The accidental mind /

The accidental mind /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:	Linden, David J., 1961- author.
Imprint:	Cambridge, Mass. : Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2007.
Description:	1 online resource (276 pages) : illustrations
Language:	English
Subject:	Brain -- Popular works. Brain -- Evolution. Neuropsychology. Brain -- physiology. Biological Evolution. Neuropsychology. Brain. Brain -- Evolution. Neuropsychology. Electronic books. Popular Work. Popular works.
Format:	E-Resource Book
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11169825

Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:	9780674076594 0674076591 0674024788 9780674024786 9780674029774 0674029771 9780674030589 0674030583
Notes:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 257-263) and index. Print version record.
Summary:	"A guide to the strange and often illogal world of neural function, 'The accidendal mind' shows how the brain is not an optimized, general-purpose problem-solving machine, but rather a weird agglomeration of ad-hoc solutions that have been piled on through millions of years of evolutionary history. Moreover Linden tells us how the constraints of evolved brain design have ultimately led to almost every transcendent human foible : our long childhoods, our extensnsive memory capacity, our search for love and long-term relationships, our need to create compelling narrative, and ultimately, the universal cultural impulse to create both religious and scientific explanations. With forays into evolutionary biology, this analysis of mental function answers some of our most common questions about how we've come to be who we are."--Jacket.
Other form:	Print version: Linden, David J., 1961- Accidental mind. Cambridge, Mass. : Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2007 0674024788

Table of Contents:

Prologue : Brain, explained
The inelegant design of the brain
Building a brain with yesterday's parts
Some assembly required
Sensation and emotion
Learning, memory, and human individuality
Love and sex
Sleeping and dreaming
The religious impulse
The unintelligent design of the brain
Epilogue : That middle thing.