Book of the month
Look Again by Tali Sharot and Cass RSunstein
(Little, Brown, £20)
The human brain is designed to acclimatise to its surroundings, an evolutionary quirk that allows us to endure adversity. But the downside of our ability to quickly habituate to our circumstances means we stop appreciating what is magical about life – while also tolerating unacceptable situations, such as pollution and inequality.
Understanding how our brain’s innate design can sometimes work against our best interests is a fascinating topic, with the authors here using science and real-world examples to illustrate.
Their prescription for dis-habituating is equally eye-opening, from chopping up the good and swallowing the bad whole, to why ditching social media will be more liberating than you think.