Difference between revisions of "59 Seconds"

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===Bad===
 
===Bad===
 
* Occasionally, Wiseman cites less-than-reputable research like that conducted by evolutionary psychologists which cause me to question the rest of his citations.
 
* Occasionally, Wiseman cites less-than-reputable research like that conducted by evolutionary psychologists which cause me to question the rest of his citations.
 +
* Wiseman has a section where he describes Freud's id, ego, and superego. I hate how psychologists keep bringing up Freud's ideas as though there might be something to them, even though they agree they're both wrong and unscientific.
  
 
===Ugly===
 
===Ugly===

Revision as of 09:18, 14 September 2018

59 Seconds: Think a Little, Change a Lot is a popular psychology book written by Richard Wiseman and published on 2009-12-29. In the introduction, Dr. Wiseman explains how a friend wanted to know something about about psychology so he began a lengthy explanation about it, but the friend interrupted him and wanted the 59-second abridged version. Seeing that many people don't have time for lengthy psychology discussions, Wiseman set out the task of condensing the psychological research of various areas of study into segments that can be explained in 59 seconds, although, he also give a much more detailed version explaining the research behind each segment.

I learned about this book, and Dr. Wiseman, because he is popular in the skeptic community.

Status

I'm currently reading this book.

Review

Good

  • Wiseman covers a lot of different topics in psychology including creativity, self-esteem, dating, addiction, and more.
  • I like how the book demonstrates that a lot of conventional wisdom is flat out wrong. For example, hitting a pillow doesn't help curb aggressive behavior, visualizing yourself succeeding actually prevents you from trying harder, etc.
  • It's interesting to hear various counter-intuitive psychological results.

Bad

  • Occasionally, Wiseman cites less-than-reputable research like that conducted by evolutionary psychologists which cause me to question the rest of his citations.
  • Wiseman has a section where he describes Freud's id, ego, and superego. I hate how psychologists keep bringing up Freud's ideas as though there might be something to them, even though they agree they're both wrong and unscientific.

Ugly

  • Nothing.

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