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Iconoclast: A Neuroscientist Reveals How to Think Differently | 
 enlarge | Author: Gregory Berns
Publisher: Harvard Business School Press
Category: Book
List Price: $25.96
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Avg. Customer Rating:  20 reviews
Sales Rank: 2112
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.2
ISBN: 1422115011
Dewey Decimal Number: 612.8
EAN: 9781422115015
ASIN: 1422115011
Publication Date: September 29, 2008
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Product Description
No organization can survive without iconoclasts -- innovators who single-handedly upturn conventional wisdom and manage to achieve what so many others deem impossible.
Though indispensable, true iconoclasts are few and far between. In Iconoclast, neuroscientist Gregory Berns explains why. He explores the constraints the human brain places on innovative thinking, including fear of failure, the urge to conform, and the tendency to interpret sensory information in familiar ways.
Through vivid accounts of successful innovators ranging from glass artist Dale Chihuly to physicist Richard Feynman to country/rock trio the Dixie Chicks, Berns reveals the inner workings of the iconoclast's mind with remarkable clarity. Each engaging chapter goes on to describe practical actions we can each take to understand and unleash our own potential to think differently -- such as seeking out new environments, novel experiences, and first-time acquaintances.
Packed with engaging stories, science-based insights, potent practices, and examples from a startling array of disciplines, this engaging book will help you understand how iconoclasts think and equip you to begin thinking more like an iconoclast yourself.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 15 more reviews...
Perception Is Reality -- Really November 17, 2008
Many of us have heard or have used the expression that "Perception Is Reality". Well with the work Greg Berns and others, it truly appears that perception is indeed the real and true reality. Another item that most of us know from experience, and especially if you have kids, is that the brain is lazy. Lazy in the sense that the brain is attempting to conserve as much energy as possible constantly and always.
Therefore, though we as a race are a curious animal, learning is hard and is a constant struggle. As the neurosciences and the literature continues to grow, we learn more about how the brain works (and doesn't) and this is another fine addition to that growing collection.
As this is of the introductory genre, the topics are somewhat limited in scope to:
1) Perception,
2) Fear Response, and
3) Social Intelligence
However, do not let the small scope deceive you as there is much inside to learn and worthy read. As the author indicates, if you want to learn or see things diffently, "the most effective solution is to bombard the brain with things never encountered before." As such, Enjoy.
Intriguing November 16, 2008
What this book is not. It is not an easy read. Nor is it a "how to." Don't even pick up this book if you're looking for a seven step program to become an iconoclast. What it is, is an insightful, if somewhat tedious journey into the inner workings of the brain. Gregory Berns does a very good job in breaking down each step by step examination of how the brain works. However, I found a somewhat weak link between his scientific explainations and the men and women he uses to illustrate his theories. The second does not necessarily follow the first. You will not learn how to think like an iconclast by reading this book. You WILL learn how some other iconoclasts (probably) think...but there is no direct pathway to following in their footsteps. If you are a curious person with a bit of background in anatomy, chemisty, and psycology, then you may enjoy this book. It will definitely make you think and examine conditions around you with new eyes, in other words, it will train you to be a skeptic at least.
think different to be different November 13, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The author, Gregory Burns, gives the label "Iconoclast" to a number of successful people he describes as different. His reasoning is they achieved different and remarkable things because they perceive the world differently than we do. Sometimes these people are born different, other times their perspective on the world is changed for them. An example is Dale Chihuly, glass artist. He was an unremarkable glass artist creating mostly symmetrical work which used to be pretty standard in that industry. Then after losing an eye in an accident his perception of himself and his world changed. Now he sells asymmetrical glass works for $20,000 and more. The talent was always there, its just that he never perceived it until after the accident.
Why do I like this book? Because Mr Burns gives an idea, then backs it up with an example, then tries to explain what is going on in your brain to make that happen. My favorite sections of the book are the ones on fear. How fear inhibits action, distorts perception, and makes people risk averse. As someone who likes to actively trade the futures market I can instantly relate to the fears he is talking about.
 Think Different November 12, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Wow this kind of books just make cocowash to your brainnnn but in the other hand its packed with engaging stories, science-based insights, potent practices, and examples from a startling array of disciplines, this engaging book will help you understand how iconoclasts think and equip you to begin thinking more like an iconoclast yourself.
The book provides solid, practical advice for any organization that wants to participate aggressively in this new era of open innovation. In retrospect, though, perhaps a more appropriate title for the book would have been Van Goghs in the Attic.
Interesting if non-iconoclastic book November 11, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
You know they're out there: people who have changed the world in small or large ways. As different from each other as Mother Theresa and Steve Jobs, they're successful iconoclasts: these few do what the others either don't think of doing, or what their fear of failure stops them from pursuing, or what their lack of ability to interact with and influence others stops them from spreading.
The subtitle ("a neuroscientist reveals how to think differently") does not, in a way, really do the book justice. This book is a fascinating look at these the varying levels of ability and success in these three aspects of people. It investigates not only how some few among us think up things differently, it also covers the aspects of how different people dealing with fears and have the social abilities (or not) to give their ideas a wider audience. This is done partially in scientific terms, but is also very readable to the non-scientist. Berns has a writing style that makes complex material easily accessible to the intelligent layman.
In this, I disagree with other reviewers who have implied that the book is incomprehensible due to its scientific content (e.g., fMRI, neurotransmitters). Although there are a few sections that I skipped over, it was more a matter of not much caring about the detailed neurological explanations. The science involved should be understandable to any moderately intelligent reader who paid attention in their college biology or chemistry classes. I suspect most readers will have the same experience as mine.
For application to ourselves, his descriptions of how fear distorts our perception in chapter 4 and description of how successful iconoclasts bring their revolutionary ideas to a wide audience in chapters 6 and 7 will have the most interest. As this is described as a business book, presumably most readers will be less interested in detailed scientific descriptions and trivia than how to apply ideas to improve themselves. And these chapters really deliver.
Unfortunately, Berns proves himself to be a non-iconoclast in several areas, falling into lockstep with the scientific community around him. Anything that is not totally conforming to a naturalistic understanding of the world is rejected out of hand. For example, in his otherwise excellent chapter 6, he gives a totally Byzantine explanation of why we prefer fairness to unfairness, (apparently) rejecting any non-utilitarian explanations. Is it not at least possible to consider that we might prefer fairness for a much simpler reason, that is that we are made as images of God and that there are absolute moral considerations that can override utilitarian ones? I realize this is not a book on "religion," but an open-minded person will consider the evidence wherever it leads, even if it's against his own preconceived notions. Berns also shows his non-iconoclasm by some of the examples he selects. If you truly want to investigate iconoclasts who overcome fear, look at African-American conservatives or scientists who propose - for scientific reasons, not religious ones - intelligent design theory.
Overall, though, it's an excellent book, and a very interesting read.
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