Our Fictional Minds

Our Fictional Minds examines and challenges our most common--and seemingly common-sense--ideas about human consciousness. Drawing on developments in neuroscience, psychology, and monitoring technology, psychologist David Fisher shows how and why our usual takes on the human mind both serve us and limit us. Instead, research points to a more complete and all-encompassing way to understand consciousness. In this thoughtful well-considered book, Fisher explores our collective scientific and philosophical knowledge (and imaginings) about what a human mind might be and how it might work, discovering that shifted our perspective on hypnosis, uniquely, may lead to unforeseen insights on the human mind. Examining and challenging existing frameworks undermine many of our comforting ideas about human beings, including these: A trance state is different from our "normal" state of consciousness. Our thoughts control our actions in clear, observable, self-evident ways. Each of us can observe our own thoughts. We have clear insight into ourselves. Thoughtful consideration precedes most or many of our actions. We have free will. Seeing our models of the human mind as myths instead of accurate descriptions of discrete entities can help us to better understand ourselves and the world. However, such an understanding requires us to think differently, and a willingness to experience some discomfort about who and what we are. The resulting framework shows that we are much different from what we usually imagine ourselves to be. By examining our models of the mind, and inviting new models to the fore, we arrive at a more realistic view of our psychology and what it means to be human.