Stephen Fleming

Know Thyself Stephen Fleming

The surprising science of the human mind's greatest power: introspection

It happens to everyone: You are asked a question -- even something you know well, such as the name of a longtime colleague -- and can't answer. The information is stuck on the tip of your tongue. It's an experience so frustrating that it seems like it must be a brain malfunction. In fact, it's actually a hallmark of our greatest power: self-awareness.

As cognitive neuroscientist Stephen M. Fleming shows in Know Thyself, self-awareness shapes our intelligence, memory, and conscious experience. It's integral to how we teach and learn. We use it every time we weigh difficult questions, such as assessing how we'd respond in a crisis. Drawing on psychology and neuroscience, Fleming provides deep insight into how self-awareness works, and how we can enhance our ability to know our strengths and weaknesses. In the end, this book isn'tjust about psychology: it's about the science of human excellence.