The Myth of Irrationality: The Science of the Mind from Plato to Star Trek

In his acclaimed first book, The Ape That Spoke, John McCrone described the evolution of the human mind and the vital role played by the development of language. Now, in this challenging new work, he examines aspects of the mind usually seen as mysterious and magical: madness, dreams, emotions, altered states, creativity. There is a widely held conviction that, when necessary, all of us have the ability to tap into mysterious powers that come from somewhere beyond reason. This belief dates back as far as Plato and provides the intellectual underpinning of social movements such as Romanticism and Individualism. But the power of irrationality is really a myth which has become the largest single barrier to our appreciation of how the mind works. Out of John McCrone's stimulating analysis emerges the possibility of what psychology and philosophy might have been if they had not been seduced by the myth of human irrationality. Whether discussing feral children or schizophrenia, Mozart or Freud, laughter or out-of-body experiences, McCrone draws together a vast amount of modern research with characteristic vividness and clarity, and presents a persuasive theory in a tightly argued narrative. The Myth of Irrationality is a thought-provoking story that takes the reader on an informed journey to the forefront of psychological thought.