Know Thyself: The Science of Self-Awareness
One of Behavioral Scientist's 10 Notable Books of 2021 -- Antonia Violante, Heather Graci and Evan Nesterak, Behavioral Scientist
"A very interesting book on perhaps the most interesting topic."
-- Sam Harris, Making Sense Podcast
”Know Thyself is riveting… a must read” -- Al Pittampalli, author of Persuadable
"One of the must-reads of 2021.Scientific, philosophical, and practical, it sheds lights on 'metacognition' -- our thoughts about thoughts and the importance of self-awareness to almost anything we embark on." -- Five Books
"Of great interest to the general public, and scientists alike. ... Fleming constructs his arguments fluently and systematically. He builds our understanding of the concepts layer by layer, taking the reader with him at a gentle pace." -- Michael David, Cognitive Neuropsychiatry
"In Know Thyself, cognitive neuroscientist Stephen Fleming synthesizes this multifaceted research into an admirably coherent narrative and outlines how the resulting knowledge may be applied to solve societal problems . . . In the end, the book makes a convincing case that self-awareness is a key feature of human existence and that our growing knowledge about it will be important for addressing many of our societal problems . . . Fleming's book finally heaves metacognition into a long-deserved place in the scientific spotlight." -- Christian C. Ruff, Science
"A rational person must practice what the neuroscientist Stephen Fleming, in 'Know Thyself: The Science of Self-Awareness' (Basic Books), calls 'metacognition, ' or 'the ability to think about our own thinking'--'a fragile, beautiful, and frankly bizarre feature of the human mind.'"
-- Joshua Rothman, The New Yorker
"What a wonderful book. From self-doubt to self-awareness, and everything in between. Steve Fleming, who has made his career study thoughts about thoughts, or metacognition, takes the reader on a journey into what it means to be a being that knows its self, and, as a consequence, can contemplate the self inside others."
-- Joseph LeDoux, author of The Deep History of Ourselves
"Know Thyself is an extraordinary book. Written by a leader in the science of self-awareness, it is both accessible and erudite, a self-help manual and a work of scholarship. It will be a rewarding read for anyone who wants to understand how metacognition (and its failures) affect us in personal and public life - in education, sports, law, politics, and in our ever-deepening engagements with AI." -- Cecilia Heyes, Professor of Psychology at University of Oxford and author of Cognitive Gadgets
"I used to believe that in psychology 'If it's interesting, we can't measure it. And, if we can measure it, it's not interesting'. After reading this book I realize how wrong I was. Nothing is more interesting than exploring our own minds and now there are rigorous new methods to quantify such explorations. Steve Fleming provides a superb guide to these methods, and furthermore, he demonstrates the crucial importance of developing self-awareness for dealing with society's most pressing problems."
-- Christopher Frith, Emeritus Professor of Neuropsychology at University College London and author of Making up the Mind
“Stephen Fleming sets out to explain the current state of scientific understanding of human self-awareness, how we can know ourselves; our abilities, our strengths and our limitations. He has succeeded… This is popular science at its best: not dumbed down, but pitched so that anyone interested can understand what the science is and what it can be used for.” — Amazon UK review
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Translations
