Status
Available
Publication
New York : Basic Books, c2007.
Description
For over twenty years, psychologist Richard Wiseman has examined the quirky science of everyday life. In Quirkology, he navigates the oddities of human behavior, explaining the tell-tale signs that give away a liar, the secret science behind speed-dating and personal ads, and what a person's sense of humor reveals about the innermost workings of his or her mind--all along paying tribute to others who have carried out similarly weird and wonderful work. Wiseman's research has involved secretly observing people as they go about their daily business, conducting unusual experiments in art exhibitions and music concerts, and even staging fake séances in allegedly haunted buildings. With thousands of research subjects from all over the world, including enamored couples, unwitting pedestrians, and guileless dinner guests, Wiseman presents a fun, clever, and unexpected picture of the human mind.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member literarytiger
There is no end of amusement and amazement when you delve into the mysteries of human psychology. Richard Wiseman talks us through many of his quirky, off the wall experiments as he searches to find the answers to such age old questions as whether a black cat crossing your path really brings bad
This is a simply fascinating book which scientifically dispels quite a few myths and old wives tales.
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luck, how many degrees of separation is there really between every human being, who you would be best served getting to write your lonely hearts ad for you, and whether humans would prefer to put on a jumper which had been dropped in doggy do, or one which had been worn by a mass murderer at some stage in the past.This is a simply fascinating book which scientifically dispels quite a few myths and old wives tales.
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LibraryThing member elliepotten
Not much to review here, because there is so much information contained in this book that it really has to speak for itself. Suffice to say, it is just what I like best - a fascinating look at the quirky side of human psychology. Wiseman has compiled a huge amount of research on the funny little
Do you want to find out why there are so many fishermen named Fisher, or so many people called Louis in St. Louis? The funniest joke in the world, and how you can be led to remember events that never happened? Why Friday 13th is really unlucky, and which religion produces the best Good Samaritans? How much life has really sped up over recent years, and how to tell whether someone is lying? If the answer is yes, read this book!
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aspects of human life that we might not otherwise think twice about, weaving them together in a very accessible and humorous way that compliments the subject matter.Do you want to find out why there are so many fishermen named Fisher, or so many people called Louis in St. Louis? The funniest joke in the world, and how you can be led to remember events that never happened? Why Friday 13th is really unlucky, and which religion produces the best Good Samaritans? How much life has really sped up over recent years, and how to tell whether someone is lying? If the answer is yes, read this book!
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LibraryThing member wfzimmerman
Eagerly awaited review copy that brings to mind comparisons with the huge bestsellers [BLINK] and [FREAKONOMICS].
LibraryThing member psiloiordinary
A good title which doesn't really give anything away. What you get is how your birth date impacts on your personality, the psychology of lying and deception, superstition, decision making, humour and morality.
All these subject are examined through little known scientific studies and the author
Humorous and entertaining but a little bit un-satisfying. It felt like half a book to me - needed more of the same.
All these subject are examined through little known scientific studies and the author
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tries to end up giving us the distilled common sense wisdom version of the findings. Humorous and entertaining but a little bit un-satisfying. It felt like half a book to me - needed more of the same.
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LibraryThing member phoebesmum
Every so often I feel obliged to read a non-fiction book, and I'm sure I don't know why because I never manage to retain anything from them. Unfortunately one fact I have retained from this that I wish I hadn't is that – you know that experiment where people were told they were giving volunteers
The high point of the book? The typo (?) on page 188 which states "Although Freud claimed to be a scientist, many of his ideas are completely untesticle." Now, is that a deliberate Freudian slip … or what?
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electric shocks? Apparently someone repeated that using real electric shocks and puppies and every. Single. Person pressed the button. Human race, I hate you. Anyway! This is a collection of Quite Interesting facts and anecdotes, and some debunking of popular suppositions and mythologies, but … I was unconvinced. In a great many cases, the 'science' seemed weaker and more far-fetched than the superstitions it was trying to debunk. Not that I subscribe to the superstitions either; I'm just saying.The high point of the book? The typo (?) on page 188 which states "Although Freud claimed to be a scientist, many of his ideas are completely untesticle." Now, is that a deliberate Freudian slip … or what?
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LibraryThing member snash
My initial impression as I began reading this book was that this was all sort of silly pretend science telling me little that I didn't already know or wouldn't have guessed. My respect for the book and research grew as I read it although in the end it is a book of intriguing facts. It did become
I found the chapter on "funny jokes" fell particularly flat. None of them warranted more than half a chuckle.
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clear that human beings are much more susceptible to suggestion than one could imagine. We respond to people, making serious life and death decisions in politics and courtrooms on the bases of nose shape, last name, number of blinks let alone race and gender. Humans, also performed miserably in terms of honesty and giving.I found the chapter on "funny jokes" fell particularly flat. None of them warranted more than half a chuckle.
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LibraryThing member XOX
Another fast and fun read.
A friend of mine brought the Chinese translated version of this book. The best way to do this, is to read this at the same time, so that we could have a discussion.
So, I have to temporary stop my other reading and started on this one.
The fun fact about the nonsense of
The lie detecting bit is good too. A person give more details when speaking the truth, and use more "I" when than when he is lying. Good to know.
The fake smile part is cool too. Real smile will involve another set of muscle that give you a bit of wrinkle around the eye, while fake smile will not involve this same set of muscle at all. So if you look at the eye, you will see if the person is really smiling or if he is giving you the "Pam Am" smile instead.
Other good bits later. I'm only one third into the book.
OK. I'm done. This book is an easy read on what we found in human psychology. The drop envelopes experiment show that Singaporeans and Malaysians are not helpful at all. And the experiment on Christians charity turn out that Christians are not charitable to non religious cause, with conservative Christians the least charitable.
Not details enough. But still good to spend a week reading this.
A friend of mine brought the Chinese translated version of this book. The best way to do this, is to read this at the same time, so that we could have a discussion.
So, I have to temporary stop my other reading and started on this one.
The fun fact about the nonsense of
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astrology, the psychology into the power of suggestion is great. The lie detecting bit is good too. A person give more details when speaking the truth, and use more "I" when than when he is lying. Good to know.
The fake smile part is cool too. Real smile will involve another set of muscle that give you a bit of wrinkle around the eye, while fake smile will not involve this same set of muscle at all. So if you look at the eye, you will see if the person is really smiling or if he is giving you the "Pam Am" smile instead.
Other good bits later. I'm only one third into the book.
OK. I'm done. This book is an easy read on what we found in human psychology. The drop envelopes experiment show that Singaporeans and Malaysians are not helpful at all. And the experiment on Christians charity turn out that Christians are not charitable to non religious cause, with conservative Christians the least charitable.
Not details enough. But still good to spend a week reading this.
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LibraryThing member cat-ballou
Very similar to [book:Freakonomics] & to [book:Sway the Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior]. All are interesting & accessible reads about scientific (sometimes scientificish) concepts & theories. I find this one slightly less well-done than the others, but only slightly.
LibraryThing member Devil_llama
An amusing look at some of the stranger science, where scientists study things that are, well, quirky. Does country music have a high correlation with suicide? How fast do people walk in different cities? What is the world's funniest joke? While some of these are questionable in their methods in
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terms of efficacy (and a few in terms of ethics - watching people walk while you time them and they are unaware they are part of a science experiment? Problematic, to say the least). He also traces the history of "quirkology" back to what may be its origins (at least as far back as Aristotle). Some of the findings are not surprising; some of them are, well, let's just say, unbelievable. The interesting thing is, the ones that are the hardest to believe are the ones he gives the fewest details on how the studies were done, making them at least somewhat suspect. The book would have gotten an extra half star except he kept referring to things as "scientifically proven", outing himself as someone who is not in one of the hard sciences, since hard scientists do not use that phrase unironically. Overall, a fun and quick read. Show Less
LibraryThing member Zcorbain
A very amusing look into the quirkiness of human psychology.
LibraryThing member Paul_S
The author starts with a disclaimer that the science within is questionable but that's like starting a biography by saying all characters are fictional. Most experiments cited are sadly debunked and bad science in general but they read well and come to pleasing conclusions.