Mastermind by Maria Konnikova

Mastermind by Maria Konnikova

No fictional character is more renowned for his powers of thought and observation than Sherlock Holmes. But is his extraordinary intellect merely a gift of fiction, or can we learn to cultivate these abilities ourselves, to improve our lives at work and at home?

We can, says psychologist and journalist Maria Konnikova, and in Mastermind she shows us how. Beginning with the "brain attic"--Holmes's metaphor for how we store information and organize knowledge--Konnikova unpacks the mental strategies that lead to clearer thinking and deeper insights. Drawing on twenty-first-century neuroscience and psychology, Mastermind explores Holmes's unique methods of ever-present mindfulness, astute observation, and logical deduction. In doing so, it shows how each of us, with some self-awareness and a little practice, can employ these same methods to sharpen our perceptions, solve difficult problems, and enhance our creative powers. For Holmes aficionados and casual readers alike, Konnikova reveals how the world's most keen-eyed detective can serve as an unparalleled guide to upgrading the mind.

Mastermind and The Confidence Game are written by Maria Konnikova. She contributes regularly to the New Yorker and has also written for publications such as the Atlantic, the New York Times, Slate, the New Republic, the Paris Review, the Wall Street Journal, Salon, and Smithsonian. Her work has garnered multiple accolades, including the Society of Personality and Social Psychology's 2019 Excellence in Science Journalism Award. She is a visiting fellow at New York University's School of Journalism and hosts the Panoply Media program The Grift. In 2019, she was nominated for a National Magazine Award for her podcasting work. She earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Harvard University and a doctorate in psychology from Columbia University.