Talking Heads
  • Published: 8 August 2023
  • ISBN: 9781847926494
  • Imprint: Bodley Head
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 256
  • RRP: $45.00

Talking Heads

The New Science of How Conversation Shapes Our Worlds

Formats & editions
Tr. Paperback
8 Aug 2023
Paperback
1 Sep 2024
Hardback
3 Sep 2023
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The first book about the science of how, why and what happens when we talk, from the author of In Praise of Walking

Talking Heads is a stunning survey of the science of human connection and communication - from neurons to nations

We are social animals and talking is a defining part of what makes us human. Chatting with friends or debating the future, we move through life in a state of near-constant dialogue, bridging the gap between our inner and outer worlds.

But what purposes does conversation serve? In this revelatory tour of the science of talking, neuroscientist Shane O'Mara explores how and why we communicate, what is happening in our brains when we do it, and what it means for us as individuals, groups and societies. Our brains create our realities, but we shape them by talking.

How do our thoughts, memories, and conversations change the very fabric of our brains? What does it mean that we spend the majority of our thinking lives in a five-minute bubble around the present moment? Why does our sense of self solidify with age, even as we become more forgetful? How does our default mode of trusting what others say both influence life as we know it and empower us to effect change? What does it mean to say we imagine futures together? And how do our very nations begin as conversations?

Moving from the personal to the social and ultimately towards a radical new perspective on the defining phenomenon of our times, populist nationalism, this is the story of how conversation builds the worlds around us - and how, together, we can talk our way into a better tomorrow.
  • Published: 8 August 2023
  • ISBN: 9781847926494
  • Imprint: Bodley Head
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 256
  • RRP: $45.00
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About the author

Shane O'Mara

Shane O’Mara is Professor of Experimental Brain Research at Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin. He is Principal Investigator in, and was Director of the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, one of Europe’s leading research centres for neuroscience. He is also a Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator and a Science Foundation Ireland Principal Investigator.

He is the author of two previous books, Why Torture Doesn’t Work: The Neuroscience of Interrogation and A Brain for Business – A Brain for Life. He has also written many scientific papers, as well as for the newspapers and magazines.

He loves to walk wherever and whenever he can, with long urban walks in any walkable city a particular favourite.

@smomara1

www.shaneomara.com

Also by Shane O'Mara

In Praise of Walking
See all

Praise for Talking Heads

PRAISE FOR IN PRAISE OF WALKING Informative and persuasive enough to rouse the most ardent couch potato - perhaps saving humanity before our lifestyle consumes our brains completely

New Scientist

Convincing and compelling ... In Praise of Walking is peppered with insights

Sunday Times

Fascinating

The Times

An invaluable perspective. Talking Heads is a fascinating account of a highly complex field, and Shane O'Mara does a grand job of explaining it clearly

David Crystal, author of Let's Talk

Surprising... intriguing... enjoyable

New Scientist

O'Mara delves deeply into the ways we use conversations to create our cultures and build entire nations ... There's a lot in it that resonates

Irish Times

In this time of digital disconnection, Talking Heads is a reminder of the enduring power of face-to-face interactions and conversations. It is a thoughtful book that might make you watch what you say

Irish Independent

Delightfully well-written, accessible, surprisingly reflecting ... and humorous

Niamh Jiménez, Irish Times

Fascinating … The author’s lucid exploration of how we communicate stretches from neurons to nations [and] strikes an informed, accessible tone ... Talking Heads is seasoned with intriguing facts

Sunday Business Post

O'Mara is particularly good in expanding his theme from the minutely personal to the global ... [This is] a book that's accessible to all as well as a fascinating read

Connaught Telegraph

Verily enjoyable

Trinity News

Talking Heads ... is mostly interested in big-picture questions: how intact memory supports our sociality and binds us into collective beings who share collective memories. ... The point O'Mara is most keen to make in his book is that entities such as nations 'begin as conversations'... O'Mara is an entertaining guide, full of good stories

Times Literary Supplement

This is a very important book because it drills down into how we shape realities through conversation and dialogue, including identity, filtering down into bedrock convictions that can result in wars

The Quad - Oxford University Alumni Review