The Penguin Podcast is back! Listen Now
The Human Mind

The Human Mind

A Brief Tour of Everything We Know

Summary

Are you a human? Do you have a mind? Then this book is for you: a wonderfully entertaining overview of all of psychology by a world-class expert.

'Like having the mind's complexities untangled by a witty, eloquent and deeply knowledgeable friend' OLIVER BURKEMAN
'Really wonderful, hugely readable' DERREN BROWN
‘This book is a gem’ ROBERT SAPOLSKY

Nothing is more familiar and yet less understood than the human mind. It defines the experience of being human, and yet its workings contain some of the deepest mysteries ever encountered. Written by one of the world's greatest teachers of psychology, The Human Mind provides a masterful and riveting guide to all that we have learned since modern science began probing those mysteries. It will illuminate everything you think and feel, everything you say and do, everything that makes you you.

‘I don't remember the last time I was this excited about a psychology-related book. The Human Mind is everything a reader wants [and] will delight you’ DR SOPHIE MORT (AKA DR SOPH)

‘An up-to-the-minute [and] comprehensive journey through what it means to be human’ New Scientist

Reviews

  • An extraordinary book that absolutely delivers on its sweeping ambitions. Every chapter here - on topics ranging from Freud to the mysteries of consciousness, from intergroup conflict to the meaning of life - feels like having the mind's complexities untangled by a witty, eloquent and deeply knowledgeable friend
    OLIVER BURKEMAN, author of Four Thousand Weeks

About the author

Paul Bloom

Paul Bloom is Professor of Psychology at University of Toronto and the Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Yale University. His research explores the psychology of morality, identity and pleasure. Bloom is the recipient of multiple awards and honours, including most recently the million-dollar Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize. He has written for scientific journals such as Nature and Science, and for the New York Times, New Yorker, Atlantic and Guardian. He is the author or editor of eight books, including Just Babies, How Pleasure Works, Descartes' Baby, Against Empathy and most recently The Sweet Spot.
Learn More

More from this Author

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more