Through prose, poetry, historical archives, and art, Brain Meets World takes readers on a hero’s journey of ideas. Across seven chapters (160 pages), articles authored by leading behavioral scientists and science writers provide glimpses into the electric, surprising, painful, and peculiar paths that our ideas take—and take us on.
We begin with how, where, and why inspiration happens to the obstacles we face and how we adapt. Then, we navigate the peaks and pains of discovery and the challenges of mastering the knowledge we acquire. From there, we reflect on where we’ve been and what we’ve learned. Upon our return, we hope we’re wiser than before. But there’s no guarantee.
The backdrop for the journey is the world of behavioral science, which offers a one-of-a-kind stage to explore the odysseys of our mind. Here, the author, setting, and main character of our ideas is the same—ourselves.
Brain Meets World
FROM THE EDITOR
CHAPTER 1: Visions
Where We Begin
Journey to Robbers Cave: Part 1
CHAPTER 2: Call to Adventure
Betsy Levy Paluck, The Art of Psychology No. 1
Journey to Robbers Cave: Part 2
ENRIQUE VILA-MATAS
What Shape Does Progress Take? • Don’t assume it’s a straight line.
One Small Step, One Giant Heave
An Horatian Notion
CHAPTER 3: Road of Trials
Places Unexpected
Journey to Robbers Cave: Part 3
Vaccinating in Taliban Country
CHAPTER 4: Discoveries
Unraveling the Myth of Universal Emotions
Journey to Robbers Cave: Part 4
Finding Lucy in the Mind of Lennon
Sound Becomes Immortal
When It All Became Apparent
CHAPTER 5: Mastering Two Worlds
Behavioral Science in the Backcountry • The Decades-Long Quest to Overcome “The Human Factor” in Avalanche Deaths
Journey to Robbers Cave: Part 5
A Cognitive Labor of Love
The Brain—Is Wider than the Sky
CHAPTER 6: Reflections
Psychologists Go to War
Journey to Robbers Cave: Part 6
Principles for the Application of Human Intelligence
Goop Happens
To Nudge, or Not to Nudge
CHAPTER 7: Re-Visions
Social Science, Ideology, Culture, & History
Journey to Robbers Cave: Part 7
Dulce et Decorum Est
Is Everything BS?
Behavioral Science in a Future, Far, Far Away
Acknowledgements
Poets to Come
