Emotional

From the best-selling author of Subliminal, a fascinating exploration of the cutting-edge science of emotion that reveals the surprising, essential role that emotion plays in our rational decision-making process.

The perceived dichotomy between thinking and feeling lies at the heart of our historical pursuits in theology, philosophy, and psychology. But, as Leonard Mlodinow makes clear in this captivating study, extraordinary advances in psychology and neuroscience, including neuroimaging and other related technologies, have cast doubt upon this traditional conception and led to a revolution in the science of emotions. He helps us understand the evolutionary purpose of emotion and the role it plays in our brains. He delves into the discovery that an astonishing variety of animals experience emotion-even creatures as seemingly simple as fruit flies and bees. He takes us inside the labs of pioneering scientists, some of whom have made momentous contributions in neuroscience-and others who have flirted with disaster. And we enter the high-stakes world of finance to see how emotion affects the snap decisions made on the trading room floor. What emerges from Mlodinow's investigations is that we have long fundamentally misunderstood the role of emotions in our lives, and that, contrary to ancient accepted wisdom, emotion is not an obstacle to our human ability to reason, but is rather an integral component of it.