Mystery: A Seduction,A Strategy, A Solution - Jonah Lehrer
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Microhistory
Rating: 9/10
Our hunger for mysteries can be evidenced in behavior reaching back to our toddler years. As children were we not most interested in the toy that was unopened? Once the wrap was torn off and the box cast aside, our interest would immediately begin to wane. We have always longed to have our expectations subverted.
This standout book provides a deconstructed exploration of why puzzlement is integral for the mind. Illustrating key principles through examples set by artists, athletes, musicians, writers, magicians, salesmen, and geniuses.
Pursuing explanations of the things that confound us; one hit wonders, sport statistics and predications, the misleading threads laid down in novels, the art forgery’s, the cracking of cyphers, the feint and flourish of a magical illusion. The author tackles them all with a nerdish brilliance that left me longing for more.
It’s believed that the best thinkers are so not because of what they know but because they understand what it is that they don’t. Curiosity should be chronic and cultivated. Our brains only barely skim the resources available to them, but if we encourage it to seek out answers not immediately accessible, its capacity for knowledge is limitless.
A few fun tidbits from the book…there are so many more!
While Spielberg was filming Jaws, nicknamed Flaws due to the never-ending challenges of the mechanics of the beast, he discovered that audiences where most afraid of what they can’t see…rewatch the movie and you’ll remember!
Slots are an example of a mystery that eludes us, one that is in fact unsolvable. They offer the seduction of a huge potential jackpot juxtaposed against billions of other likely outcomes. A physical manifestation of the mystery where players insert coins chasing the slim odds.
The literary brain is primed to be a better thinker. Carefully chosen books ensure deep engagement in unknown stories of people and places. Tapping into those aforementioned unused resources!
Book Pairing(s): Paperbacks From Hell by Grady Hendrix, Mythos by Stephen Fry, Girly Drinks: A History Of Women & Alcohol by Mallory O’Meara
