I am indebted to those who understand this and have helped me shape the book. I would particularly like to thank my agent Robert Kirby, not only for his professional input, but also for his support during my moments of doubt. Also I would like to thank my US agent Zoë Pagnamenta for taking on a difficult task. My UK editor Andreas Campomar ignited the idea and has been enthusiastically supportive. I hope it does not blow up in our faces. Joan Bossert (OUP US) gave me some great ideas to develop and Jim Gifford (Harper Collins Canada) pointed out the dangers of my boyish tendencies. I would like to thank the friends, colleagues and students who have read earlier drafts and provided invaluable feedback and support. These include (in alphabetical order) Sara Baker, Sue Blackmore, Paul Bloom, Katy Donnelly, Teobesta Tesfa Endrias, Iain Gilchrist, Nathalia Gjersoe, Shoji Itakura, Monica Jensen, Cristine Legare, Kate Longstaffe, George Newman and Arnoud Van Voorst.
I would like to acknowledge the support of the various funding agencies that have supported me and my research over the past three years that have enabled me to write this book. These include the Economic and Social Research Council of the UK, the Leverhulme trust, the Bial foundation and the Perrott-Warwick Fund.
This book is dedicated to Kim who has had to endure this particular chaotic bundle. Without her, I would have come apart years ago.
Index
Page numbers in italic refer to illustrations
Abu Ghraib prison 149–50, 163
abusive relationships 43, 74
adaptation 125, 141
Adcock, Paul 207
addiction 77, 106, 110, 128, 202, 203, 204, 205
adolescence xiii, 52, 68–9, 189, 190, 191
advertising and marketing 113
Aesop’s fables 115, 116, 123
aggression 8, 32, 72–4, 76, 77, 85–6, 209
Aikins, Deane 162
Ainsworth, Mary 36
alcohol 33, 79, 106, 194
alien hand syndrome 95
Allman, John 67
Alzheimer’s disease 33, 75
amblyopia 16
amygdala 33, 37, 85, 86, 162
analysis paralysis 123, 197
Anderson, Terry 31
anencephalic babies 13–14
animals
brains 21, 43
deprivation studies 16, 28, 42, 43
laughter 31–2
learned helplessness 121–2
Pavlovian conditioning 203
self-recognition 53
anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) 66, 104, 139
anthropomorphism 62
antisocial behaviour 36, 42, 50, 74, 75, 137
Arendt, Hannah 150
Ariely, Dan 124, 125, 127, 128
Armstrong, Lance 192
arousal 135, 162
see also sexual arousal
Asch, Solomon 143, 144, 146, 149
attachment behaviour 34, 35–8, 41, 132, 173
attention deficity hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) 79
Audition (film) 105–6, 108
authoritarianism 144, 146, 148, 149
authorship of action 93–5, 97, 98–9
autism 40, 64–6, 67, 194, 195, 202
autobiographical memories 57, 166, 168, 175
axons 5
babies
anencephalic babies 13–14
blank slate thesis xii, 25
blind and deaf babies 30
brain development 10, 14, 17, 28, 29–30, 42, 43
conscious awareness 23–4
eye movements 10, 213
facial recognition 27
imitative behaviour 28–9, 34, 44–5, 152
infant memories 54, 55, 56
language learning 18, 19, 20
laughter 31
Machiavellian baby 29, 35
mirror test 53–4, 54, 60, 61, 215
mother–infant attachment 34, 35–8
premature babies 42, 43
reflexes 13
self-recognition 53–4, 61
smiling 29–30
social development 33–4, 34–7, 39–40
see also children
baby training 19–20
babyness 34
Baggini, Julian 110
Baldwin, James Mark 25
Bale, Mary 88
banality of evil 150
Bargh, John 153
Barnum effect 172–3
Baron-Cohen, Simon 202
Bartlett, Sir Frederick 58, 176
basal ganglia 104
bats 23
Baumeister, Roy 106, 107, 108
Beckham, David 102
behaviourism 203
Belk, Russell 130
Bell, Vaughan 137
Berners-Lee, Tim 195
beta-blockers 162–3
Bianchi, Ken 177–8
Big-Five factors of personality 173–4
Bin Laden, Osama 200
binary code 4–5
Bishop, Dorothy 195
Blackmore, Susan viii
bladder control 108–9
Blakemore, Sarah-Jayne 68–9
blogging 202
Bloom, Paul 82, 208
Bogacz, Gerry 163, 164
bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism (BDSM) 180
Borg 197–8
Botox 46
Bowlby, John 36, 41, 76
boyd, danah 198
brain
anatomy 1, 2, 4–5, 8
coordinated functions x, 10
gender differences 71
hemispheres 95–6, 169–70
mirroring system 99, 151
the modelling brain xi, xii, 2–3, 213
neural connectivity 4, 5–8, 9, 13, 14–15, 15, 18, 27, 57, 67, 77, 90, 92, 194, 216
organization 8–13, 9, 14
parallel processing 6–7, 92, 214
size and weight 14, 20–1, 27
specialization 8, 21, 22
brain damage x, 13–14, 16, 33, 40, 95, 96
brain death 52
brain development 10, 14, 16–17, 28, 29–30, 42, 43, 214
critical (sensitive) periods 17, 19
brain plasticity 17, 18, 19, 20, 28, 158, 194
brain stem 8, 77
brand identities 130
Brinkley, Linda 206, 208
Bruer, John 20
Buddhism ix
bullying 138, 193
bundle theory ix, x
Cartesian Theatre 12
caudeate nucleus (CN) 104–5
celebrity culture 188–9, 192–3
cerebellum 9
Chabris, Chris 59
chameleon effect 151, 153
change blindness 157
children
ADHD 79
childhood memories 175–6
cultural differences 158–9
extended childhood 25, 26
feral 38–40
impulsivity 77–8, 79
object attachment 128
self-control 77–8, 79–80
social development xii–xiii, 22, 190, 194–5, 214
theory of mind 62, 63–4, 65, 68, 168
see also babies
chimpanzees 21, 32, 44, 61, 62
choice
analysis paralysis 123, 197
paradox of 123
perception of 121, 122–3, 124
Christakis, Nicholas 184, 185
chromosomes 69–70, 73, 74
Clinton, Bill 19
clustering 200
cognition 158
cognitive dissonance 116–17, 150, 160, 169, 174, 217
Cohen, June 195–6
collectivism 155, 156, 159, 175, 176
colonoscopy 126
combat troops 53, 153, 162–3
comfort eating 139
communication 16, 22, 26, 186
see also Internet; social networking; the Web
compliance 139, 143–4, 146, 147–9, 193, 197, 217
compulsions see obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
conditioning 203–4
confabulation 58, 60, 169, 171
conformity see compliance
conscious awareness xi, 94, 126
construction of the self xiii, 34, 82
influences on xii, xiv, 3, 50, 82, 181, 193–4, 215–16, 216
control, illusion of 114, 115, 117, 121, 122, 175, 218
Cool Hand Luke (film) 146
Cooley, Charles Horton 51
coprolalia 49
core self see essential self
corpus callosum 71, 96, 169
cortex 5, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 20, 21, 22, 43, 66, 76, 93, 201
cortical suppression 33
cortisol 35
Cotard’s syndrome 52
counterfactuals 64