Book SummaryIncognito, by David Eagleman

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Incognito

In Incognito (published in 2011), neuroscientist David Eagleman explores a disconcerting concept—that the vast majority of your brain activity is unconscious and outside of your control. Comprising the bulk of your mental activity, the unconscious mind creates your perception of reality, allows you to perform complex actions without thinking about them, and makes snap judgments and decisions you’re unaware of. Because of this, Eagleman challenges the assumption that humans have free will—which, he argues, opens up important questions about criminal justice and prisoner rehabilitation....

Incognito Summary Part 1: Your Conscious and Unconscious Mind

The brain is one of the most powerful and mysterious parts of the human body. Eagleman sheds light on how this organ functions by distinguishing between two types of mental activity: conscious and unconscious. In this section, we’ll explore the differences between them.

Your Conscious Mind

Eagleman explains that your conscious mind is the part of your mind that you’re aware of. This includes your current thoughts as well as the input from your senses that you experience as the world around you. The conscious mind is what most people consider to be their “self,” the part that they believe is making decisions and controlling their behavior.

The key strength of the conscious mind is its problem-solving ability and its flexibility to learn new things. It’s hard at work whenever you’re learning a new skill or dealing with an unexpected event. For example, the first time you try to paint a landscape, you may need to think carefully about each brushstroke. As you make mistakes and learn from them, you consciously adjust your technique, and your brain forms new neural connections as you improve your painting skills.

(Shortform note: Why do we have a conscious...

Incognito Summary Part 2: Why Your Unconscious Mind Is in Charge

While the two parts of the brain work in tandem, Eagleman argues that the unconscious is responsible for the vast majority of your perceptions and behavior—so much so that humans lack free will entirely. In this section, we’ll explore the different ways your unconscious mind determines your perceptions, judgments, and behaviors, and we’ll take a closer look at Eagleman’s argument that humans lack free will.

Your Unconscious Mind Creates Your Perception

Eagleman argues that your unconscious mind creates your perception of reality. First, he explains that your unconscious brain decides what you pay attention to in the world around you. It actively seeks information that’s relevant to its current activity and ignores everything else. You can think of it as a filter that determines the breadth of your conscious awareness. So while you’re driving, you might be paying close attention to traffic, pedestrians, and road signs, but you’d have very little awareness of irrelevant information, like how your clothing feels.

(Shortform note: Some neurologists argue that [a narrow field of awareness is an evolutionary...

Incognito Summary Part 3: Reforming The Criminal Justice System

Eagleman argues that humans’ lack of free will has drastic implications for the criminal justice system. Historically, criminals have been sentenced on the assumption that they’re rational actors in control of their actions, and therefore need to be punished in proportion to their culpability. However, Eagleman says that since this assumption is false, the criminal justice system should treat criminals as if they’re incapable of choosing differently.

(Shortform note: Many societies throughout history have believed that humans have little or no control over the course of their lives. For example, the ancient Greeks believed that the length and events of a person’s life were determined by the three fates, or Morai, personified as three women making and cutting the cloth of a person’s life. However, this deterministic worldview existed alongside punitive justice systems: Criminals in ancient Greece could be exiled, sentenced to death, or even forced to wear burning clothes as punishment.)

Eagleman argues that **instead of punishing criminals, incarceration...

Shortform Exercise: Reflect on Eagleman’s View of Free Will

This exercise will give you an opportunity to reflect on Eagleman’s claims about free will and to consider how they might impact your life.

Do you accept Eagleman’s view that humans lack free will because we’re not in control of our brains? Why or why not?