Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking

By: Daniel C. Dennett

Narrated by: Jeff Crawford

Over a storied career, Daniel C. Dennett has engaged questions about science and the workings of the mind. His answers have combined rigorous argument with strong empirical grounding. And a lot of fun. Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking offers seventy-seven of Dennett’s most successful “imagination-extenders and focus-holders” meant to guide you through some of life’s most treacherous subject matter: evolution, meaning, mind, and free will.

With patience and wit, Dennett deftly deploys his thinking tools to gain traction on these thorny issues while offering listeners insight into how and why each tool was built. Alongside well-known favorites like Occam’s Razor and reductio ad absurdum lie thrilling descriptions of Dennett’s own creations: Trapped in the Robot Control Room, Beware of the Prime Mammal, and The Wandering Two-Bitser. Ranging across disciplines as diverse as psychology, biology, computer science, and physics, Dennett’s tools embrace in equal measure light-heartedness and accessibility as they welcome uninitiated and seasoned listeners alike.

As always, his goal remains to teach you how to “think reliably and even gracefully about really hard questions.” A sweeping work of intellectual seriousness that’s also studded with impish delights, Intuition Pumps offers intrepid thinkers - in all walks of life - delicious opportunities to explore their pet ideas with new powers.

©2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc. (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“A philosopher of rare originality, rigor, and wit.” (Jim Holt, Wall Street Journal)

Wish it had the chapters properly named…

It could be useful for when you want to jump back into it and reflect on some specific topics.

A book everyone should try to understand

This book is a must read for anyone interested in philosophy. A must read for anyone interested in forming good arguments. Anyone who wants to evaluate the arguments of others. Anyone who thinks that free will is a myth. Anyone who thinks that free will is unquestionable.

I'm planning on listening to it several times. it is that good.

very nice

you guys will have to use the go back 30 seconds button if you want to get the must out of this audio book.

tantalizingly informing

Loved it, I laughed, I cried..cried laughing...etc...I can't wait to read more of his work

you need to do some prior reading

this book is excellent IF you have taken an introductory course into philosophy recently. Instead, you could read History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell that in itself is excellent, to prepare your brain.

A bit like parallel parking a train...

Where does Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

In the top 20
The most challenging.

Which character – as performed by Jeff Crawford – was your favorite?

The author - he is a character

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I did algebra in my head just to relax after reading.

Any additional comments?

Through some un-natural selection I got Dennett’s book and I must say I admire it’s intelligent design.
It is, however, a bit like parallel parking a train….in a blizzard….on a hill. I thought of myself as a philosophic thinker but I renewed my subscription to Mad Magazine because I just realized that my brain never left 5th grade. I’m betting that Dennett’s thoughts actually have measurable mass and gravity and will likely speciate at some point.

This is the most challenging book I’ve read/listened to in recent memory. I don’t know if it would be any easier in material form, as some reviewers have suggested. Considerable portions of the book are devoted to everything that has ever been uttered (plus Dennett’s thoughts) on natural selection. I’ll go out on a limb and suggest that experienced Dennett readers will be using the 30 sec advance button. The 20 or so unfamiliar with Dennett will be using the 30 sec rewind. It’s not a hike, but rather a vertical climb, with one arm asleep (if you’re me).

Long but enlightening

Modern interconnectedness gives us the illusion that life is scary and that we should be increasingly afraid. This book is a very thoroughly researched and supported dispelling of the belief that humans are getting worse and worse in the way we treat each other. We clearly are not. If you don't believe it, read this book. Dr. Dennett shows time and time again in very many different ways how we are in fact bringing nicer and more loving than at any time in known history.
The book is so thorough that, at times, it somewhat defeats itself as an audiobook. Much of it is clearly meant to be a reference book and so it goes into supporting the material to such a length that it gets monotonous for the listener. I bought it because I had heard a lot of good things about it and was very interested in discovering how this seemingly ridiculous idea could possibly be true. After a bit, I saw how the material was going to be presented an came to listen for the idea of each section and what the gist of the support for the idea was, and then skipping on ahead unless I was particularly interested in the details. I found it useful to just trust the author's research during sections that interested me less. I don't usually listen to a book this way, but for this type of material it seemed to work best.
If you are trying to find a pleasant little read, move on along. This book is for those who want to understand thoroughly, not just glide along with the text.

a very intricate story into our mind games!

Sometimes I wondered if K was still listening to the same book bevause the stories are do varied. it is an intricate, mind boggling analysis and dissection of our human wsy of thinking, the ethics and the ironies that underline it!

My goodness Daniel...

His ability to navigate ideas left me speechless. His views on consciousness are immensely compelling and I find myself entranced in thought over them.

Difficult, but not impossible

I'm not sure if this medium is the best way to absorb all the thick and hairy material in this book. Having said that, there are plenty of moments where the author's attempts to make the content easy to digest hit their mark. This happens just often enough to keep the reader engaged and following along, if only barely.