How the Mind Works by Steven Pinker
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
A huge book attempting to demonstrate that the human mind (and pretty much all humans know as reality) is the product of evolution and does not involve any kind of intelligent design or purposeful sequence of events.
PROS
If you want a really comprehensive book on the nature of the human mind, look no further! This book really takes the time to explore different aspects of this area of study. Each one of the chapters can easily be considered a book on its own, exploring topics as diverse as kinship, vision, arts and even music. After finishing it, you will certainly feel you have learned some things you did not know; or even better, you will feel that the author has given you a new perspective in different elements of human life and the world. I found his description of relationships between men and women to be as straightforward as it can get, and because of that it was interesting to read; especially because the author has a sense of humor that (although approaching offensive sarcasm too nearly) will give you a smile once in a while during the reading. Lastly, this book is well documented and you will get the feeling that the author is well prepared to deal with the issues he proposes.
CONS
The author has a tendency of offering more examples than necessary to the point that it becomes boring and one almost feels he is just trying to show-off. In fact, any person wanting to read this book should know that the author’s intention is not that of opening dialogue about the nature of human mind, he is not interested in knowing anything about other people’s opinions unless they support his, or serve as a good example of how ridiculous it is to differ with what he is presenting. I found it amazing that for more than 500 pages this man truly attempts to prove that virtually everyone out of his field and posture is wrong. He really has a great mind and the reader will notice it, but after a while the feeling will not be that of having a teacher wanting to teach you something, but that of a scholar who is so embedded in his own thought that could not care less about his students. This literary pride is well manifested in his treatment of the humanities and arts as something of minor importance and a mere exercise that entertains humans who attempt to gain significance. Music, art, and faith, for the author all fall into the futile attempt of humans to think that they are actually significant in any way. As a religious scholar, I particularly found his treatment of Christian faith and Scriptures to be irresponsibly amateurish at best. As I read I could not help but wonder what would the author think if someone out of his field would speak with the same boldness about his areas of expertise.
CONCLUSION
This book is the perfect example of what can be accomplished when a person delves so much into his field of studies that he slowly forgets the need for any other sources of scholarship. The author’s effort and presentation are commendable, indeed this will probably be his “Magnum Opus;” Nevertheless, his lack of sensitivity to the heritage of humanity and his ardent affinity to pure logic (I do not even say science for many of his concepts depend heavily in assumptions that he simply considers to be logical without much ado), lessen the impact of this book dramatically. Indeed if you come from the same school of thought as the author, or if you are easily persuaded, you will take this as one of the greatest books you have ever read; but those of us who do not exude the same trust in our mere intellection and who think they can learn from diverse positions, will soon find this this book to be pretentious and unnecessarily long. If you are really eager to be convinced that all you are and know is nothing more than a random accident of evolution in millions of years, and you have a lot of spare time, then this book is clearly for you.
Human After All 