Preview
  • Idiot Brain

  • What Your Head Is Really up To
  • By: Dean Burnett
  • Narrated by: John Keating
  • Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (250 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Idiot Brain

By: Dean Burnett
Narrated by: John Keating
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $24.95

Buy for $24.95

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

A delightful tour of our mysterious, mischievous gray matter from neuroscientist and massively popular Guardian blogger Dean Burnett.

The brain may be the seat of consciousness and the engine of all human experience, but it's also messy, fallible, and disorganized. For example, did you know that your memory is egotistical? That conspiracy theories and superstitions are the inevitable effects of a healthy brain? Or that alcohol can actually improve your memory? (Editor's note: Please listen to the book before testing that last conclusion.)

In Idiot Brain, Dr. Dean Burnett celebrates blind spots, blackouts, insomnia, and all the other downright laughable things our minds do to us while also exposing the many mistakes we've made in our quest to understand how our brains actually work. This is the best kind of popular science - lucid, funny, and whip smart - from a debut author who will be tickling funny bones and firing neurons for a long time to come.

©2016 Dean Burnett (P)2016 Audible, Inc.
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Idiot Brain

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    143
  • 4 Stars
    61
  • 3 Stars
    27
  • 2 Stars
    11
  • 1 Stars
    8
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    129
  • 4 Stars
    45
  • 3 Stars
    22
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    10
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    117
  • 4 Stars
    52
  • 3 Stars
    23
  • 2 Stars
    7
  • 1 Stars
    6

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Very insightful book. A lot of knowledge on brain

I was fascinated by the inner chemical workings of the brain and how that relates to our perception of the real world. However I still don't understand our way of thinking and environment impacts the chemical "reality" of our brain or its the other way round.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

actually pretty nice

Though it can get hard to follow or it takes time to understand and process things, you make even have to do outside research to better understand (if you’re that interested). I actually enjoy the book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

content yes/whoever read this-no

This book is worth reading, but I would strongly suggest finding the time to read it yourself, or finding a different reading of it as the reader is hard to listen to.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great book, tough accent

This book is at a terrific level for either an early academic in the field of neuroscience, or an advanced layman in a field of biology. It serves as an overview of brain science that doesn't take itself too seriously. There are maybe a dozen paragraph throughout the book that are densely written, but most readers will be able to quickly identify them, And either ignore them or use them to find more specialized material. In some ways, the dense paragraphs are almost like the author is using hashtags to give people explicit connections to other works.

As far as the performance of the audiobook is concerned, I would recommend it for people whose hearing works best in the mid range of sound. I would not recommend it for people who struggle interpreting accents different from those on television. On more than one OK Asian, vocabulary terms were incorrectly pronounced-this could be a big deal for the advanced layman.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great book!

I loved it! It was very easy to listen to, amusing, engaging, and informative. I recommend it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Likes the content but not the narration

The content is very interesting and has good research behind. I didn't like the narration both because of the voice and the intention.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

One of my favorites

Entertaining and educational. Don't hesitate, buy it now! One of my all time favorite audio books.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Informative

It's really interesting to know how our brains work , I enjoyed it a lot.

Great book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

It is rather fun to listen to

I was able to listen to the whole book in one day. It has a lot of layman' jargon, which makes it even more fun. There was tons of info and the subjects are not belabored which makes it interesting.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Book--Poor Narration

I really love the content of the book. The narration is awful--the narrator is heard inhaling after every phrase or sentence.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful