Thought in action : Expertise and the conscious mind

303 Pages·2016·1.49 MB·English

by  Barbara Gail Montero

OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 03/28/2016, SPi
Thought in Action
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 03/28/2016, SPi
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 03/28/2016, SPi
Thought in Action
Expertise and the Conscious Mind
Barbara Gail Montero
1
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 03/28/2016, SPi
3
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© Barbara Gail Montero 2016
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First Edition published in 2016
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2015953268
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OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 03/28/2016, SPi
Dedicated to the memory of my parents, José and Dorothy Montero,
who inspired my curiosity about the workings of the human mind
and body while imparting their abiding belief in the value of effort.
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 03/28/2016, SPi
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 03/28/2016, SPi
All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare.
Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677)
The Ethics
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 03/28/2016, SPi
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 03/28/2016, SPi
Contents
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction: What Can a Philosopher Tell You About Expertise? 1
1. “Don’t think, dear; just do” and Other Manifestations of
the Just-do-it Principle 14
2. Just-do-it Versus Cognition-in-action 32
3. What is an Expert? 51
4. Does Thinking Interfere With Doing? 75
5. Thinking Fast 109
6. Continuous Improvement 127
7. You Can’t Try Too Hard 146
8. Effortlessness with Effort 166
9. The Pleasure of Movement and the Awareness of the Self 178
10. The Aesthetic Experience of Expert Movement 192
11. Intuition, Rationality, and Chess Expertise 210
12. Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll, and the Meaning of Life 237
Bibliography 261
Index 285