Bernd Hufnagl - Brain Traps

This book aims to impart and elaborate on knowledge, theories, and hypotheses gained from neuroscience, evolutionary and behavioral biology, psychology, and happiness research. It has been written with a specific target group in mind – namely, managers and employees working in organizations. In other words, people who must complete tasks dictated by others, meet objectives and reach goals which are primarily not their own, and who are expected to complete as many tasks as possible as quickly as possible, simultaneously and daily.

It will not escape the attentive reader that this book contains terms from different fields of both science and business. My goal is to merge the different perceptions and “languages” of both the science and the working world in order to further a better general understanding. My desire to always remain a generalist and to answer questions on a fundamentally interdisciplinary level is reflected in this book, and can be traced back to the influence of one of my teachers, Rupert Riedl.

For simplicity’s sake, I have had to make compromises in translating scientific findings into understandable images. This was not as simple a task as one might imagine. From a scientific perspective, an obvious blurring of language and content is apparent in the images I have proposed. Nevertheless, I hope to help the reader become more familiar with the evolutionary “logic” of our brain through the use of simple and recognizable terms such frog, shrew, controller, memory, hardware, and software . I am fully aware that our present conception of neurobiological processes in the brain is characterized by continuous, non-linear networks rather than clearly separated brain areas. It was of major concern to me that the reader is able to trace the development of our brain’s functionality, which has had to adapt to a vast range of diverse conditions and requirements over millions of years. I am convinced that these figurative images will help us to better understand and learn from the logic of our behavior. My many years of experience in university-level teaching, giving presentations, holding management trainings, and as a management consultant confirm the usefulness of these “translation devices”. I’m not interested in simply creating a catalogue with a list of exciting and entertaining insights, but rather in improving both our self-perception and our perception of others, as well as inspiring a higher level of mindfulness. If I am able to accomplish that, then I will have achieved my personal goal. For the sake of readability, and in consideration of the target group for which this book was written, I have consciously chosen to completely forgo the usual scientific quotations and footnotes. I have, however, tried to clearly and discernibly demonstrate my own hypotheses, thoughts, and experiences. The studies mentioned in this book can easily be found on the Web.

My final point pertains to gender-neutral formulations. For the sake of readability, the generic masculine will be used both in the entire text and in general terms. These formulations address all readers equally and are inclusive of both male and female.

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