“Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain”, by David Eagleman is a bestselling non-fiction book that divulges into questions we have always wondered. Throughout the book, the main question we explore is that considering we only have access to a very little portion to the brain, which we consider our conscious mind, what does the rest do? Eagleman answered this question in an understandable and mind-blowing way that made reading this book a wondrous experience. We always thought that our consciousness was what was really running the show, but through this book we realize that that could not be even more wrong. The rest of our brain that we cannot gain access too is what is really doing all the work. So many interesting points are made in this …show more content…
One of them states that our brains could be modeled as a “team of rivals”. What he means by this is that they are many different parts of the brain that have opposing behaviors. An example he explained was the inner dilemma someone faces when offered a treat. Our unconscious mind may be telling us to not eat the treat because we know how it could affect our health, but the conscious mind is what makes the final call. Another big point that is made in this book is that there is no such thing as “free will”. He provides an example of a young man, Charles Whitman, who shot forty-six people at the University of Texas campus. Police killed him, but autopsy’s showed that he had a small brain tumor that impacted the amygdala, which regulates emotions like fear and aggression. The key point of this book is that what we think and do is not under our conscious control. An example of this is when you notice your name spoken in a conversation across the room you thought you weren't listening to. When getting up to go to the bathroom or making the decision to have eggs for breakfast, is that really us making that decision? We think that we consciously control everything we do, but after reading this book my perception of what I really have control of has altered