Descartes' Error
by Antonio Damasio
Emotion is essential to reason: patients with damaged emotional circuits make terrible decisions. Damasio's somatic marker hypothesis and the case of Phineas Gage. Foundational.
Read it if…
you want the neuroscience of why feelings guide good decisions.
See the book →
Skip it if…
you want a light read.
Try instead: The Feeling of What Happens →
Three things you will actually use
- Reason needs emotion.
- Gut feelings are body signals.
- Mind is embodied.
Do this first
Read the Phineas Gage chapters.
Our verdict
Emotion in reason.
See the book →
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