Nick Chater Books

The book challenges the traditional view of human cognition as purely logical, arguing that this perspective is fundamentally flawed. It posits that reasoning should be approached through the lens of probability theory, which better accommodates uncertainty in human thought. By reexamining the foundations of psychological reasoning, it offers a provocative critique of longstanding beliefs about rationality, inviting readers to reconsider how they understand the mind and decision-making processes.

We all like to think we have a hidden inner life. Most of us assume that our beliefs and desires arise from the murky depths of our minds, and, if only we could work out how to access this mysterious world, we could truly understand ourselves. In The Mind Is Flat, pre-eminent behavioural scientist Nick Chater reveals that this entire enterprise is utterly misguided. Drawing on startling new research in neuroscience, behavioural psychology and perception, he shows that we have no hidden depths to plumb & unconscious thought is a myth. Instead, we generate our ideas, motives and thoughts in the moment. As the reader discovers, through mind-bending visual examples and counterintuitive experiments, we are all characters of our own creation, constantly improvising our behaviour based on our past experiences. And, as Chater shows us, recognising this can be liberating