The Voices Within: The History and Science of How We Talk to Ourselves by Fernyhough, Charles

The Voices Within: The History and Science of How We Talk to Ourselves (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780465096800)

Vendor: Charles Fernyhough
Product type: Books
Format: Hardcover
$27.50
$27.50
$27.50
Subtotal: $27.50
The Voices Within: The History and Science of How We Talk to Ourselves by Fernyhough, Charles

The Voices Within: The History and Science of How We Talk to Ourselves

$27.50
The Voices Within: The History and Science of How We Talk to Ourselves by Fernyhough, Charles

The Voices Within: The History and Science of How We Talk to Ourselves

$27.50
Format: Hardcover
Description
Description
x
A luminous exploration of the nature of thoughts, from daydreams to the voices in our heads

At the moment you caught sight of this book, what were you thinking? Was your thought a stream of sensations? Or was it a voice in your head? Did you ask yourself, "I wonder what that's about?" Did you answer? And what does it mean if you did?

When someone says they hear voices in their head, they are often thought to be mentally ill. But, as Charles Fernyhough argues in The Voices Within, such voices are better understood as one of the chief hallmarks of human thought. Our inner voices can be self-assured, funny, profound, hesitant, or mean; they can appear in different accents and even in sign language. We all hear them-and we needn't fear them. Indeed, we cannot live without them: we need them, whether to make decisions or to bring a book's characters to life as we read. Studying them can enrich our understanding of ourselves, and our understanding of the world around us; it can help us understand the experiences of visionary saints, who might otherwise be dismissed as schizophrenics; to alleviate the suffering of those who do have mental health problems; and to understand why the person next to us on the subway just burst out laughing for no apparent reason.

Whether the voices in our heads are meandering lazily or clashing chaotically, they deserve to be heard. Bustling with insights from literature, film, art, and psychology, The Voices Within offers more than science; it powerfully entreats us all to take some time to hear ourselves think.

Author: Charles Fernyhough
ISBN-10: 0465096808
ISBN-13: 9780465096800
Publisher: Basic Books
Language: English
Published: 10/04/2016
Pages: 320
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.20lbs
Size: 9.50h x 6.20w x 1.10d

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 08/01/2016
Library Journal 08/01/2016 pg. 111
Kirkus Reviews 01/01/0001
Kirkus Reviews 08/15/2016
Booklist 09/01/2016 pg. 5
Choice 04/01/2017
By Charles Fernyhough
By Charles Fernyhough
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Charles Fernyhough is a writer and psychologist. He is the author of the critically acclaimed Pieces of Light, shortlisted for many prizes, and A Thousand Days of Wonder. He directs Hearing the Voice, a project on inner voices based at Durham University. He lives in County Durham, United Kingdom.

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