Why do we laugh? What makes memories fade? Why do people believe in ghosts? Why do fools fall in love? How the Mind Works explores every aspect of mental life, showing that our minds are not a mystery, but a system of organs of computation designed by natural selection. 'Powerful and gripping . . . To have read it is to have consulted a first draft of the structural plan of the human psyche . . . a glittering tour de force.' Spectator 'Witty popular science that you enjoy reading for the writing as well as for the science.' The New York Times 'How the Mind Works will change the way your mind works.' The Times Now with a new foreword