How does a person survive a trauma-filled childhood to rise to the top of a scientific field?As a child to neglectful, drug-addicted parents, Sussillo writes that he did most of his growing up in group homes, where he learned to survive amid stern houseparents and abusive housemates. Luckily for him, he found joy in arcade and computer games, which soon offered him opportunities to understand the inner workings of computer programs. “Computers made you like an army general or master chef,” he writes. “You gave the PC carefully written recipes, and it executed those recipes faithfully and without complaint, forever and ever.” In adolescence, he became enthralled with things he learned about from popular science magazines and television shows, ideas that further fed his intellectual curiosity. His story ping-pongs from the many terrible role models in his life to the occasional angels—friends, relatives, and teachers—who show Sussillo how friendship, love, and shared interests can make life worthwhile. The author sprinkles in well-written and engaging asides on scientific topics that fascinated him as a youth, such as physics, coding, and neuroscience, and that foreshadow his career path, which centers on understanding complex systems. His smarts and inquisitiveness certainly served him well, and he also credits years of psychoanalysis as a key factor in becoming the person he is today. Sussillo is clear-eyed about how his tumultuous past gave him a unique perspective on the world. He writes, “The very chaos that had once seemed like an insurmountable obstacle could be a source of strength, resilience, and especially creativity.”
