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A review by drplantwrench
The Developing Mind: How Relationships and the Brain Interact to Shape Who We Are by Daniel J. Siegel
3.0
I had a hard time deciding whether this should be 3 or 4 stars. A true rating of 3.5 stars I think is very warranted.
As you can see with other reviews, there are definitely parts of this book that are extremely powerful and educational. I learned a lot about interpersonal relationships, emotions, and how to apply these concepts to my parenting, which was what I was looking for. But there were definitely parts of this book that were lost on me (me being a parent with an interest in neuroscience and wanted a little more depth).
A lot of this book seems to be a debate on how to connect neuroscience to applied psychology, which I didn't really understand the context or importance of. Some times the neuroscience is glossed over assuming you are aware of it already (this may be partially a result of my amateur neuroscience interest and not a fault of the book). Other times it is insanely dense and difficult to read.
But there's also another problem with this book, in my opinion. Every now and then it shifts into non-scientific areas that I do not think add much. Siegel brings up generic notions of love, compassion, interconnectedness, as if to say "wouldn't things be better if we all loved each other?" I would have preferred a deeper dive into the neuroscience behind those concepts.
He also talks a lot about quantum mechanics, but I don't think that really helps his metaphor, and seems like a weird way to try to add credence to his theories. Overall, some really good stuff in here, but a dense, difficult read that meanders between hard science and weird tangents.
As you can see with other reviews, there are definitely parts of this book that are extremely powerful and educational. I learned a lot about interpersonal relationships, emotions, and how to apply these concepts to my parenting, which was what I was looking for. But there were definitely parts of this book that were lost on me (me being a parent with an interest in neuroscience and wanted a little more depth).
A lot of this book seems to be a debate on how to connect neuroscience to applied psychology, which I didn't really understand the context or importance of. Some times the neuroscience is glossed over assuming you are aware of it already (this may be partially a result of my amateur neuroscience interest and not a fault of the book). Other times it is insanely dense and difficult to read.
But there's also another problem with this book, in my opinion. Every now and then it shifts into non-scientific areas that I do not think add much. Siegel brings up generic notions of love, compassion, interconnectedness, as if to say "wouldn't things be better if we all loved each other?" I would have preferred a deeper dive into the neuroscience behind those concepts.
He also talks a lot about quantum mechanics, but I don't think that really helps his metaphor, and seems like a weird way to try to add credence to his theories. Overall, some really good stuff in here, but a dense, difficult read that meanders between hard science and weird tangents.