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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
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Psych summary
Paul Bloom
The Story of the Human Mind
17 mins
Table of Contents
Psych
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Key idea 1 of 5
Psychology aims to answer what neuroscience doesn’t
Imagine your car needs maintenance, or worse, it breaks down. Would you call a physicist or a mechanic?
That scenario is one way Bloom addresses the relationship between neuroscience and psychology. Just as physics explains what a car is made up of and the laws of that matter, neuroscience gives similar answers about the brain. And just as mechanics know how the parts and systems of a car should work together to move you smoothly down the road, psychologists go the extra mile by studying thought and behavior.
Throughout history, long before neuroscience developed into what it is today, people debated which part of our bodies impacted our feelings and actions. Now we have maps that show what each part of the brain controls – everything from basic motor functions to sensory and emotional experiences. Many studies confirm this, including cases where trauma to specific parts of the brain impacts corresponding parts of the body and abilities like speech.
Even so, neuroscience stops short of truly addressing how or why these things correspond – what philosopher David Chalmers termed “the hard problem” of consciousness.
Today, examining consciousness is central to modern psychological study when in the not-so-distant past it stayed relegated to the world of philosophers. Why the shift? Well, in a field with so many unanswered questions, our awareness is the only certainty. It also frames our moral decisions, like whether to chop down a tree. If you were suddenly aware the tree could feel pain, would you still cut it down? And then, our consciousness about our own experience creates a benchmark for comparing ourselves to others.
So, what gives us this awareness? Did we arrive at birth as an empty canvas? Or did we already have a concept sketched, ready for our life to fill in the strokes of color? Let’s find out.
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What is Psych about?
Psych (2023) offers an informed, insightful, and approachable overview of psychology, starting with its origins and earliest thought leaders to the most recent findings in modern practice. Based on the author’s popular Introduction to Psychology course developed for Yale University, it uses lively storytelling and studies to easily relate the complex science of the human mind.
Who should read Psych?
- Anyone interested in the principles of psychology
- People seeking scientific explanations for what drives thought and behavior
- Those eager to learn how people’s minds differ
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