'Entertaining and enlightening ... offers ways to temper our anti-social tendencies.'
Dr Michael Mosley, science journalist and TV presenter
It can often seem that we are utterly surrounded by temptation, from the ease of online shopping and the stream of targeted advertising encouraging us to greedily acquire yet more stuff, to the coffee, cake and fast-food shops that line our streets, beckoning us in to over-indulge on all the wrong things. It can feel like a constant battle to stay away from the temptations we know we shouldn't give in to. Where exactly do these urges come from? If we know we shouldn't do something, for the sake of our health, our pockets or our reputation, why is it often so very hard to do the right thing?
Anyone who has ever wondered why they never seem to be able to stick to their diet, anyone to whom the world seems more vain and self-obsessed than ever, anyone who can't understand why love-cheats pursue their extra-marital affairs, anyone who struggles to resist the lure of the comfy sofa, or anyone who makes themselves bitter through endless comparison with other people, anyone who is addicted to their smartphone - this book is for you.
The Science of Sin brings together the latest findings from neuroscience research to shed light on the universally fascinating subject of temptation - where it comes from, how to resist it and why we all tend to succumb from time to time. With each chapter inspired by one of the seven deadly sins, neurobiologist Jack Lewis illuminates the neural battles between temptation and restraint that take place within our brains, suggesting strategies to help us better manage our most troublesome impulses with the explicit goal of improving our health, our happiness and our productivity - helping us to say 'no!' more often, especially when it really counts.
Why do we do things we know we shouldn't?
Anyone who has ever wondered why they never seem to be able to stick to their diet, who marvels at how little work some of their colleagues get away with doing, who despairs at the anti-social behaviour of their teenagers, who can't understand how love-cheats can handle multiple extra-marital affairs, who struggles to resist the lure of the comfy sofa and the third helping of cake, or who makes themselves thoroughly bitter by endlessly comparing themselves to others - well, this book is for you.
The Science of Sin brings together the latest findings from neuroscience research to shed light on the universally fascinating subject of temptation - where it comes from, how we are able to resist and why we all succumb to it eventually. Structured around a loose interpretation of the seven deadly sins, this book will explore what motivates our own and others behaviour.
From time to time, we all give into the urges enticing us to do this things we know we shouldn't, and neurobiologist and TV presenter Jack Lewis will illuminate the neural battles between temptation and restraint. He will explain the brain mechanisms of temptation in a friendly and approachable style, and indicate strategies to help us better manage our impulses in a way that will lead to improvements in health, happiness and productivity.
The neurological circuits responsible [for our sins] are named and shamed.
