A fascinating exploration of a primal human emotion, from its neurological basis to its impact on society. Science writer Dozier (Codes of Evolution, not reviewed) examines the evolutionary beginnings of fear and describes what neuroscience has learned about the three interconnected systems in the brain that process it: the primitive fear system, centered in the limbic system; the rational fear system, occupying the frontal lobes of the cerebral cortex; and consciousness itself. The first acts as an alarm, triggering a fight-or-flight response that can lead to panic or violence; when this system misfires, phobias, anxieties, and even psychopathic disorders may result. In one dramatic example, Dozier illustrates the three systems interacting smoothly in a crisis, enabling certain people to behave in such a way as to survive a deadly plane crash. No other species, he claims, feels the fears of human beings or has worked so hard to suppress or control these. Fear of the unknown and fear of death, for example, have together given us religion. Overcoming the fear of fire has transformed human life and led to —civilization.— Dozier ranges widely and illustrates vividly, taking up the origin of such common phobias as fear of snakes, spiders, and heights, the special fears of childhood (the dark, monsters under the bed, etc.), the prominence of fear-related stories in the media, and the pleasures of facing and surmounting fear on, say, a roller coaster. While the neurological discussions of brain anatomy and function occasionally become a trifle technical, Dozier’s anecdotal material about fear is memorable, and his speculations are provocative.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-312-19412-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Dunne/St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1998
While the coming of August is enough to send most psychoanalysts fleeing the needs of their patients for the beach, it appears that not even death can keep the wizened Fromm (On Being Human, 1993, etc.) from dispensing wisdom. Fromm gained renown less for his writings about clinical psychology than for his more contemplative works that fused the insights of psychoanalysis with those of existentialist philosophy to ask—and occasionally answer- -the Big Questions traditionally left to priests, rabbis, and barkeeps. But this posthumous collection focuses on the relationship between analyst and analysand, and its goal is much more modest than that of some of his other books. Fromm is concerned here, it seems, not with building a better world but with building a better shrink.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-8264-0654-8
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Continuum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1994
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A lively and well-written survey, spiced up with incidents from recent headlines.
It isn’t only computers that have memory problems. Just ask anyone over a certain age—or take a look at this entertaining new book.
As the title indicates, Schachter (Psychology/Harvard Univ.) describes seven generic failings to which everyone’s memory is prone. Transience is the loss of details over time; everyone remembers last night’s dinner better than that of a week ago, and that of a year ago is often entirely forgotten. Absentmindedness is the familiar inability to remember where you left your car keys or whether you took your medicine. One of the most frustrating is blocking (the “it’s right on the tip of my tongue”) phenomenon, in which a familiar word or name refuses to emerge from memory (often coming back in the middle of the night). Also common is misattribution, for example crediting Sean Connery for a role played by some other actor. Suggestibility is the tendency to adopt and hold onto false memories suggested by some other outside influence (such as a leading question) or to recall feeling at the time of a past event an emotion only experienced much later. A variety of biases lead us to reconstruct the past to match current beliefs, or to place ourselves at the center of events in which we were minor participants. Finally, there is persistence, the inability to forget even years later some traumatic event such as a rejection or a faux pas. For each of these traits, the author suggests causes as well as potential remedies: gingko biloba for transience, for example. In a summary chapter, Schacter argues that each of these failures is in fact an aspect of some positive trait without which memory would be far less valuable.
A lively and well-written survey, spiced up with incidents from recent headlines.Pub Date: May 7, 2001
ISBN: 0-618-04019-6
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2001
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
