Subliminal

Most of what drives daily life happens below awareness. Leonard Mlodinow examines how the unconscious mind shapes perception, behavior, memory and social judgment, from which politician a person favors to how much they tip a waiter.

The book rests on two decades of research. Scientists in that period built new tools for probing the hidden workings of the mind, and the findings add up to a new science of the unconscious. They overturn the long-held belief that conscious thought runs our lives.

Mlodinow applies that research to ordinary situations. People misread their relationships with family, friends and business associates, misjudge why they make investment decisions, and misremember their own past. He also looks at how people deal with strangers, spouses and coworkers.

This is popular science for general readers, not a technical text. The author uses wit and plain explanations to make obscure scientific subjects clear. He is also the coauthor, with Stephen Hawking, of The Grand Design. The central question is how much of the self a person actually controls.