2 comments about Rewriting the Soul.

1. Hacking asks, "Is it real?" He referred to the epidemic nature of multiplicity. He wrote that at one time multiplicity was considered rare. Hacking asks, "What happened? What is it? And, what is the answer?" He considered that multiplicity could be a fabrication between doctor and patient or as a social circumstance. He suggests that an intervention should be made and concluded that the situation demand professional caution. He sites the organizational work done by, "the False Memory Syndrome Foundation, but he claimed to be neutral.

   Hacking seems to be part of a movement that believes that "... emphasis on personalities is wrongheaded." He writes that multiplicity is a failure to integrate. He quotes Spiegel (1993) as saying, "The problem is not having more than one personality; it is having less than one personality." Hacking further writes a comparison of multiplicity to Alice (in Wonderland). "For this curious child was very fond of pretending to be two people. `But it's no use now,' thought poor Alice, `to pretend to be two people! Why, there is hardly enough of me left to make one respectable person!"

   Yesterday, I pulled from my shelves the first book I found on multiplicity. I wanted to write the first item in THE CATALOG. I skimmed through the first chapter. And, I felt anger and betrayal. This author's thinking horrified me. I don't have the ability to remember what I have or have not read or who is who, but I'd fallen under the wrong assumption that I have bought only "good books." So-be-it. This remains the first entry. We hope to offer "some" objectivity.

   We will be checking out the other books on our shelves before going much further. We find it hard to remember, but we do know what allows feeling good or bad. We're not less than one!

   Kate (Aynetal System)
   KathrynCoreyCenter.com




2. Ian Hacking is a brilliant thinker and an elegant writer. I read this book after one of my husband's friends suggested it. He said it was the best book he can ever remember reading (like me, he prefers to read good nonfiction).
   After reading the book (during which I couldn't help marking particularly good passages because I knew I'd want to reread them), I have found myself refering to this book frequently in my own writing (I'm an academic) and conversation with my students. I must agree with my husband's friend: this is certainly one of the best books I've read.
   If you enjoy smart analysis of contemporary culture and the frailties of sciences claiming to map the human mind, you will really enjoy this book. If you are a deep believer in the pure and virtuous authority of psychology, you will feel disturbed.

No comments about The Anatomy of Memory: An Anthology.

5 comments about The Better Brain Book.

1. Knowing Dr. Perlmutter and his wife, personally, I can say they practice what he preaches. (By the way, she is brilliant, as well.) I have followed one or both of them around in natural food markets for years, and I am wiser and healthier for doing so. They each have a wonderful sense of humor, and are two of the most down-to-earth and polite people on earth. Their two beautiful (and handsome) children are poster teens for perfect health. And the best yet? They unconditionally LOVE one another.



2. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in keeping their brain healthy for many years to come!



3. Here's one of the few board certified neurologists who will tell you he thinks cell phones and other electromagnetic fields are very likely bad for your brain. Too many others buy into the official pronouncements, and accept that it's OK to keep using your cell phone until the proof of harm is overwhelming.



4. So glad I came accross this book.
   So easy to read and absorb the helpful information this book is full of cover to cover! :)



5. Dr. Perlmutter is a board-certified neurologist and yet he writes in language we can all understand. If you really follow what he says, it works! And it is not a difficult plan to implement. So get the book, don't let it sit around and get dusty, read it, do it! "Try it, you'll like it!"

No comments about The Brain Trust Program: A Scientifically Based Three-Part Plan to Improve Memory, Elevate Mood, EnhanceAttention, Alleviate Migraine and Menopausal Symptoms, and Boost Mental.

2 comments about The Great Memory Book.

1. Almost nothing can unsettle an aging baby boomer so much as the question, "Don't you remember? We discussed this last night." We did? "The Great Memory Book" is a wonderfully expressed, beautifully put-together primer on how memory works--and sometimes doesn't, and why. Everything's here: memory types and oddities, memory strategies, and the role of lifestyle on memory. There are journal exercises and brain games (great fun to do with the person who asked the foregoing annoying question), and fascinating case studies of extraordinary memory "experiences." This is an excellent interactive book; well-researched and written, informative and, in the end, ultimately reassuring to this reader, whose informed response to her questioner was, "If information is not deemed meaningful, it will not be stored in long-term memory."



2. This is one of the best introductions to understanding memory today. It is comprehensive in coverage, interesting, practical and informative. You get an easy digest of current brain studies on different kinds of memory, the relevance of diet and nutrients, the influence of lifestyle, stress and pollution. Two chapters are devoted to mnemonics and there are numerous tips and strategies for improving memory. The format of the book with numerous pictures and sketches is very helpful. Once you master the foundation and the interest is aroused, people can go on to delve more deeply into related areas, such as the more recent books by Rupert Sheldrake, or the applications of NLP (Neuro-linguistic Programming), esp. the submodalities, in enhancing meaning-making, learning and memory... I highly recommend this book and Jensen's Brain-based Learning to anyone interested in tapping into the treasures of "the decade of the brain".

1 comments about Develop a Powerful Memory.

1. I enjoy turning this tape on before I go to bed each night. I feel like it's helping me with my concentration. The voice is pleasant to listen to, and is not too much of a droan. I am not sure that my memory has increased at all; but it does boost your self confidence in your ability to retain new info. B.

5 comments about The Memory Prescription: Dr. Gary Small's 14-Day Plan to Keep Your Brain and Body Young.

1. I've read somewhere that there are more than one hundred billion
   neurons in the human brain, and that they all can communicate with each other via one or more linkages. For any of you who feel like your brain isn't linking up lately, try reading "The Memory Prescription" by Dr.
   Gary Small. After following the Doctor's prescription closely to the
   letter for a couple of weeks (okay, my diet strayed a little) and doing
   all his recommended exercises, I can honestly say I'm pretty impresssed
   with the results. I can't promise you that every neuron of the one
   hundred billion in your brain will be positively effected after reading
   this book. But I can promise you that your memory, as mine did, will
   undoubtedly improve."
   "Neuron" info from "Mozart's Brain and the Fighter Pilot" by Richard
   Restak, which I also recommend.



2. As you can see by the title, Dr. Small, Director of the UCLA Center on Aging, has developed a program of diet and exercise that he says will improve your memory significantly in a program as short as 14 days.
   
   The exercises he prescribes include both physical and mental exercises. The physical are minimal, low impact, exercises that lead you to believe that this is intended for a somewhat older audience. The mental exercises are not unlike those on I.Q. tests where you do problems in math, complete sequences, and so on.
   
   As you might expect, these exercises are intended to be maintained on a regular basis for the rest of your life, or at least as long as you want to remember things and keep your body alive.
   
   As a doctor, he can't resist talking about the drugs that are available to assist the aging population. Some of these are more in the area of diet supplements, some are prescription only.
   
   All in all, this is not unlike the programs advocated by many physicians, just a bit more about mental agility than most. It's a new book, and the information relating to the latest studies of the brain and the newest drugs is here.



3. How can brain function be improved to contribute to improved memory? Dr. Gary Small provides a surprisingly simple 14-day plan to keep memory alive in The Memory Prescription: Dr. Gary Small's 14-Day Plan To Keep Your Brain And Body Young. Try the questionnaire which helps you rate memory function, or try some of the mental exercises. There's plenty of room for changing and customizing Dr. Small's plan -- an important key to improving individual needs.



4. My mom has been having problems with her memory and her brilliant neurologist recommended this book. The book has been extremely helpful to my mom! It is a must-have for anyone with memory problems!



5. I stopped reading the book after chapter 10 "drugs and supplements". Apparently the author has NO real understanding and NO clue how to improve the memory. He has read the research paper for sure but didn't NOT UNDERSTAND the meaning behind it. For example, he's promoting statin drugs for enhancing memory. OMG! we all know that statins deplete coQ10 level in your brain, as well as ALL steroid hormones/oil-soluble vitamins in your body! Every cell membrane in your body contains cholesterol, esp. BRAIN CELL! By depressing cholesterol , coQ10, vitE production, you're killing your brain. Ironically, he also listed coQ10 in his book as memory enhancer.
   If you want to know which supplements can enhance your memory, I recommend Your Miracle Brain by Jean Carper. If you want to learn the technique in terms of how to memorize information, I recommend Quantum Memory Power: Learn to Improve Your Memory with the World Memory Champion! [AUDIOBOOK] [UNABRIDGED] (Audio CD) by Dominic O'Brien.
   Stay away from the drugs! My regimen: PS 100mg/d, R-type alpha lipoic acid 100mg/bid, acetyl-L-Carnitine 500mg/bid, fish oil, 1 table spoon/d, B12 sublingual 1000mcg/d, B complex once/d, VitC 1.5 g/d, grape seed/skin exract: 60mg/tid. If you're older and have low energy, take American ginseng and royal jelly. also, exercise, exercise, exercise...

5 comments about Secrets of Power Persuasion: Everything You'll Ever Need to Get Anything You'll Ever Want.

1. Some of the topics in this book are just common-sense, some have been widely covered elsewhere and at much greater length (e.g. Cialdini's books on Influence), but all in all this is a lovely selection of the principles of persuasion and some case stories are very entertaining to read.
   
   This book is information-rich, but there is still more you may want to learn to enhance your persuasive skills, such as Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Hypnotic Language Patterns.



2. Wow. That's all I have to say. I'm halfway through this book, looking to finish it today (lol dreaming to), and I'm absolutely amazed. I have a hobby of studying books on psychology and sociology, and I've came across some good ones and some absolute rip-offs. Some of the bad ones go over some persuasion techniques that are very cliche and you have probably already heard of, and also don't offer much in the realm of content. In this book, however, every page has something to offer, and and it's all unique. What I expected out of this book was either a complete rip-off or that only a small bit of it would be useful, but I was very surprised at how satisfied I was with it. Among all the techniques in there I've found a lot that can be used in every day life, and I can actually imagine them working. It explains a lot about persuasion techniques you've came across but didn't recognize as such, and opens your eyes to an entirely new world of persuasion altogether. I'm actually planning on reading this book two or three times, and I think after that I might actually be a better persuader than I was before I bought it. All in all, this book is very professional and offers tons and tons of content. The authors life, which he uses ocassionally for examples in his techniques, shows how amazingly successful he is without it seeming like he's bragging. He has rented yaghts, probably went to every country in the world, has hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars, climbs mountains, crazy. Anyway, if you're into persusasion I highly recommend this book. You will not be disappointed.



3. You can't go wrong with ANY of his book. Don't look further, don't settle for less.
   Unbelievable thing has happened to me -- I followed the advise in the book and received the promotion I wanted. Funny thing is that Roger warned that this method DOES work, and I didn't think it would work, but decided to give it a try.
   Have YOU ever dreamt of getting a promotion shortly after starting a new job ??? I haven't, but it happened to me.
   Thank you Mr. Dawson!!!!!!!



4. I've liked Dawson for a long time. I've read and studied his books and tapes on negotiation for years. While not all of his methods work with my personality, his advice has been of real value to me.
   
   I have the audio version of this book. It's very good. The information is valuable and I expect I'll listen to it frequently. You always pick up something new in his material.
   
   Persuasion is necessary in almost all of life, especially sales and business. This book will go a long way in helping you to become better at persuading people to your way of thinking.
   
   Highly recommended.



5. I wasn't expecting much because I didn't seek out this
   book... it just sort of appeared in my life.
   
   I've read many books about persuasion and persuasive writing
   and this is a good one. Dawson's style is easygoing and
   straightforward.
   
   of course if you are more persuaded by individuals with
   academic credentials you'll want to read Hogan and Cialdini,
   both of whom proudly display their PHDs.
   
   Dawson, the guy is a salesman who made good and went into
   speaking. No time for a PHD. Working class.
   
   Part 3 focuses on charisma and how to develop it. Why
   ignore that people buy from people they like? You can
   practice all the sly persuasion wordplay you want and get
   very Machiavellian, but in truth just working on
   your charisma is a short-cut to getting what you want.
   
   Excellent book. Not mysterious or high-falutin' or
   "academically verified" at all. Not NLP. Not Hypnotic
   selling. This book makes sense. I like it.

5 comments about Superlearning 2000: New Triple Fast Ways You Can Learn, Earn, and Succeed in the 21st Century.

1. Before reading this review I will give you some idea of my background so you can judge my review on the basis of my experience. I am a multilingual language teacher and writer with a keen interest in accelerated learning techniques, and have been such for several years. I first became interested in Superlearning several years ago as a possible method for increaing both my own language learning rate, which is considerable, and that of my students. Superleaning looked like something really new and innovative, and, having read the original Superlearning book, I decided to buy several Superlearning products from their website, including the audio course, special learning cassettes and a language course produced by the authors and based on the exact procedures laid out in their books. I wanted to be sure I was doing it properly. I also wish to point out that the products are not cheap by any means, well, not in price anyway. In terms of quality of the materials, recording and presentatiom, I have never encountered anything so cheap and shoddy!

   Five years later, and after even more extensive research and experimentation with the system, both personally and in my classes, I can only say that almost all of this system is a sham. It doesn't work. I used a language course produce by them, and found no benefit whatsoever in it. The only benefit I got was to use the course, which I would also like to point out is nothing more than 3 tapes and a very thin and cheaply produced pamphlet of words and phrases and, on occasion the recording did not match the transcript, was to use the tapes without the highly distracting breathing exercises and do it the old-fashioned way. I made my own tapes too, as per the instructiosn in the course, which was a vastly time-consuming process, and had the same lack of result as the "professionally" produced languages tapes by the authors themselves!

   There is no doubt that proper relaxation, relaxed breathing, positive suggestions and classical music can have varying degrees of benefit on the students, but the method you will find in ALL the books and programmes produced by Superlearning leaves a great deal to be desired!

   I was interested by another reviewer's reference to a researcher from Monash univerity and her work into Lozanov and Superlearning. As I don't think a text link is allowed ina review, you might like to do a web search for "The personal website of Uschi Felix" at Monash University for a lot more information about Superleaning and the validity of some of the claims made before you are tempted to part with your hard earned and get a disappointment.

   Having tried to contact Superlearning with questions and complaints, I can only attribute the lack of service and, indeed, acknowledgement I encountered to the fact that they must get a lot of commenst from some very dissatisfied people! I urge you not to buy into this scam. You are being taken for a ride.

   To those reviewers who are getting so excited by the promises in the Superlearning products, all I can say is try it and see. Remember - I was just like you a few years ago!




2. I decided to pick up this book for the second time. I had
   earmarked so many pages in it the first time a year ago.
   The amount of great information in this book is amazing! Most people will find something in it to improve
   some aspect of their life. This is one of those books that's
   hard to put down. Buy it and begin a whole new process of learning. You'll be glad you did...



3. I read this book when it was first published, and was inspired to try the techniques. I have returned to it many times since then for further inspiration. It is really sad to read reviews declaring that Superlearning is a scam; I would suggest that any tool - and Superlearning is surely no more than a tool - is only as good as the person using it. Or perhaps only as good as their expectations - and their intentions. For myself, I have used the techniques to radically change the way young students learn - students who in fact, had been described as having significant "learning difficulties." They gleefully proved the pessimism wrong. As a mature university student, I tried the techniques on myself, and achieved very real success - in the 90 percentile for a linguistics paper, for example, on one third of the usual study time.
   The book needs to be read with an open mind - and the techniques approached with no preconceptions. By all means be analytical - but that means analysing ALL possible reasons for any lack of success; it is so easy to unwittingly introduce variables. My vote is for Superlearning as a significantly empowering technique.
   



4. You might like this book if your obsessed with this topic or your totally new to it. I would have to say that these ideas do work, but little is actually offered for the size of the book. For me this was very basic and boring. If your a successful learner you probably already do or at least know the general ideas here. If your having trouble learning or concentrating this could be of use but there's nothing in particular that would make me recommend it. I'm sure you can find a more exciting learning course, but if not it will work in a pinch.



5. A must for anyone who wants to learn how to run their brain efficiently.

5 comments about The Wisdom Paradox: How Your Mind Can Grow Stronger As Your Brain Grows Older.

1. This is the book that got me interested, once again, in neuropsychology and neuroanatomy. Yes, the immediate interest is that business of not wanting "to go gently into that good night." as Dylan Thomas wrote. How much will cognitive delcine affect me as I age (something we are all doing since birth - it isn't only the old who are aging).
   
   I think Goldberg, motivated by his own need to "rage, rage against the dying of the light," used his enormous knowledge of neuropsychology to create a work that should benefit all who want to know what their chances are (or of relatives/friends) of continuing to lead a useful life despite the inevitable (and many) ways we decline in capacity as we age.
   
   This book is not necessarily an easy read for a generation used to soundbites, e-mail abreviations, evening news pseudo-profundity, or dumbed-down magazine articles. One has to realize that neurology is the subject medical students fear most. And with good reason. The human brain has been described as the most complex thing we know of. Somehow, in a way not yet fully understood, consciousness emerges from the healthy, mature human brain to give us (finally in human evolution) the ability to study effectively with recent functional brain scanning techniques the very organ system that allows us to smell a perfume and recall a long ago romance, to see a face in the crowd and recognize someone we have not seen for ten years (or fifty years), to freeze with terror as the amygdala (as close as we can come to Freud's Id) brings to mind a terrible incident from childhood, to meditate and find a place of peace where some of our systems shut down like that scene in the film "2001" in which HAL, the space ship's computer, gets his memory modules unpluged after trying to kill the crew.
   
   Frankly, I liked Goldberg's making the book not a text, but a personal exploration. Textbooks are the most boring article ever devised by the human mind - but necessary until in some new century slouching up towards Jerusalem we get microchip implants that make us into Borgs, don't snicker, people are having chips placed subdermal just so they can wave their arm at a door and have it open. Think how willing people will be score of years hence to suffer the implant of cerebral devices that give us many terabytes of updatable data storage or like "The Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy" Marvin, the robot with a brain the size of a planet, unlimited intelligence. What Faustian deals will we make in centuries to come?
   
   Get out your magic marker and color all those amazing bits of research and speculation about how our brains age. His theory is that we will get by nicely, thank you very much, on the sheer acumulation of left brain (that's not your creative side, sorry) routines which will enable us to be useful on the job and not too dull in our personal lives. This is despite the loss of some brain capacity (literally, the brain shrinks), memory loss, lessened creativity and such. It helps to have been bright and active using the brain in one's occupation.
   
   However, we still don't know definitively what causes Alzheimer's disease or many other serious forms of cognitive decline. The good news is that we have a better chance than not of living our life to the full without disabling mental decline. It is not a 'neuropsychology for dummies' work. It is not well illustrated - see my review of Rita Carter's "Mapping the Mind" which is - but one keens at Goldberg's expertise in his field (he specializes in the frontal lobes, which, incidentally, is where the part of the mind that seems to be YOU is located - maybe).
   
   With all the babyboomers coming along worried about their senior years, I see a bright future for this book - and many others like it. There are just so many more answers to those questions the artist asked: D'ou venons nous? Que sommes nous? Ou allons nous? (Gaugauin, MFA Boston). Goldberg is one of many helping us to understand the latest discoveries and theories in this field. He has some of his own; he's more in favor of the 'distributed processing' theory of brain function, not the highly modular view which has held sway for decades. Incidentally, recent research has shown that the Broca's area and Werneicke's area are less fixed and immutable than formerly thought.
   
   I recommend this book.



2. Elkhonon Goldberg brings to fore many insights about the brain, but the overriding theme of the book is that as we age our brain shifts focus from a right-hemisphere dominated approach to a left-hemisphere dominated approach. New evidence has generally shown that, contrary to older studies, the right hemisphere is used to 'learn new things' and the left hemisphere is used for pattern recognition. As we age, we shift our brain dominance from right to left. Goldberg explains how we can take advantage of our awareness of this shift. (For example: keep our brain active so it doesn't atrophy -- especially the right hemisphere.)
   
   Just as our brain shifts focus, this book shifts focus as we read along, too. The first part of the book is generally fact and hypothesis based. Goldberg explains his theories interlaced with personal narrative. The book then shifts focus to what we can do to maintain our cognitive abilities as we age. Goldberg outlines cognitive exercises we can do to keep our brain sharp. This chapter comes immediately following a chapter summarizing recent research proposing that humans grow neurons their entire life -- how many we grow and where they migrate to is up to us (in theory).
   
   This is a positive book, bringing hope and some scientific rigor to those older folk interested in the life-cycle of their brain. Goldberg comes across as a competent scientist and, at over 50, still hasn't lost his writing ability. (If you read the book you'll learn, from a technical point of view, why this isn't so surprising. Hint: writing is a mostly left-hemisphere activity.)



3. I came across this book after I read Joe DeLoux's Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are, and it proved to be an enjoyable read. Elkhonon Goldberg has written quite complex information into a very comprehensible direction for the reader in his "The Wisdom Paradox."
   
   There are fifteen chapters in this book, with an addition of an epilogue. With each chapter, it is more like a personal journey than a simple or dry work. It is both personal and informative.
   
   I personally like this book because it adds to my understanding of neuropsychology and neurobiology as it would be a good resourceful book. After reading this book, I find myself feeling compelled to exercise my mind and get those synapse of mine firing. My current skills are limited and useless. However, I can increase my skills by doing what I never done before. Knowledge is indeed unlimited and so is our brain power.
   
   In my opinion, I recommend this book.



4. I recommend that you read the Scientific American review that you can find above. It contains just about everything this book has to offer. The ideas about brain hemispheres are interesting, but you won't learn much more by reading the 300+ pages.
   The Wisdom Paradox has a very promising premise and the topic is very important and the author has a mighty pedigree, but still the book leaves you emptyhanded. The most infuriating part is the last chapter that describes a program for cognitive fitness, i.e. a way of enhancing your brain power. And that's it: a description! Nothing else. The author doesn't give the reader a single exercise, but he just pats himself on the back for inventing such a wonderful program.
   You won't become any wiser from this book.



5. Coming from someone who studied with Luria, the results were expected to be very high.
   
   The most important part is the clear and interesting explanation about how the brain changes the learning process as time goes by.
   
   There are some corollaries that could be extracted from that. For instance, people with different ages could be better fitted for specific tasks than other people and why.
   
   Other important consequence should be the fact that our learning style during maturity is going to depend strongly on our learning style in earlier times.
   
   This part, that could be extremely interesting, is underdeveloped. It seeems that the author tries to give an optimistic view about the aging process forgetting the drawbacks of this same process...for instance, older people do not fit in task requiring an extensive use of short-term memory.
   
   The book is very good but the objective of showing the "nice face" of aging process could be near to the "self-help" literacy and that can be the worst part.