In this mind-bending book, an esteemed neuroscientist explains why perfectionism is pointless--and argues that mistakes, missteps, and flaws are the keys to success.cess.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1        Forgetting: Why You Won't Remember the Contents of This Book—Thereby Retaining the Most Important Information

Chapter 2        Learning: Why We Are Bad at Rote Learning, but Better at Understanding the World

Chapter 3        Memory: Why a False Memory Is Better Than None at All

Chapter 4        Blackout: Why We Choke under Pressure and the Secret Formula for Fending off Stage Fright

Chapter 5        Time: Why We Always Misjudge It—Thereby Forging Valuable Memories

Chapter 6        Boredom: Why We Have Trouble Switching Ourselves off—and How Daydreams Evoke the Muse

Chapter 7        Distraction: Why We Are so Flighty and Which Distractions Can Lead to More Creativity

Chapter 8        Mathematics: Why the Brain Calculates Best without Numbers

Chapter 9        Decisions: Why We Risk Too Much—and yet Still Choose Wisely

Chapter 10      Selection: Why Choosing Is Akin to Torture—Though We Still Manage to Select the Right Option

Chapter 11      Pigeonholing: How Prejudices Can Help Us, How They Can Harm Us—and How to Avoid Stereotypical Pitfalls

Chapter 12      Motivation: How Our Inner Critic Limits Us—and How We Can Inspire Others

Chapter 13      Creativity: Why We Can't Be Innovative at the Push of a Button—and yet We Always Have New Thoughts

Chapter 14      Perfectionism: Why We Need Mistakes in Order to Improve

Henning Beck received his PhD in neuroscience from the Graduate School of Cellular & Molecular Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, and holds an international diploma in Project Management from the University of California Berkeley. He is a frequent lecturer, workshop leader, science slam speaker, and consultant on topics such as neuroscience and creativity.