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David DiSalvo – What Makes Your Brain Happy and Why You Should Do the OppositeYears of neuroscience research have led to the current understanding of the brain as a prediction machine. The problem is that our brains’ evolved capacity for avoiding and defending against threats has a slew of by-products, all tightly woven into our day-to-day thinking and behavior, that ensnare us while making our threat-anticipating brains “happy.”Foreword by Wray HerbertAuthor of On Second Thought: Outsmarting Your Mind’s Hardwired HabitsFormer editor in chief of Psychology TodayRegular contributor to Science, Scientific American, and Science NewsWhy do we routinely choose options that don’t meet our short-term needs and undermine our long-term goals? Why do we willingly expose ourselves to temptations that undercut our hard-fought progress to overcome addictions? Why are we prone to assigning meaning to statistically common coincidences? Why do we insist we’re right even when evidence contradicts us?In What Makes Your Brain Happy and Why You Should Do the Opposite, science writer David DiSalvo reveals a remarkable paradox: what your brain wants is frequently not what your brain needs. In fact, much of what makes our brains “happy” leads to errors, biases, and distortions, which make getting out of our own way extremely difficult. DiSalvo’s search includes forays into evolutionary and social psychology, cognitive science, neurology, and even marketing and economics—as well as interviews with many of the top thinkers in psychology and neuroscience today.From this research-based platform, DiSalvo draws out insights that we can use to identify our brains’ foibles and turn our awareness into edifying action. Ultimately, DiSalvo argues, the research does not serve up ready-made answers, but provides us with actionable clues for overcoming the plight of our advanced brains and, consequently, living more fulfilled lives.MORE:http://www.daviddisalvo.org/http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2011/11/29/what-makes-your-b…