TOW #24- The Last One?

Is this really the end?  Will I never write on this blog again?  Will I ever read a single New York Times article again? Will I ever force-read an IRB in an hour on a Sunday night ever again? This truly is a bitter-sweet ending.  But enough about the end of my relationship with my TOWs, and now about my IRB.  As my third and final book, I chose to read the book by Leonard Mladinow titled, "Subliminal; How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior."  As this is the last TOW *cries*, I found it fitting to discuss the last paragraph that Mladinow writes.  He concludes with, "We choose the facts that we want to believe.  We also choose our friends, lovers, and spouses not just because of the way we perceive them but because of the way they perceive us.  Unlike phenomena in physics, in life, events can often obey one theory or another, and what actually happens can depend largely upon which theory we choose to believe.  It is a gift of the human mind to be extraordinarily open to accepting the theory of ourselves that pushes us in the direction of survival, and even happiness" (218).  I think that this quote speaks for itself, when I say how powerful it is.  By focusing on the wonder of the unconscious in his conclusion, he leaves his audience in awe, instead of trying to force a "so what?" factor into his conclusion.  By leaving his audience thinking about how amazing their own unconscious is, he allows them to create their own "so what?"

I was very glad that I chose to read this book, even though I had to share it with my dad for the last couple of weeks.  Though I tended to like historical fiction before this year, I found that books focused around research and meta-cognitive exploration are most interesting.  I would recommend this book to anyone in search of a thought-provoking read.