Freud updated
Lewis, Amini and Lannon have presented a cogent, and compelling exposition of the neural structures underlying the unconscious determinants of human motivation and choice. Their depiction of the vital, organizing, physiological role of attachment and its relationship to the lifelong functioning of the limbic brain is clear and convincing. However they give short shrift to Freud, and early psychoanalytic investigators towards whom they adopt a condescending tone. They overlook the importance of the original discoveries of the role of the unconscious mind, and of the processes of identification and incorporation which they translate into 21st century language.
On the whole however, they present a complex account of our deepest emotions and attachments in a clear accessible way. Their heavy reliance on metaphor, and literary quotations is often illuminating, and often over the top. Their thoughts on the sociopolitical implications of their thesis are thought provoking, and ominous.
All in all it is a book very much worth reading and thinking over.
