SPELLBOUND

Dr. Raz is a world-renowned cognitive scientist who is one of the leading experts on how the power of suggestion works and how we can use it to our advantage. In Spellbound, Dr. Raz collects decades of research and case studies to offer the definitive account of how suggestion can change the brain and shape our behavior, and how we can harness its potential to change our lives.

Dr. Amir Raz is a world-renowned cognitive scientist who is one of the leading experts on how the power of suggestion works and how we can use it to our advantage. He is also a professional magician who has seen firsthand the power of the "honest lie" in shaping beliefs and actions. As he shows in this vital and groundbreaking new book, suggestion can make cheap wine taste like Château Margaux, warp our perception of time, and alter our memories. With the power of suggestion, even a hardened skeptic can cower under a witch's curse. Moreover, at a time of dramatic social, cultural, and political upheaval, suggestion can play a key role in impacting social justice and political change. In Spellbound, Dr. Raz collects decades of research and case studies to offer the definitive account of how suggestion can change the brain and shape our behavior, and how we can harness its potential to change our lives. Bringing together experimental psychology and empirical neuroscience with captivating case studies (covering his experiences treating patients with disorders ranging from Tourette's Syndrome to false pregnancies, lactose intolerance to asthma), the book shows how a suggestion can cut deep into our cognitive and emotional substrates, shake our fundamental knowledge, and override our core human values. The suggestible human brain explains a variety of strange behavioral phenomena and answers vital and fascinating questions about the brain, such as: - Why do placebos work even when people know they are inactive pills, and why do red placebos stimulate whereas blue placebos calm? - Can suggestions effectively treat depression and anxiety? - Why are we more likely to believe fake news that already aligns with our political beliefs? - How can suggestion influence community-wide actions and perceptions such as the 17th-century Salem Witch Trials but also the 21st-century Flint Water Crisis? - How do people weaponize suggestion in the form of gaslighting and mental abuse? - How can suggestions help fight racism, hatred, and bigotry? Conversely, how can suggestions backfire and create the opposite effect? The book also relates Dr. Raz's experiences as a magician to offer a glimpse into the strange and counterintuitive twilight zone where magic and science coalesce, and to show how easily suggestible and manipulable we all are. Whether you realize it or not, suggestions hack your mind and shape your reality every day. Spellbound is a pressing book with an urgent takeaway. It speaks to critical issues in our country and describes everyday situations where readers may actively leverage the power of suggestion to positively change their behavior (or to avoid influence from unwanted suggestions). Moreover, Spellbound binds cognitive aspects of psychology, sociology, and anthropology with issues in our contemporary culture, media, and the neurological sciences. This interdisciplinary approach doesn't just weave personal stories and compelling narratives but also translates the underlying insights into prescriptive, actionable items showing how to harness the science of suggestion to propel change, protect against manipulative misinformation, and better regulate our internal, mental universe. The science of suggestion is particularly relevant in an age where disinformation, viral pandemonium and endemic epistemological uncertainty have impacted our personal lives and our politics. As a high-concept work that brings together scientific discovery, storytelling and insights that readers can apply to their own lives, the book will speak to a wide audience, including readers of such bestsellers as Charles Duhigg's The Power of Habit, Robert Cialdini's Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Daniel Levitin's This is Your Brain on Music and Dan Ariely's Predictably Irrational. Dr. Amir Raz is a world leader with recent positions as Canada Research Chair, Professor of Psychiatry, Neurology and Neurosurgery, and Psychology at McGill University, and as Founding Director of The Institute for Interdisciplinary Brain and Behavioral Sciences at Chapman University. Formerly at Columbia University and Cornell Medical Center, his work has been covered widely in the media (e.g., New York Times, Scientific American Mind), and he has written over 200 peer-reviewed articles (Nature, PNAS, Neuroimage, etc.) and won a Young Investigator Award and Early Career Award from the American Psychological Association. He is a speaker in high demand (e.g., his TEDx talk, "When can deception be good for you?") and has been featured in documentaries (e.g., with the BBC, National Geographic, and the CBC).