Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain

What are the motifs in Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain by David Eagleman?

Asked by
Last updated by Cat
1 Answers
Log in to answer

The damages brain is a recurring idea in the book. In chapter six, Eagleman writes, "The bottom line of the argument is that criminals should always be treated as incapable of having acted otherwise. The criminal activity itself should be taken as evidence of brain abnormality, regardless of whether currently measurable problems can be pinpointed." (p. 177). He arrives at this conclusion after having shown that there is a gap between the conscious and unconscious minds that we as individuals are not able to bridge. We cannot trust our senses to accurately represent the outside world, and we cannot trust that we understand ourselves what motivates us to behave in certain ways.