Description

Brainjacking explores the psychology of storytelling – the ability that makes us human. To discover how science intersects with our desires and decisions, the book pulls together three ways that we use story to modify others’ brains: informing, influencing and manipulating. Running through education and politics, advertising and marketing we discover how techniques can range from subtle nudges and subliminal influences to powerful emotional manipulation.

With Brian Clegg as your guide, this is a book that will help you unpick the insidious world of brainjacking. Expertly pulling together different strands on disparate topics including AI, Big Data, social media and more, this essential investigation shows how new and old technology and science can be combined to influence human behaviour and beliefs.

Publisher Review

Once again, Brian Clegg has his finger on the pulse of what’s going on in the world. If you want to throw off your chains and live a life as a free agent, you need to recognise how you are being manipulated. That means reading this timely and important book. * Marcus Chown, author of A Crack in Everything * If I say that Brian Clegg’s book is eye-opening, thought-provoking and consistently entertaining, am I just brainjacking you into reading it? You won’t know until you try – but I’m confident that you won’t regret it. A splendid, timely survey of all the ways our minds can be nudged, coerced and hoodwinked, Brainjacking will leave you more discerning and better equipped to make up your own mind. * Philip Ball, science writer * It seems that every minute we risk drowning in a flood of information, misinformation, disinformation, fake news, influencers, alternative facts, misleading advertising, devious marketing and downright trickery – so much that it’s easy to despair. In Brainjacking, Brian Clegg shows us how to be on our guard, but also reassures us that the information that bombards us is all part of the one thing that makes us human – the ability to tell stories and engage with them. Essential reading for a post-truth world. * Dr Henry Gee, award-winning author of A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth * Brainjacking is a brilliant itinerary of the myriad ways we are influenced, our thoughts and desires hacked by advertisers, propagandists, the internet and influencers. Clegg brilliantly links together the various ways old and new discourses have influenced human behaviour and beliefs. It’ll open your eyes, expand your horizons and entertain you to the max. Or am I only saying that because Brainjacking has hijacked my capacity for independent judgment? * Adam Roberts, Professor of Nineteenth Century Literature and science fiction author * Brainjacking is an essential guide to navigating our modern information environment, saturated as it by attempts to capture our attention and influence our beliefs and behaviours. An erudite and entertaining mix of psychological science and sociopolitical analysis, it teaches us both about ourselves and the physical and virtual worlds in which we find ourselves. * Jonathan Lewis-Jong, Assistant Professor at the Coventry University Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations * Brainjacking is intriguing, arresting, illuminating. It takes you into some very unexpected areas. It sorts out the hocus from the pocus with the clarity and good sense. In short, Brainjacking is a cracking good read. * Matthew Fort, food critic and broadcaster * In this fascinating and entertaining book, Brian Clegg takes us through all the varied ways in which storytelling in the modern age is used – and misused – and provides us with a valuable manual for navigating the information age. In doing so, he also confirms himself as a master teller of stories about science, nature, and the human condition. * Professor John Parrington, biologist and author of Mind Shift and Consciousness * A fun, informative and delightfully British look at how technology influences – or is claimed to influence – our brains, by a writer who understands both how science works and how it often doesn’t. * Tom Chivers, science writer and host of The Studies Show podcast *