Superbrain

As Ken Wilber remarks on the cover, this is a user's manual for the brain, bringing together Deepak Chopra with the Professor of Neurology from Harvard Medical School. Tanzi breaks ranks in espousing an active role for the mind in relation to the brain, a position for which Deepak is already well-known. As one would expect, the book is exceptionally well organised and written, guiding the reader through the contents. The authors encourage us to act as leader, inventor, teacher and user of our brain all at once, and give detailed guidance about how to do this, contrasting baseline usage with the super brain attitude. The key difference lies in a person's resolve, intention, patience, hope and diligence. They set out a superbrain credo explaining the principles of feedback, adaptation, balance, integration, coordination and evolution, stating boldly that the mind is the origin of consciousness and that only consciousness can understand consciousness. They then elaborate on these principles in much greater detail and illustrate superbrain solutions to issues such as memory loss, depression, overweight, and anxiety. All this acts as a counterbalance to the prevailing deterministic ethos, making it clear that we have much more control over the functioning of our brains than we are sometimes led to believe. Towards the end, there is a chapter on the enlightened brain as the culmination of its evolution. An excellent and informative read.