mastermind

How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes

Author's name: Maria Konnikova

The way our brains behave is infinitely sensitive to how we think. It's not about learning. Even something as theoretical as believing in free will can change our brains' response (if we don't believe in it, our brains will become lazier in their preparation). From general theories to specific mechanisms, we have an uncanny ability to influence how our brains work and how we perform, behave, and react. If we think we're capable of learning, we will learn. If we believe we're destined to fail, we will fail—not just behaviorally, but at the most fundamental neurological level. “How strange that the brain should rule the brain,” Holmes marvels in “The Adventures of a Dead Detective.” It always will be, but we can get better at understanding the process and giving it our input.