Content area
Full Text
The Chimp Paradox: The Mind Management Program to Help You Achieve Success, Confidence, and Happiness, by Steve Peters. 2013. New York, NY: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin. 360 Pages. Paper. $16.95
The Chimp Paradox was written as a self-help book for people who want to understand and manage how their mind works in order to "achieve success, confidence, and happiness." In this book, Dr. Steve Peters puts forth a mind-management model which explains how emotions (the Chimp), cognition (the Human) and memory of past experiences (the Computer) work together in the human brain. The book examines the seven major areas of your psyche (your inner mind, others, communication, your world, your health, success, and happiness) by looking at them as planets in a "psychological universe."This model simplifies the complex science of how the brain actually works into easy-to understand terms. It gives an understanding of how the Chimp can be your best friend or worst enemy (the Chimp Paradox) and how managing your emotions (controlling the Chimp) can lead to success.
Part 1 of The Chimp Paradox explains the parts of the brain and how they interact. The three main decision-making sections of the brain are listed and their functions are explained briefly. These are the sections that Dr. Peters lists as the "Chimp," the "Human," and the "Computer."The way that the Human (practical) and Chimp (emotional) sections of the brain interact when...