Steven Johnson's writing is so lively that reading this book is rather like turning on the Discovery Channel or the BBC and watching a highly engaging programme about the human mind. As with TV programmes, Johnson's approach tends to focus on the more visual, dramatic examples of neuroscience - for example when he test drives a system that enables the author to drive some physical apparatus with mind-power alone. Its a good party trick, and Johnson uses these examples to delve into the workings of the human mind and to show readers where neuroscience is heading - which is a lot further than most of us might imagine. Johnson's central argument is that through various scanners and devices we may better understand how our own minds operate - and even learn to control our own thought processes. Scary stuff? Or is this the mental equivalent of a workout at the gym? The author refreshingly argues the latter.

This volume whets the appetite and provided this reader with a checklist of ideas, and other writers that ought to be explored. Five stars for writing style. Three and a half for depth. A 4-Star way to open your mind.

I decided to check out Steven Johnson's "Mind Wide Open" after reading an article of his in Discovery magazine, where he claims that video games can be more mentally stimulating than reading books. As a huge GTA: San Andreas fan and reader, part of me was intrigued by the idea, part of me saw it as a blatant ploy for the couch-potato South Park generation.

I would recommend this book as an extremely breezy read for those curious about what's going on in brain science. Johnson describes how our brains are always on endogenous drugs, be they the love potion oxytocin, the stressor cortisol, the confidence-building serotonin, etc. He also recounts some pretty interesting experiments where his mind is connected to electrodes and fMRI machines and his mental processes monitored. I have to admit, though, I wanted something a little meatier and substantive about the human mind, and wasn't quite sure if the book was limited by the state of brain science or Johnson's attempt to simplify for the everyman. Most people are aware that the mind is a neurochemical network, so there isn't anything particularly revelatory here.

Johnson rarely gets abstract. He discusses the "qualia" of consciousness only to sidestep it. (I found myself wondering why the metaphysical qualia of consciousness is even necessary; the illusion of a unified "I" must have some evolutionary advantages over a machine-like processor.) At the end he tackles Freud, but I found his attempts somewhat simplistic against the godfather of psychoanalysis.

In sum, while an interesting read, the book stretches out a little bit of information a long way. A lot of this information could have been in one magazine article. And I did fear that Johnson was trying to dumb it down a bit; I wouldn't mind more intensive scrutiny of the actual neurochemical components of the mind.