Smarter: The New Science of Building Brain Power Author: Dan Hurley | Language: English | ISBN:
B00F3KXN4M | Format: EPUB
Smarter: The New Science of Building Brain Power Description
Can you make yourself, your kids, and your parents smarter?
Expanding upon one of the most-read
New York Times Magazine features of 2012,
Smarter penetrates the hot new field of intelligence research to reveal what researchers call a revolution in human intellectual abilities. Shattering decades of dogma, scientists began publishing studies in 2008 showing that “fluid intelligence”—the ability to learn, solve novel problems, and get to the heart of things—can be increased through training.
But is it all just hype? With vivid stories of lives transformed, science journalist Dan Hurley delivers practical findings for people of every age and ability. Along the way, he narrates with acidtongued wit his experiences as a human guinea pig, road-testing commercial brain-training programs, learning to play the Renaissance lute, getting physically fit, even undergoing transcranial directcurrent stimulation.
Smarter speaks to the audience that made bestsellers out of
Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain and
Moonwalking with Einstein.- File Size: 856 KB
- Print Length: 305 pages
- Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1594631271
- Publisher: Hudson Street Press (December 26, 2013)
- Sold by: Penguin Group (USA) LLC
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00F3KXN4M
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray:
- Lending: Not Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,208 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #7
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Self-Help > Memory Improvement - #17
in Books > Self-Help > Memory Improvement - #18
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Professional & Technical > Medical eBooks > Internal Medicine > Neurology > Neuroscience
- #7
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Self-Help > Memory Improvement - #17
in Books > Self-Help > Memory Improvement - #18
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Professional & Technical > Medical eBooks > Internal Medicine > Neurology > Neuroscience
*A full summary of this book is available here: An Executive Summary of Dan Hurley's 'Smarter: The New Science of Building Brain Power'
The main argument: The idea that we can boost our brain power through interventions of various kinds has been around a long time. Over the years, numerous drugs, diets and other practices (including everything from physical exercise to learning a new language or musical instrument to meditation to even zapping the brain with electrodes) have been purported to pump up our mental strength. And lately, a new practice has been added to this list: brain-training games and exercises. Indeed, in the past decade a whole new industry has emerged around brain-training programs. Built on the premise that specific types of mental activities can strengthen our cognitive skills and add to general intelligence, companies such as Lumosity and LearningRx have convinced millions of paying customers that their product will give them an edge in the brains department.
The more skeptical among us, however, may find ourselves wondering just what is the scientific basis behind all these brain games and other interventions. It was just this thought that occurred to science writer Dan Hurley; and so, following his skeptical sense, Hurley decided to investigate the matter for himself. What Hurley found was a scientific field that, though young, is bustling with activity (and controversy).
The new science of building brain power may be said to have truly kicked off in 2002.
With rare exception, the best works of non-fiction provide a journey of discovery for their reader and that is certainly true of this one, together with the significant value-added benefit that those who read it accompany Dan Hurley on his own journey of discovery as he attempts to determine whether or not he or anyone else is smart enough to make himself smarter. As he explains, he met with more than 200 eminent scientists and other experts on brain training and road-tested many of the methods on himself. He was his own guinea pig while learning to play the Renaissance lute, joining an intense "boot camp" mental exercise class, attempting mindfulness meditation, and even undergoing transcranial direct-current stimulation ("Jumper Cables for the Mind"). He shares what he learned in this book.
For example:
o Although results vary between and among those who receive mental training, it really can help almost anyone to become smarter.
o Some of these programs are more scientific than others in terms of design, instruction, and measurement.
o Becoming smarter does not necessarily mean becoming wiser.
o Mental training as a science is less than ten years old, in its infancy, and so much more needs to be learned about how it can help make people smarter about becoming smarter.
o One of the most valuable -- and most exciting -- areas of research to explore consists of ways to train certain functions for those who belief in plasticity, "which is really indisputable at this point."
When reflecting back on his journey of discovery, Dan Hurley observes, "If intelligence is calculated by what we do, you hold in your hands the single best measure of mine. My days of training were filled purposeful, challenging tasks of all kinds...
Smarter: The New Science of Building Brain Power Preview
Link
Please Wait...