Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behaviour

Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior by Leonard Mlodinow
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

I've always had a keen interest in books involving the mind and how the brain works. There are some very thought-provoking books out there about the inner-workings of our mind, and this book is another strong contender within that topic.

As the author explains, the Latin root of the word "subliminal" translates to "below threshold" - as in below the threshold of the conscious mind. This book focuses on how our subliminal minds is constantly having an effect on our daily actions.

The best thing about the book is how the author can take a scientific concept, with examples of studies conducted, and translate it into something the reader can relate to. Such as when he explains anthropomorphizing in regards to pets. How our mind "tricks" us into seeing human thought patterns in Fido or Mittens. I know I'm guilty of this, to the extent where there are times I marvel at my cat's apparently human response to my words or actions.

This book is also easy to read, while making you stop to think every so often. Something as innocuously whimsical as the author pointing out how easy his name is to pronounce makes you stop and wonder if this is a subliminal cue to enjoy his book further (if so, it worked!). Or when talking of soldiers enduring trench warfare in WWI - he describes their heads as having the "topography of a doughnut", which certainly makes the topic seem less gruesome at first. Until you stop and think about it.

And I learned lots! I had no idea anything such as blindsight existed - I was blown away by this phenomenon! Did you know social pain is associated with the same brain structure as physical pain and that pain killers purportedly prevent/alleviate emotional pain? Or that 150 may be the natural group size of humans in the wild (if we didn't have demands that required the cooperation of thousands of people or many nations - such as building large cities, good importing/exporting, etc)?

I found the differences in reproductive strategy between men and women to be very striking. Although it may seem really obvious to anyone who has ever left met another human being that there are vast differences in social bonds between men vs women, the simple explanation gives one the feeling of the mental light bulb turning on. And who knew that success in office politics were so deeply ingrained into our psyche??

If you couldn't already tell (my praise has not exactly been subliminal), I really enjoyed this book. Or were subliminal factors at work to make me think I enjoyed it? Even if this were so, I am at least slightly more aware of this influence. And to quote the book, "that realization doesn't bother me; it gives me a greater appreciation of my unseen partner, my unconscious, always providing the support I need as I walk and stumble my way through life."


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