"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. Remember that time you screwed up simple math or forgot the name of your favorite song? What if someone told you that such embarrassing "brain farts" are actually secret weapons, proof of your superiority to computers and AI? In Scatterbrain, we learn that boredom awakens the muse, distractions spark creativity, and misjudging time creates valuable memories, among other benefits of our faulty minds. Throughout, award-winning neuroscientist Henning Beck's hilarious asides and brain-boosting advice make for delightful reading of the most cutting-edge neuroscience our brains will (maybe never) remember."--Publisher's website.

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.

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