The mind is the most complex entity that we know of in the know universe, it would be bit hubris to overestimate our understanding of its full functionality. Leonard Mlodinow provides many interesting examples of the faults in our conscious thinking that directly relates to the unconscious decision making process that blind us to the facts of reality. An interesting sideline to this book is that Leonard Mlodinow co-authored books with both Deepak Chopra as well as Stephan Hawking. I'm going to go out on a thin limb of a very small branch and say that Deepak Chopra work is predisposed to subconscious science, where as Stephan Hawking work is more focused on conscious realms of science.

One of the best science books I've read. Mlodinow gives an outstanding recap of neuroscience and how we've come to know what we know about the unconscious mind. The author has an engaging writing style that makes something that could be dry very exciting. The book is full of experiments for readers to do that illustrate the topics being discussed. Mlodinow is a gifted writer who can bridge academia and the general public very successfully.

First, I'd just like to say how well written this book is. Mlodinow has done a wonderful job explaining these concepts in fun and informative ways. I found myself drawn into the book; I just wanted to keep on reading! Now to the content: it's good. Mlodinow explores how conscious thought is the tip of the iceberg, and how unconscious processes within the brain actually effect the decisions we make. Citing research and experiments, Mlodinow makes the case that what we thought was the reason we made a decision is, in fact, merely an illusion conjured up by our minds. He's not saying all our decisions are due to unconscious processes, but our biases and intuitive reasoning gets the best of us, even though we aren't aware of it. One particular favorite of mine was given in Chapter 2, "Senses Plus Mind Equals Reality." In this chapter, Mlodinow describes a patient, named TN, that had severe damage to the visual center of his brain. He was completely blind. TN had no conscious vision and could not see objects. What was fascinating was that researchers discovered that he could maneuver through a room full of obstacles without any help. Why? He'd been able to walk across a room without bumping into anything. What was the deal? Even though his conscious experience of sight was completely gone, his eyes still registered objects and sent that information to many parts of the brain. Even though TN's visual center was completely damaged, there were other centers in his brain that we registering what his eyes were seeing and making decisions based on that! Whether your new to the developments of neuroscience or an expert, you'll gain a thing or two from "Subliminal." Not only will you look at yourself differently, you'll be able to make better decisions and actually get an understanding of how other people make decisions.