The Influential Mind: What the Brain Reveals About Our Power to Change Others

Written by Tali Sharot

Narrated by Xe Sands

This audio edition includes an accompanying PDF to refer to alongside the audiobook.

A cutting-edge, research-based inquiry into how we influence those around us, and how understanding the brain can help us change minds for the better.

Part of our daily job as humans is to influence others; we teach our children, guide our patients, advise our clients, help our friends and inform our online followers. We do this because we each have unique experiences and knowledge that others may not. But how good are we at this role? It turns out we systematically fall back on suboptimal habits when trying to change other's beliefs and behaviors. Many of these instincts-from trying to scare people into action, to insisting the other is wrong or attempting to exert control-are ineffective, because they are incompatible with how the mind operates.

The principle idea of this book is that an attempt to change will be successful if it is well-matched with the core elements that govern how our brain works. Sharot unveils the hidden power of influence, good and bad, and enables us to identify instances in which we fall prey to delusions. The book will search deep below the surface-relying on the latest research in neuroscience and psychology-to provide new insight into human behavior.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Little, Brown (Hachette UK) Audio
• Release date: Aug 31, 2017
• ISBN: 9781405538671

Tali Sharot

Tali Sharot is a professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London and MIT. She is the founder and director of the Affective Brain Lab. She has written for outlets including The New York Times, Time, The Washington Post, has been a repeated guest on CNN, NBC, MSNBC, a presenter on the BBC, and served as an advisor for global companies and government projects. Her work has won her prestigious fellowships and prizes from the Wellcome Trust, American Psychological Society, British Psychological Society, and others. Her popular TED talks have accumulated more than a dozen million views. Before becoming a neuroscientist, Sharot worked in the financial industry. She is the author of award-winning books: The Optimism Bias and The Influential Mind. She lives in Boston and London with her husband and children.

Reviews for The Influential Mind

[ajlewis2_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In this book seven critical factors that impact how we make personal decisions or how well we succeed in our attempt to influence others are discussed. They are prior beliefs, emotion, incentives, agency (control), curiosity, state of mind, and other people. These factors are clearly presented. I did not see it as showing me how to manipulate others to see things my way. It seemed to be more of a guide to awareness of influences on my own thinking and an encouragement to present my thoughts in a way that others might see them clearly. In a nutshell it seems to be an aid in handling the distortions to clear observation and thinking by understanding what pulls and pushes us along the way. The author has done a great job in presenting the material for a general audience.

[ltietz-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Tali Sharot’s The Influential Mind: What the Brain Reveals About Our Power to Change Others is an enlightening examination of the nature of influence. The author explores eight different social drivers that affect how the brain functions. Neuroscientist Sharot’s presentation of the research in behavioral science appealed to me. The most current and engaging chapters for me were the ones on emotion and curiosity. I enjoyed Sharot’s writing style, as well as her interesting examples. I recommend this book to anyone who is curious about how people are influenced.

[realbigcat · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Influential Mind by Tali Sharot is an excellent book delving into the brain mind connection and how we influence people and persuade them. The science based research explains how we miss opportunities to influence people and the difficulty we have with changing our attitudes. Sharot explores this nature of influence. She professes the role that emotion plays in influence and how curiosity figures in the mix. Sharot is a leading researcher and author of the book The Optimism Bias. This book is a well research based book into this subject of our power to change others. I found it to be very interesting and well worth the time spent reading.

[bemislibrary · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a fascinating look at how prior beliefs, emotion, incentives, agency (control), curiosity, state of mind, and other people impact personal decisions and attempts to persuade others. The main theme focuses on perceptions and interpretations, direct and indirectly. There are numerous examples of language, expressions, and action that support how instincts and emotions help the brain make sense of and will remember what is happening. A brain map shows different areas apply to cognitive functions. There are extensive notes and further readings.LibraryThing Early Reviewer Giveaway randomly chose me to receive this book. Although encouraged, I was under no obligation to write a review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

[michaellynnsr · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The author, a cognitive neuroscientist, researches the connections between psychology and neuroscience. Essentially, she uses experiments in human psychology to help understand the physical structures of the brain. That increased knowledge of the brain helps to inform and direct further research into human psychology. It is a true feedback loop that improves understanding of both the human brain and human psychology. This field is creating new insights into how we think, feel, influence others and, in turn, are influenced by others. It is a fascinating field only made possible by the advanced technology that allows us to peer into the brain while it is functioning. This research is forcing us to reevaluate many ideas we have had about why we behave as we do. While each of us is different, we are learning how startlingly similar we are in so many ways. This book, as the title states, is about human influence. The author shares some of the results of research from the field by using well-crafted stories which drive home the point in an interesting and painless manner. This work is a godsend for anyone who has ever tried to change someone’s opinion by using a data driven approach, and who hasn’t. We have all felt the futility of this approach and she offers other means that have a much greater chance for success. She discusses other factors which go into influence such as emotions, a sense of agency, stress, and social learning among others. Researchers have much more to learn and to teach us about human thinking and emotion, but this is an excellent introduction to the field and I give it my highest recommendation.

[mitchellray · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In her book, Tali Sharot, a neuroscientist, explains what scientific research has revealed about how the mind is influenced. The information in the book is useful not only for knowing how to influence others but also how to better understand how we ourselves are influenced. Sharot does not go into depth of how to specifically apply the science of influence, but the information she provides has important implications for business people, marketers, consultants, leaders, politicians, teachers, parents, and anyone else wanting to influence the thoughts, beliefs, and actions of others. This is also an important read for anyone who wants to better protect themselves from undue influence by others.

[kronomlo · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"The Influential Mind" explains to us, through behavioral science, how illogical humans really are. We say that we're truly logical beings who use higher though to make our own, individual, decisions (not being influenced by anyone or anything else). Well, that's mostly wrong. Try to convince someone to think from a different perspective by using peer-reviewed journals, charts, graphs, loads of very scientific and convincing data? Nope, won't budge them, not at all (well, sometimes, but mostly no). Tell them a story using raw emotions and no scientific data whatsoever, describe to them a scene involving babies in pain, whales being slaughtered, things that make you angry, happy, empowered? That person will be more on board with your idea than you are. Humans are heavily emotional, social creatures. We like emotions, we like the (positive) emotions of other people, we like to be praised, we like to be in control of our own choices and destiny, we follow opinions of the crowd or masses, even if they're wrong. We DO NOT like to be told what is best for us, or that we should be doing this or that for our health, even if we consciously know we should be doing this or that for our own benefit. If there's no reward, real or perceived, then we won't do it! We won't put energy into something that doesn't involve positive emotions, even if it's good for us. We humans are convinced that we are solid individualists, when in reality we're semi-permeable membranes that absorb the ideas and behaviors of others, without us consciously knowing it, at all times. We mirror each other, we're a collective species. The author is showing us how truly influential we all are, and how much we can alter the people around us with just the slightest nudges. This also applies to ourselves, how consciously altering a habit we have, either trying to stop one or start one, can change our whole direct perception of the world around us, and in turn quite possibly change others around you in the process.I would recommend this be read alongside the books "The Happiness Hypothesis" and "The Righteous Mind", both by Johnathan Haidt. All three should give you a very good idea on how and why humans think and make decisions the way they do.Very fascinating book, I enjoyed it a lot. Thanks Tali Sharot!

[ehousewright-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book does a good job of exploring the various reasons that things we think will change people’s minds may not. The book is nicely organized so that different sets of data are gathered together by topic, e.g., how emotion or curiosity or priors can affect influence. She cites many studies, including but not restricted to her own. In addition she does a good job of providing a catchy story (or stories) for each chapter, which really does aid in remembering the points she makes. In this time of great divides, where opinions and data abound, this book will be interesting and thought provoking for many, and does give some practical ideas for how you might frame things differently to be able to persuade others.

[06nwingert · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Using a combination of psychology and neuroscience, The Influential Mind describes how we can influence and change others around us ( and ourselves) by using innovative tactics. We should discard the old, conservative, tried-and-true methods of influence in exchange for these newer ones. For example, the Harry Potter books were rejected 12 times, but the opinion of an eight year old child influenced the editor to publish. Rather than listen to the experts ( other publishers), he listened to the target audience. Each chapter has charts and pictures of how the brain works or how each theory works.

[lbeaumont_8 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this book the founder and director of the Affective Brain Lab at University College London shares her research and insights into what the brain reveals about our power to change others. Our intuition and common sense about how we can influence others is often proven wrong by the evidence presented throughout the book. The book is well written, and draws on primary and secondary research to support many helpful and often surprising findings. Clever illustrations summarize the key points of each chapter, and I enjoyed learning:+ “People with stronger analytic abilities are more likely to twist data at will than people with low reasoning ability.” … “These findings debunk the idea that motivated reasoning is somewhat a trait of less intelligent people.”+ It is more effective to influence behavior by building on common ground than by demonstrating the errors in peoples’ arguments. “To successfully elicit change, we therefore need to identify common motivations.”+ People around us are influenced instantly, constantly, and unconsciously by our emotions. Our emotions are contagious and very influential. + Anticipating rewards promotes action, while fear and warnings inhibit action.+ Expanding peoples’ sense of agency—ways we are able to govern our surroundings—makes us happier, healthier, more productive, and more compliant. + Messages framed to highlight the possibility of progress are more influential that messages warning of impending doom.+ People go to great lengths to uncover good news and avoid bad news. The cost becoming certain of a bad outcome is losing the option to believe what you would like to believe.+ We avoid risk when we are intimidated or under stress. We may start “playing it safe” even when bolder action is the better choice.+ We learn quickly from others in social settings, even if the influential majority has it wrong.+ The opinion of an eight year old was crucial in deciding to publish the first Harry Potter book. Author Tali Sharot delivers on her promise to demonstrate how we can influence the people around us by adopting effective approaches and discarding common, yet ineffective approaches. The book is accessible, authoritative, coherent, engaging, enlightening, factual, interesting, important, up-to-date, well organized, and well-written. The book is well researched, the arguments are clear, and authoritative references support the text, however contrary evidence, alternative interpretations, and dissenting points of view are rarely presented.Arguments based on careful logic and representative evidence are presented with an engaging flair that results in an enjoyable read. Interesting stories and rigorous research meld into this readable and authoritative treatment of an important and timely topic.