Are we really the masters of our own destiny? Neuroscientist Hannah Critchlow shows how far our future is already hardwired in our brains. Like Sapiens and Thinking Fast and Slow, The Science of Fate revolutionises the way we understand our species and ourselves.
So many of us believe that we are free to shape our own destiny. But what if free will doesn’t exist? What if our lives are largely predetermined, hardwired in our brains – and our choices over what we eat, who we fall in love with, even what we believe are not real choices at all?
Neuroscience is challenging everything we think we know about ourselves, revealing how we make decisions and form our own reality, unaware of the role of our unconscious minds. Did you know, for example, that:
* You can carry anxieties and phobias across generations of your family?
* Your genes and pleasure and reward receptors in your brain will determine how much you eat?
* We can sniff out ideal partners with genes that give our offspring the best chance of survival?
Leading neuroscientist Hannah Critchlow draws vividly from everyday life and other experts in their field to show the extraordinary potential, as well as dangers, which come with being able to predict our likely futures – and looking at how we can alter what’s in store for us.
Lucid, illuminating, awe-inspiring The Science of Fate revolutionises our understanding of who we are – and empowers us to help shape a better future for ourselves and the wider world.
(P)2019 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
So many of us believe that we are free to shape our own destiny. But what if free will doesn’t exist? What if our lives are largely predetermined, hardwired in our brains – and our choices over what we eat, who we fall in love with, even what we believe are not real choices at all?
Neuroscience is challenging everything we think we know about ourselves, revealing how we make decisions and form our own reality, unaware of the role of our unconscious minds. Did you know, for example, that:
* You can carry anxieties and phobias across generations of your family?
* Your genes and pleasure and reward receptors in your brain will determine how much you eat?
* We can sniff out ideal partners with genes that give our offspring the best chance of survival?
Leading neuroscientist Hannah Critchlow draws vividly from everyday life and other experts in their field to show the extraordinary potential, as well as dangers, which come with being able to predict our likely futures – and looking at how we can alter what’s in store for us.
Lucid, illuminating, awe-inspiring The Science of Fate revolutionises our understanding of who we are – and empowers us to help shape a better future for ourselves and the wider world.
(P)2019 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
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Reviews
'A humane and highly readable account of the neuroscience that underpins our ideas of free will and fate'
'A truly fascinating - if unnerving - read'
'It's been the question that has inspired, stultified and petrified humanity across the millennia. What is our fate? From the goddess Nemesis to the theory of free will we've struggled. Until now. Acute, mind-opening, highly accessible - this book doesn't just explain how our lives might pan out, it helps us live better.'