Iconoclasts: A Neuroscientist Reveals How to Think Differently. By Gregory Berns

A very thorough analysis of the so-called iconoclasts (someone that goes against conventional practices or established dogmas). From a useful brain-driven perspective, it is interesting to see what it takes to create an unusual perception, to sustain it through its inception and implementation and to present it to others. In other words, how to think differently.
o the book walks you around the various ways in which you can generate a perception different than that of others; sometimes, even distorted by fear, anxiety (even to a pathological level), imagination, success or even by accident. It even encourages the reader to seek these hidden (different) perceptions.
Then comes what typically kills a non-traditional perception; this is the fear for failure; fear of embarrassment; or even plain lack of self-confidence. Fear creates an aversion to risk; sometimes risk perceived by others becomes a source of fear to you. If a person can overcome this stage, he may be just about to create a truly different way of seeing things.
Of course, it does not make too much sense to create a different something when others are not willing to adopt your ideas. So you get to the point where you have to motivate others to see what you see. Your level of Social Intelligence becomes then critical. You promote the adoption of your ideas by being familiar to others and by enjoying a rich reputation (this is the essence of Social Intelligence). The book explains how the brain can promote your Social Intelligence by understanding how something results familiar; or how someone with a good reputation is more likely to drive you into adoption of his ideas.
Understanding how the brain reacts to potential danger, risk and unfamiliarity may provide you with an edge in conquering some hurdles. It is the amygdala that fires up under these circumstances. This is an ancient evolutionary result in your brain that you cannot remove; but you can seek to control. Social Intelligence is all about quieting the amygdala of people around you!
So next time you believe you are seeing something in a different way; that your perception about something is different than that of others, there may be something interesting about the way you think. If you can carry it two steps further (resist fear and foster the promotion by others), you may be on your way to establish yourself as an iconoclast.
It is indeed the best time to find far many more iconoclasts than the ones we see around these days. We could use a few of them.