Masks, Crutches, and Daggers: The Science of Our Addictive, Self-Delusional Homo Economicus Brain

Why do humans walk a tightrope between depression and addiction (habituation), anxiety and recklessness? Why is it so hard to kick bad habits? Who do several countries now have Ministries of Loneliness to keep the social fabrics from falling apart? Why are humans so prone to self-delusion, self-deception, and forming mobs and cults?

Most of us know more about sports, politics, games, apps, and our jobs than about how our own brain and body work or get burned out together. For less than the cost of a family dinner, this is one of the few books in the market that can help us understand in simple language the complex nature of body-brain feedback loops as the common denominator of disorders and diseases (such as diabetes, depression, hypertension, weight gain, dementia, sleep disorders, constipation, infertility), and discords (fights, divorces, lawsuits, riots, wars). The author has spent two years to ingeniously draw from the latest discoveries in a wide range of disciplines: Neuroscience, evolution, biochemistry, psychology, economics, physics, philosophy, nutrition, and even mysticism to help us understand the cerebral root of fatigue and imbalance that plague human lives, rich and poor alike. This book is an essential simplified scientific "user manual" for our brain and body.

The world's largest battles are fought inside human minds and today most of us suffer from abuse not by others but by our own brain. In this book, we learn about the neurochemical soup that makes our "economic" brain prone to "metabolic" imbalance and leads us to pursue unfettered growth. "The sky is the limit" thinking has constructed a world of winners, losers and barely anyone in between.

Today self-censorship is the main form of censorship that constrains and compromises sponsored writings and speeches. The scientific insight and life stories shared in this book are candid, uncensored and heartfelt, shared by an independent scientist philosopher who is living by his motto "Guided by Conscience, Not Mobs!"

A graduate of University of Michigan and Case Western Reserve University, Ray Armat, Ph.D., is a materials scientist, chemical engineer, former NASA grantee and educator with years of interdisciplinary corporate research, business development and academic experience. He specialized in balancing industrial product formulas but once he realized his own body and mind were imbalanced, he tempered his ambitious career goals to learn more about the human brain and behavior. He shares how he had an epiphany during a stay at Frank Sinatra's original house. As a scientist philosopher, storyteller and educator, he uses a unique and rare blend of real life stories and scientific first principles that govern both natural and industrial processes to find unifying explanations to disease, disorder and discord. The book will be eye-opening and life-changing for many readers.