Chapter 5: Quieting the Mind
Chapter 5 explores the science of cognitive dissonance. It begins with it's history and describes a small cult back in 1954 that was stationed in Minneapolis. They believed (sincerely) that the world was going to end in December. Obviously they were wrong, but what's interesting is they very quickly and firmly reshaped their beliefs to match the fact that the world had not in fact ended. This leads to the theory of cognitive dissonance, which is basically that we restructure our world view to fit our already held beliefs. This chapter was very interesting, especially the christian family at the end. But I was upset at how cruel, insensitive, and stupid the author seemed at times. I don't quite believe everything she wrote but the chapter was very interesting.
Chapter 6: Monkey Love
This part of the book is basically the story of Harry Harlow, who is renowned for his experiments with baby rhesus monkeys. The chapter basically goes in chronological order starting with his childhood, going through his early adult and successful years and eventually to his late death. The history seems to mostly focus on his relationships with others as well as his scientific contributions. The life of Dr. Harlow comes of as a tragedy in this chapter and again, I'm not sure how much I believe it. Dr. Harlows work is fascinating and I'm glad she included this chapter because he did some landmark work. Toward the end she has a section about animal rights, which while important, don't really feel like they belong in the framework of the chapter.
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