Back in college I, like so many students, took an introductory psychology course.  Unlike most students, however, I still remember exactly what the professor said first in the first lecture of that course.  He said:

“Psychology is unique amongst the sciences for one particular reason.  That which we strive to comprehend - the brain, and that which we use to comprehend it - the brain, are of equal complexity.”

Perhaps to other students this revelation was less insightful or more stupefying or perhaps I was the only one in the hall insufficiently hungover to have failed to grasp what was said, but regardless of the reason, this simple opening statement made an indelible impression upon my brain such that two decades later I can conjure up in my minds eye nearly every detail imaginable about this moment in time.  I may never know why those words said at that precise moment had such an impact on me, but for the first time I have a clearer idea of what was happening in my head to make such a recollection possible.

That is the beauty of John Medina’s Brain Rules, a work of such scope and clarity that I believe you’ll feel, as I do now, that for the first time ever I’ve had a glimpse into the inner workings of my own mind and gained a new level of understanding for much of what is happening inside my thick skull.  Even for those of us that don’t have a science background this work is exceptionally accessible.  Medina brushes aside the typically incomprehensible words and the dozens of insider acronyms common to the language of neurologists, molecular biologists and other learned individuals with lots of letters after their names.  Medina synthesizes the jargon and the science and brings it down to a level where it is understandable to the layman.  More importantly, from this information he distills  practical concepts that can be put to use to help us maximize our individual intellectual capabilities.

To say I enjoyed this book is to put it mildly.  The truth is that I lost all feeling in both feet I was so wrapped up in reading I didn’t notice that the way I was seated was cutting off the circulation to my lower extremities for the better part of 200 pages!  (which I am certain will form an indelible memory of its own)

Tags: Cognitive Science, Getting Things Done, Health, Oliver Starr, Psychology of GTD, Recommended Reading, Reviews //