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'Witty, wise and wonderfully entertaining reading from its opening challenging paradox to its inspiring closing' Philip G. Zimbardo, Professor Emeritus at Stanford University and author of The Lucifer Effect?
Who are we? Where is the boundary between us and everything else? Are we all multiple personalities? And how can we control who we become?
From distinguished psychologist Robert Levine comes this provocative and entertaining scientific exploration of the most personal and important of all landscapes: the physical and psychological entity we call our self.
Biologically, our cells are unrecognisable from one moment to the next. Cognitively, our self-perceptions can be dramatically confused by a single glitch. Psychologically, we switch back and forth between incongruent sub-selves. Socially, we appear to be little more than an ever-changing troupe of actors. And culturally, the boundaries of the self vary wildly around the world.
The self is a fiction: vague, arbitrary and utterly intangible. But it is also fluid, and this unleashes a world of potential as we are more capable of change than we know. Engaging, informative and ultimately liberating, Stranger in the Mirror will change forever how you think about your self - and what you might become.
Robert Levine was a professor of psychology at California State University, Fresno and the author of A Geography of Time and The Power of Persuasion. He died in 2019.
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About the author
Robert Levine grew up in Brooklyn New York. After graduating high school in 1963, he enrolled at UC Berkeley where he had the blind good luck to experience the sixties from hippy central. After Berkeley, he went on to get a master's degree in clinical psychology from Florida State University in 1969 and a Ph.D. in personality/social psychology from New York University in 1974. He was a Professor of Psychology at California State University, Fresno from then until his death in 2019, with stints as Chairperson of the Department and as Associate Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics. Over the years he also served as a Visiting Professor at Universidade Federal Fluminense in Niteroi, Brazil, at Sapporo Medical University in Japan, and at Stockholm University in Sweden. He won awards for both his teaching and research. He published many articles in professional journals as well as articles in trade periodicals such as Discover, American Demographics, The New York Times, Utne Reader, and American Scientist. His book, A Geography of Time (Basic Books, 1997), was the subject of feature stories around the world, including Newsweek, The New York Times Magazine, CNN, the BBC, ABC's Primetime, and NPR's All Things Considered and Marketplace. It has been translated into six languages. His book, The Power of Persuasion: How We're Bought and Sold (John Wiley & Sons, 2003), has been translated into eight languages. An updated, paperback revision was published in 2006. He was former President of the Western Psychological Association and a Fellow in the American Psychological Association. (Website: www.boblevine.net).
Summary
A provocative and entertaining scientific exploration of the self, and what it actually constitutes our sense of self.
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"Stranger in the Mirror is the most engaging book I have encountered in a long time. The content is thoroughly delicious and Robert Levine writes with compelling clarity." David Dunning, University of Michigan
