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 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? ( )

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 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. ( )

I once spoke after this author at a conference on memory. You are on a hiding to nothing if you speak after a magician.

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 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. ( )

science, social psychology, non fiction, ( )