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Neuroscience is to this decade what evolutionary psychology was to the Aughts. Pop-science books on The Brain are infiltrating my Amazon recommendations with increasing frequency. Books on the neuroscience of sex. There are books on why we believe in God and ghosts (or don’t); books with chapters like “Why Playboy is Bad for Your Mental Mechanisms” and “The Mind as a Coloring Book.” Beach reading they may not be, but if you’re looking to delve into something a bit brainier (ha!) this summer, here’s a guide to which of this new crop of neuroscience reads is for you.
- If you want to ponder big questions like “How can I live a more meaningful existence?” and “How do humans make decisions?” while detouring into the more salacious side of the mind, too, check out Sex, Murder and the Meaning of Life by Douglas T. Kenrick.
- If you want to know why you crave that cheeseburger, martini or joint, check out The Compass of Pleasure: How Our Brains Make Fatty Foods, Orgasm, Exercise, Marijuana, Generosity, Vodka, Learning and Gambling Feel So Good by neuroscientist David J. Linden.
- If you suspect you may be dating / living next to / working with a psychopath, check out The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry by the author of the hilarious book-turned-George-Clooney-movie “The Men Who Stare At Goats,” Jon Ronson.
- If you want to know more about what makes us want what we want in bed (and, um, who doesn’t?), check out A Billion Wicked Thoughts: What the World’s Largest Experiment Reveals About Human Desire by scientists Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam.
- If you’re in the mood to blame Google for why you can’t sit still long enough to finish that presentation, check out The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains by journalist Nicholas Carr.
- If you want tips for how to make the most of the brain you’ve got (and validation for taking those fish oil pills every morning), check out Think Smart: A Neuroscientist’s Prescription for Improving Your Brain’s Performance by Richard Restak.
- If you want to understand where that one uncle with all the conspiracy theories, or your friend from high-school who’s, like, totally in touch with the spirit world, or certain fringe contingencies of our current political landscape are coming from, check out The Believing Brain: From Ghosts to Gods to Politics and Conspiracies – How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them As Truths by evangelical-Christian-turned-professional-skeptic Michael Shermer.
- If you want to know what’s lurking in the unconscious parts of your mind, check out Incognito: The Secret Lives of Brains by neuroscientist David Eagleman.
- If you believe people are really, essentially good and want some science to back you up, check out Braintrust: What Neuroscience Tells Us About Morality by “neurophilosopher” Patricia Churchland.
