In a series of experiments, Daniel M. Wegner told subjects not to think about white bears. Of course, they found it impossible to avoid thinking about the bears - just as it often seems impossible to stop thinking about forbidden foods, a social blunder, or a lost love. Drawing on the theories of William James, Freud, and Dewey, as well as on studies in mood control, cognitive therapy and artificial intelligence, this enlightening book explores the reasons unwanted, embarrassing, or frightening notions are so persistent.

Daniel Merton Wegner (June 28, 1948 – July 5, 2013) was an American social psychologist. He was a professor of psychology at Harvard University and a fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was known for applying experimental psychology to the topics of mental control (for example ironic process theory) and conscious will, and for originating the study of transactive memory and action identification. In The Illusion of Conscious Will and other works, he argued controversially that the human sense of free will is an illusion. --From Wikipedia