How Do We Know Ourselves?: Curiosities and Marvels of the Human Mind

David Myers (born September 20, 1942) is a social psychologist and a professor ofpsychology at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. Hope College is a private four-yearliberal arts college with academic excellence and a vibrant Christian faith.Professor Myers sees no contradiction between his religious beliefs and hiscommitment to the science of psychology. His religious beliefs enrich his life andpromote an approach to psychology that leads to wherever the scientific evidence takeshim.He has written seventeen books – including psychology’s most widely read textbook,which has sold more than 8 million copies worldwide. He takes no salary from theuniversity, and donates the majority of his book royalties to philanthropic causes suchas the Association for Psychological Science and, because he has coped with andwritten about hearing loss, Professor Myers is a generous contributor to organizationsthat help those affected by hearing loss.Some of his books include:Textbooks:Psychology with C. Nathan DeWall, 13 th edition, 2020.Social Psychology with Jean Twenge, 13 th edition, 2018.Myers’ Psychology for the AP Course with C. Nathan DeWall, 3 rd edition, 2018.Books:A Friendly Letter to Skeptics and Atheists: Musings on Why God is Good and Faith Isn’tEvil. 2008.What God Has Joined Together: The Christian Case for Gay Marriage with LethaDawson Scanzoni, 2005.Intuition: Its Powers and Perils. 2002A Quiet World: Living with Hearing Loss. 2000.The American Paradox: Spiritual Hunger in an Age of Plenty. 2000.The Pursuit of Happiness: Who is Happy – and Why, 1992.Professor Myers says he is “animated by two aims: to enable people, amid a sea ofmisinformation, to think smarter about their lives, and to help them savor the wonderswithin and around him.” He has pursued these aims by doing research, teaching andwriting books for five decades.The 40 elegant essays in this book are divided into three parts: Part I: “Who Am I?”(focusing on the self); Part II: “Who Are We?” (exploring our relationships); andPart III: “What in the World?” (taking a psychological eye to the larger world aroundus).Professor Myers wrote this collection of essays in part to challenge the replication crisis,a termed coined in the early 2010s, referring to an ongoing methodological crisis inwhich the results of many scientific studies – including classic psychology studies – aredifficult or impossible to reproduce.When asked how this replication crisis affected the content of his psychology textbooks,Myers said he only changed a few sentences.Myers writing is crystal clear, peppered with thought-provoking quotes and dashes ofhumor. You feel like you’re talking to a friend who has distilled practical psychologicalwisdom.The following are some of the findings discussed in these chapters: We observe ourselves and infer our thoughts and feelings. “Self-knowledge, saidGoethe, “is best learned not by contemplation, but by action.”Our brains house two minds, two information processing systems – one fast, andone slow. Some 80 to 90 percent of what we do is unconscious.Alfred North Whitehead writes, “Civilization advances by extending the number ofoperations which we can perform without thinking about them.” Intuition works best when restrained by the data of hard reality. The danger ofintuition is we can overfeel and underthink. The heart has its reasons, but therational mind often thinks smarter. On fearing the right things --- on the ride to get my car in the airline parking lotafter a long flight, I was sitting next to the pilot who turns to me and says, “Thisdrive to get your car is the most dangerous part of your flight.” Psychology has explored the dangers of excessive pride. We show a self-servingbias; cognitive conceit; and unrealistic optimism.Humility is an accurate understanding of self. C.S. Lewis states that true humility is not thinking we areless than others, but rather allows us to recognize both our own talents and others’ strengths. Often in life, it seems, our excessive fear of losing subverts our opportunities towin.I could go on and on with the gems gleaned from psychological research in thisdelightful, informative book.

Myers has written textbooks in general psychology and social psychology that have sold millions of copies. He is also a pioneer in the field of positive psychology. In his new book, he encapsulates some of psychology's fascinating findings in 40 brief and engaging chapters. The book is not a grand attempt to unify the field of psychology using a simple idea or overarching set of principles. Instead, it is akin to a tasting menu, prepared by a Michelin chef, saving you the trouble of finding all the ingredients and preparing them to a level you would have a hard time ever reaching.

The newest book by Psychologist and author David G. Myers is wonderful. This well written mini essays gives readers insight into the world of Psychology in bite sized chunks. This book allows the average reader, who may not be a psychologist, or a psychology student the ability to see how psychology is applied in the everyday world. If you like psychology, or you would like some insight, I would definitely suggest you buy this book.

Caution: more sophisticated readers may find much of the material to be too basic and/or redundant to what has already been widely published. Very little here is either eye-opening or groundbreaking. However, for those less knowledgeable, this is a highly readable and reasonably comprehensive overview of why humans think and/or act in ways that are often subconsciously motivated.

A fun and interesting book on psychology, accessible to all, and one that nearly everyone will find relevant in one way or another. One star off, though, because the author's political viewpoint betrays the same biases that he writes about, as Donald Trump and hypocritical GOPers take the obligatory potshots. The chapter on Narcissism, for instance, ends with a series of questions clearly meant to elicit a response of "Donald Trump." But I could just as easily answer the questions "Hillary Clinton"—and who knows how many other politicians. Of course, the author could respond that my perception of his politics colors my response to his writing, a topic covered in another chapter...Ain't psychology grand?!