The Curse of the Self: Self-Awareness, Egotism, and the Quality of Human Life

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• The Curse of the Self: Self-Awareness, Egotism, and the Quality of Human Life by Mark R. Leary
• The Curse of the Self: Self-Awareness, Egotism, and the Quality of Human Life

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To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about The Curse of the Self , please sign up. Be the first to ask a question about The Curse of the Self. Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Nov 27, Dierregi rated it it was amazing Shelves: If you read only one book in your life, make it this one.

Written in simple but not dull prose, this book tells you what to do to avoid the worst pitfalls of consciousness, and to make your living experience as stress-free and less painful as possible. This is clearly no small achievement and requires your active co-operation. Sep 14, Leonardo marked it as to-keep-reference.

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In The Curse of the Self the social psychologist Mark Leary points out that many other animals can think, but none, so far as we know, spend much time thinking about themselves. Only a few other primates and perhaps dolphins can even learn that the image in a mirror belongs to them. Feb 22, Natasha rated it really liked it. It's not an easy read, it's very dense with descriptions of research experiments and feels like a college class study material.

I'm very glad I read it. I learned a lot and will practice new things I learned. If you struggle, like I did, to finish this book, don't put it away until you read at least the last chapter. Jan 28, Kolo rated it it was amazing. Sep 25, Geovi added it. Justyn Harvey rated it it was amazing Feb 24, Amy rated it it was amazing Apr 07, Richard M rated it it was amazing Nov 26, Kaitlyn Werner rated it it was amazing Jul 24, Lil rated it it was amazing May 29, Hadley Solomon rated it it was amazing Mar 01, Henry Vasquez rated it liked it Mar 11, Mikey Sklar rated it really liked it Mar 15, Pelin rated it it was amazing Oct 30, Tara Maedinger rated it it was amazing Sep 11, Jenn rated it it was amazing Jun 01, Stephanie rated it it was amazing Jul 11, Deepanjali rated it it was amazing Sep 10, Self-awareness and its accompanying egoism profoundly affect people's lives, interfering with their success, polluting their relationships with other people, and undermining their happiness.

Drawing from work in psychology and other behavioral sciences, in The Curse of the Self , Mark Leary explores personal and social problems that are created by the human capacity for self-reflection and offers insights regarding how these problems may be minimized. Despite its obvious advantages, our ability to be self-reflective comes at a high price. Few people realize how profoundly their lives are affected by self-reflection or how frequently inner chatter interferes with their success, pollutes their relationships with others, and undermines their happiness. By allowing people to ruminate about the past or imagine what might happen in the future, self-reflection conjures up a great deal of personal suffering in the form of depression, anxiety, anger, jealousy, and other negative emotions.

A great deal of unhappiness, in the form of addictions, overeating, and domestic violence, is due to people's inability to exert control over their thoughts and behavior. Is it possible to direct our self-reflection in a way that will minimize the disadvantages and maximize the advantages? Is there a way to affect the egotistical self through self-reflection? In this volume, Mark Leary explores the personal and social problems that are created by the capacity for self-reflection, and by drawing upon psychology and other behavioral sciences, offers insights into how these problems can be minimized.

The Self-Aware Animal 2. Living in Two Worlds 3. Through the Eyes of the Ego 4.

Making Ourselves Miserable 5. When Selves Collide 6. Risking Life and Limb 7. Religion and Morality 8. The Self Out of Control 9. Bringing out the Best in the Self Endnotes.

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Leary is Professor of Psychology at Duke University. He was named by the Institute for Scientific Information as among the 25 most productive scholars in psychology