How the accidents of evolution created our quirky, imperfect minds -- and what we can do about it.

Are we noble in reason? Perfect, in Gods image? 


Far from it, says New York University psychologist Gary Marcus. In this lucid and revealing book, Marcus argues that the mind is not an elegantly designed organ but a kluge, a clumsy, cobbled-together contraption. He unveils a fundamentally new way of looking at the human mind. Think duct tape, not supercomputer.

Taking us on a tour of the fundamental areas of human experience -- memory, belief, decision-making, language, and happiness--Marcus reveals the myriad ways our minds fall short. He examines why people often vote against their own interests, why money ca'nt buy happiness, why leaders often stick to bad decisions, and why a sentence like
people people left left ties us into knots even though its only four words long. He also offers surprisingly effective ways to outwit our inner kluge. Throughout, he shows how only evolution -- haphazard and undirected -- could have produced the minds we humans have, while making a brilliant case for the power and usefulness of imperfection.