National Geographic's riveting narrative explores the world of placebos, hypnosis, false memories, and neurology to reveal the groundbreaking science of our suggestible minds. Could the secrets to personal health lie within our own brains? Journalist Erik Vance explores the surprising ways our expectations and beliefs influence our bodily responses to pain, disease, and everyday events. Drawing on centuries of research and interviews with leading experts in the field, Vance takes us on a fascinating adventure from Harvard's research labs to a witch doctor's office in Catemaco, Mexico, to an alternative medicine school near Beijing (often called "China's Hogwarts"). Vance's firsthand dispatches will change the way you think--and feel. Expectations, beliefs, and self-deception can actively change our bodies and minds. Vance builds a case for our "internal pharmacy"--the very real chemical reactions our brains produce when we think we are experiencing pain or healing, actual or perceived. Supporting this idea is centuries of placebo research in a range of forms, from sugar pills to shock waves; studies of alternative medicine techniques heralded and condemned in different parts of the world (think crystals and chakras); and most recently, major advances in brain mapping technology. Thanks to this technology, we're learning how we might leverage our suggestibility (or lack thereof) for personalized medicine, and Vance brings us to the front lines of such study.

National Geographic's riveting narrative explores the world of placebos, hypnosis, false memories, and neurology to reveal the groundbreaking science of our suggestible minds. Could the secrets to personal health lie within our own brains? Journalist Erik Vance explores the surprising ways our expectations and beliefs influence our bodily responses to pain, disease, and everyday events. Drawing on centuries of research and interviews with leading experts in the field, Vance takes us on a fascinating adventure from Harvard’s research labs to a witch doctor’s office in Catemaco, Mexico, to an alternative medicine school near Beijing (often called “China’s Hogwarts”). Vance’s firsthand dispatches will change the way you think—and feel. Expectations, beliefs, and self-deception can actively change our bodies and minds. Vance builds a case for our “internal pharmacy”—the very real chemical reactions our brains produce when we think we are experiencing pain or healing, actual or perceived. Supporting this idea is centuries of placebo research in a range of forms, from sugar pills to shock waves; studies of alternative medicine techniques heralded and condemned in different parts of the world (think crystals and chakras); and most recently, major advances in brain mapping technology. Thanks to this technology, we're learning how we might leverage our suggestibility (or lack thereof) for personalized medicine, and Vance brings us to the front lines of such study.

A food psychologist identifies hidden factors, motivations, and cues that cause overeating and offers practical solutions to help avoid these hidden traps and enjoy food without putting on excess pounds.

Why are you attracted to a certain "type?" Why are you a morning person? Why do you vote the way you do? From a witty new voice in popular science comes a clever, life-changing look at what makes you you. "I can't believe I just said that." "What possessed me to do that?" "What's wrong with me?" We're constantly seeking answers to these fundamental human questions, and now, science has the answers. The foods we enjoy, the people we love, the emotions we feel, and the beliefs we hold can all be traced back to our DNA, germs, and environment. This witty, colloquial book is popular science at its best, describing in everyday language how genetics, epigenetics, microbiology, and psychology work together to influence our personality and actions. Mixing cutting-edge research and relatable humor, Pleased to Meet Me is filled with fascinating insights that shine a light on who we really are--and how we might become our best selves.

Open the door to your subconscious mind, your Silent, Invisible Partner that is responsible for how you think, feel and behave. You'll discover how to reprogram your subconscious mindsets, beliefs and behaviors so you can get what you really want in every facet of your life. Learn about Gale's specialty Reprogramming Hypnosis and Self-Hypnosis to keep your subconscious supporting your desires. Enjoy unique perspectives, dozens of instructive case studies, a wealth of information, easy to use applications, abundant original scripts plus a 50 page Journal with Affirmations. Beginners, as well as the experienced and/or professionally trained in hypnosis, will realize life-altering benefits from this book. Gale Glassner Twersky, A.C.H., is a Hypnotherapist since 1999, Best Selling Audiobook and book Author, certified Hypnosis Instructor, Creator and leading authority of the Reprogramming Hypnosis System and RHS certification. Gale is passionate about her work and has already helped many thousands to improve their lives with her Reprogramming Hypnosis specialty.

What is it for someone to be an asshole? Although most of us are forced to deal with such people every day, few of us could easily say exactly what an asshole is. And as prevalent as they are, no one has offered a sustained analytical treatment of the subject. Assholes are arguably part of the human social condition, so the topic is perhaps the special provenance of philosophers. In fact, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel and Sartre have all grappled with asshole-related questions of moral status. In the spirit of the bestselling On Bullshit, philosopher Aaron James tackles the subject of assholes in a philosophical – yet also humorous, entertaining and accessible – inquiry into what makes a person an asshole. The book also explores different asshole types, the roles gender, nurture, and nature play, and how best to deal with assholes in daily life. A pop-philosophy book with great potential to crossover into the gift book and humor genres, this will