Is "the mind" an intangible entity? Or, is it just "what the brain does," as cognitive science holds? In The Mind Delusion, Iris Berent shows how our brain manufactures the mind-body divide and explores its evolutionary origins, providing surprising insights into human consciousness and our understanding of who we are. Whether they know it or not, most people view their minds and bodies as separate and distinct. This intuition colors our understanding of countless aspects of our lives--from the ways we interpret our emotions to how we treat mental illness. Yet, the mind-body divide is a delusion. While many scientists argue that the divide is a cultural invention that serves no purpose, can we or should we turn it off?In The Mind Delusion, Iris Berent argues that the mind-body divide emerges from a quirk in the innate workings of our brains. While the "delusion" wreaks havoc on our scientific reasoning, it is an evolutionary adaptation that gives us our dearest possession: our sense of self. Drawing on research on the brains and behaviors of neurotypical and non-neurotypical adults, children, and animals, Berent explores the role the mind-body divide plays in our recognition of emotions, our experience of awe, and our sense of being a conscious self. In doing so, she reveals surprising insights, including the reasoning powers of infants, the psychological roots of our belief in ghosts, and the reasons that some people fall madly in love with AI avatars. As entertaining as it is thoughtful and authoritative, The Mind Delusion is filled with surprising insights on the inner workings of our consciousness--and the tangled roots and branches of human subjectivity that render our lives unique, vibrant, and precious.