts are outliers is proven but that not all outliers are iconoclasts leaves some thinking space.
Do I need to be a Crackpot to become the next big thing?
Overall a good read, that is more Neuroscience/Psych than NLP on thinking different.
N N Taleb's 'The Black Swan' is a good read if this title caught your attention.The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
Customer Rating:
Summary: Weighty topic
Comment: I'm not sure that I know how to think differently after reading this book, but I did find the topics to be very interesting. I quite liked the discussions on all the iconoclasts they were using as examples in the book. I found the medical discussions on how the brain does the things Mr. Berns was describing to be well written, and understandable enough for a layperson. My reading time is usually right before bedtime, and given the complexity of the subject, it took me quite a while to get through the whole 224 pages.
|
|
|
Editorial Reviews:
|
No organization can survive without iconoclasts -- innovators who single-handedly upturn conventional wisdom and manage to achieve what so many others deem impossible.
Though indispensable, true iconoclasts are few and far between. In Iconoclast, neuroscientist Gregory Berns explains why. He explores the constraints the human brain places on innovative thinking, including fear of failure, the urge to conform, and the tendency to interpret sensory information in familiar ways.
Through vivid accounts of successful innovators ranging from glass artist Dale Chihuly to physicist Richard Feynman to country/rock trio the Dixie Chicks, Berns reveals the inner workings of the iconoclast's mind with remarkable clarity. Each engaging chapter goes on to describe practical actions we can each take to understand and unleash our own potential to think differently -- such as seeking out new environments, novel experiences, and first-time acquaintances.
Packed with engaging stories, science-based insights, potent practices, and examples from a startling array of disciplines, this engaging book will help you understand how iconoclasts think and equip you to begin thinking more like an iconoclast yourself.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
