Iris Berent is a Professor of Psychology at Northeastern University, Boston, and the Director of the Language and Mind Lab. Berent's research has examined how the mind works and how we think it does. She is the author of dozens of groundbreaking scientific publications and the recipient of numerous research grants. Her previous book, The Phonological Mind (Cambridge, 2013), was hailed by Steven Pinker as a "brilliant and fascinating analysis of how we produce and interpret sound."

• Preface Chapter 1: Know Thyself I. What We Know a. Who's afraid of innate ideas?Chapter 2: Innateness Stories b. The rich mental lives of infantsChapter 3: Object and NumberChapter 4: The Social WorldChapter 5: The Dawn of Language c. Our blindness to innate ideas Chapter 6: Nativist intuitionsChapter 7: The tempest is BrewingChapter 8: A Perfect Storm II. Who We Think We Are a. Overview of Part II b. Thoughts and feelingsChapter 9: It's in My BonesChapter 10: My Big heart c. In Health and DiseaseChapter 11: Insane about the BrainChapter 12: Mental DisordersChapter 13: Decoding Dyslexia d. While We're Here and Once We're No MoreChapter 14: After LifeChapter 15: Land of the Free III. Coda Chapter 16: Why it All Matters

Not since William James has an author so clearly articulated the functioning of the human mind. Berent provides a clear and profound study of the ways the human mind gets in the way of knowing its own nature. It does this, she argues, as it is innately equipped with two ways of looking at the world-essentialism and dualism-that together distort our view of reality... An impressive array of scientific evidence is drawn into the text in support of the author's central contention concerning the inherent obliviousness of human nature. A careful read of this book, indeed, could help one discard certain naïve intuitions about one's own thinking and identity that may have made self-knowledge elusive. This title should make the core reading list for all students and researchers of psychology, and may also be welcomed by general readers who want another angle on philosophical issues of perception, the narration of the self, and the nature of emotions.