Book description
For over twenty years, psychologist Professor Richard Wiseman has examined the quirky science of everyday life. In Quirkology, he navigates the backwaters of human behavior, discovering the tell-tale signs that give away a liar, the secret science behind speed-dating and personal ads, and what a persons sense of humor reveals…
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Why read it?
2 authors picked Quirkology as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
Quirkology has a whole chapter on jokes, and the search for the funniest one. I listened to this as an audiobook and did a lot of chortling while I was out walking. (Fortunately there weren’t too many people around.)
But there’s also plenty of serious and handy stuff, about whether you can tell when you are being lied to, what makes some people “luckier” than others, and what to talk about during speed dating. (Men should talk about travel, not films, if they want to make a connection with the opposite sex.)
There’s also a section on nominative determinism (your…
From Karen's list on challenging your preconceptions.
The UK’s only Professor for the Public Understanding of Psychology, Wiseman is a master of storytelling. Quirkology is a fascinating romp through some of the more unusual studies he has been involved in, as well as those conducted by other people. From whether time really does seem to pass more quickly when you are in love to constructing the world's funniest joke, Wiseman takes on the every day, and dismantles it to discover more about how our brains work.
From Ginny's list on the amazing human brain.
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