John Bargh’s “Before You Know It: The Unconscious Reasons We Do What We Do” delves into the significant influence of the unconscious on human actions. A prominent social psychologist, Bargh offers a captivating overview of how our motivations, goals, habits, backgrounds, and surroundings subtly steer our behaviors without our complete awareness. He illustrates this using famous experiments, such as how activating the idea of ‘elderly’ resulted in participants walking at a slower pace, or how holding a hot beverage led them to evaluate strangers more kindly. Bargh weaves together perspectives from psychology, cognition, neuroscience, and evolution, referencing figures like Skinner, Freud, and Darwin.
However, the book is not without its criticisms. A significant portion of the research Bargh cites has faced scrutiny during the replication crisis in psychology, especially the dependability of social priming experiments. Importantly, Bargh does not directly tackle these criticisms in the text. Additionally, his broad application of ‘unconscious’ is criticized for being overly vague, failing to clearly differentiate between lack of awareness and simply unreported factors influencing behavior.
In summary, while Bargh’s book is enlightening and captivating, providing an insider’s viewpoint, it lacks in-depth analysis. The examples presented are vividly described but do not undergo extensive examination, and the experimental findings often appear underexplored. The theoretical discussions, though wide-ranging, frequently lack practical implications or definitive refutations of rival theories. Moreover, although Bargh’s personal stories add a touch of charm, they are concise and do not provide the detail a reader might desire from such a key figure in psychology. Despite its potential, the book does not entirely fulfill expectations in offering groundbreaking revelations or substantial narrative depth.