The mind within the brain : how we make decisions and how those decisions go wrong

392 Pages·2013·2.48 MB·English

by  A. David

T e Mind within the Brain
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T e Mind within
the Brain
H ow We Make Decisions and How Those
Decisions Go Wrong
A . D AV I D R E D I S H
1
3
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L ibrary of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Redish, A. David.
T e mind within the brain : how we make decisions and how those decisions go wrong / A. David Redish.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references.
Summary: In T e Mind within the Brain, A. David Redish brings together cut ing-edge research in psychology,
robotics, economics, neuroscience, and the new f elds of neuroeconomics and computational psychiatry,
to of er a unif ed theory of human decision-making. Most importantly, Redish shows how vulnerabilities, or
“failure modes,” in the decision-making system can lead to serious dysfunctions, such as irrational behavior,
addictions, problem gambling, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Ranging widely from the surprising
roles of emotion, habit, and narrative in decision-making to the larger philosophical questions of how
mind and brain are related, what makes us human, the nature of morality, free will, and the conundrum
of robotics and consciousness, T e Mind within the Brain of ers fresh insight into some of the most
complex aspects of human behavior.—Provided by publisher.
ISBN 978–0–19–989188–7 (hardback)
1. Decision making. I. Title.
BF448.R43 2013
153.8′3—dc23* 2012046214

1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
P rinted in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
F or Laura, Jay, Danny, and Sylvia,
t he best decisions I ever made.
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C O N T E N T S
P reface i x
A cknowledgments x iii
D ECISIONS AND THE BR AIN
1. W hat Is a Decision? 3
2. T e Tale of the T ermostat 9
3. T e Def nition of Value 1 5
4. V alue, Euphoria, and the Do-It-Again Signal 2 3
5. R isk and Reward 3 5
T HE DECISION-M AKIN G SYSTEM
6. M ultiple Decision-Making Systems 43
7. R ef exes 6 1
8. E motion and the Pavlovian Action-Selection System 65
9. D eliberation 7 5
1 0. T e Habits of Our Lives 87
1 1. I ntegrating Information 97
vii
viii C o n t e n t s
1 2. T e Stories We Tell 107
1 3. M otivation 113
1 4. T e Tradeof Between Exploration and Exploitation 125
1 5. S elf-Control 1 33
T HE BR AIN W ITH A MIND OF ITS OW N
1 6. T e Physical Mind 145
1 7. I magination 161
1 8. A ddiction 1 71
1 9. G ambling and Behavioral Addictions 185
2 0. P ost-Traumatic Stress Disorder 1 93
2 1. C omputational Psychiatry 1 99
T HE HUM AN CONDITION
2 2. W hat Makes Us Human? 205
2 3. T e Science of Morality 2 11
2 4. T e Conundrum of Robotics 2 27
E pilogue 2 37
A ppendices 2 39
A I nformation Processing in Neurons 2 41
B G leaning Information f om the Brain 2 47
C C ontent-Addressable Memory 2 59
B ibliography 2 69
B ibliographic Notes 2 71
C itations 3 09
I ndex 365
P R E F A C E
I f I could, I would reach beyond the cage of bone,
t o touch the mind within the brain,
t o reach the f ightened nerves that wrap the heart;
I would speak your name there.
O ur decisions make us who we are. Although we would like to think that our decisions
are made rationally, deliberatively, many decisions are not. We all know that some of
our decisions are made emotionally, and some are made reactively. Some have their
intended consequences, and some have consequences we never imagined possible.
W e are physical beings. T e human brain is a complex network of neurons and other
cells that takes information in from the world through its sensory systems and acts on
the world through its motor systems. But how does that network of cells, in constant
dynamic f ux, become the person you are? How does the mind f t into that small place in
the cage of bone that is our skull? How does it process information? How does it perceive
the world, determine the best option, select an action, and take that action? How does it
fall in love? Laugh at the overwhelming emotion of holding an infant? How does it create
great art or great music? How does it feel the triumphant emotion of Beethoven’s O de to
Joy or the devastating pathos of Bob Dylan’s K nock Knock Knocking on Heaven’s Door? Just
how does the lady sing the blues? How does it get addicted and how does it break that
addiction? How does it have a personality? What makes you you and me me?
F undamentally, all of these questions are about how the being that you recognize as
yourself f ts into this physical brain nestled in your skull. Fundamentally, these questions
are about how that brain makes decisions. T is book is an at empt to answer that question.
W here this book came from
A few years ago, John Gessner, who runs a local program for people with gambling prob-
lems and their families, asked me if I would be willing to give a talk to his clients on
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