Fire in the Brain

I have recommended (and even loaned) this book to friends who are interested in how the mind works, particularly how our own brains can fool us. It is a lot easier and more entertaining to read than neuroanatomy and neurochemistry. The common theme is the minds ability to trick itself into believing in things that just aren't "real" in the exterior world. For those of us who do not believe in the miraculous, this little collection of anecdotes comes as a relief. Near death experience? Was that tunnel and into-the-light rapture something miraculous, or just the standard way the visual centers and endorphin system react to oxygen starvation in the brain. This book is an antidote for unbelievers to share with the overtly mystically inclined.

This is rough stuff and not for the faint of heart. This book challenged my viewpoint. The author is also very brave and committed to helping his patients and shows such compassion by often putting himself in danger to try to see things as they might. Can you acknowledge the entire spectrum of human experience and still have that positive desire to help people and not be crushed by it? I recommend it but not for just before bed.