Scan barcode
kundan's review
5.0
This is 'the' authoritative popular psychology book for laymen. The author clearly lays out the three ego states that an individual's behaviour can arise from- Parent, Child and Adult. He has further worked out the role of these ego states in different stages of human life through plenty of examples. The book helps in becoming self aware of our driving ego state at a point of time. This enables to function from our Adult.
toeffy's review
5.0
Life-changing without being overbearing
This is not a self-help book. Especially during the first chapters I had strong flashbacks of reading course literature for my psychology degree. I imagine that it might be tedious to most people, but sticking with it really pays off.
For me personally, the concept of PAC finally gave words for feelings and thoughts I previously couldn't verbalise. I've stumbled upon the book recommendation on some Reddit thread and the name alone made me want to read it. Apparently, the trouble of being "not ok", of accepting oneself from within and not relying on external validation is a universal problem. As I said, this is not a self-help book. There are no exercises for you to stick to, no motivational speeches. Harris lays a concept before you and leaves it up to you to use it.
Of course, like any scientist, the author is immensely proud of his method and promotes it as panacea for every problem imaginable, including religion and world peace. I've skimmed through those last chapters, but it didn't make me feel less of the concept itself. The same is true for the obviously dated language of the book: there are "negros", "retards", and women whose main concern is being coy and pretty. It feels alienating at first, but the author does not promote any of those prejudices, this language is simply a product of its time.
So, all in all, I'd recommend this book to people who feel troubled and need to pinpoint the source and solution to those troubles. It's all in the title and the book gets the concept across really well. For me a clear life changer.
5/5
This is not a self-help book. Especially during the first chapters I had strong flashbacks of reading course literature for my psychology degree. I imagine that it might be tedious to most people, but sticking with it really pays off.
For me personally, the concept of PAC finally gave words for feelings and thoughts I previously couldn't verbalise. I've stumbled upon the book recommendation on some Reddit thread and the name alone made me want to read it. Apparently, the trouble of being "not ok", of accepting oneself from within and not relying on external validation is a universal problem. As I said, this is not a self-help book. There are no exercises for you to stick to, no motivational speeches. Harris lays a concept before you and leaves it up to you to use it.
Of course, like any scientist, the author is immensely proud of his method and promotes it as panacea for every problem imaginable, including religion and world peace. I've skimmed through those last chapters, but it didn't make me feel less of the concept itself. The same is true for the obviously dated language of the book: there are "negros", "retards", and women whose main concern is being coy and pretty. It feels alienating at first, but the author does not promote any of those prejudices, this language is simply a product of its time.
So, all in all, I'd recommend this book to people who feel troubled and need to pinpoint the source and solution to those troubles. It's all in the title and the book gets the concept across really well. For me a clear life changer.
5/5
baldingape's review
2.0
So far in reading this book, I find myself asking one question:
Does the adult feel anything at all?
Does the adult feel anything at all?
jackyinthebox's review
4.0
Obviously it's a little outdated when it comes to certain situations and explanations, but overall it seems like a really good starting point to changing how you view the world around you. Just being able to think of my mind in terms of the three parts has already helped me stay calmer in situations that would normally really upset me.
jenok's review against another edition
2.0
I'm reading this as a follow up to Eric Berne's 'Games People Play', as someone interested in learning more about transactional analysis. Unfortunately this text exhibited a lot of the same problems as the prior, being quite dated (sometimes uncomfortably so). I do struggle with rating books harshly on the basis of not having aged well, as I recognise that, of course, they are a product the time they were written. Nevertheless, I really could have done without the section on religious experience and the preachy tone of the section on social implications. The attempt to develop a theory of moral values based on TA felt like a stretch. All that being said, I'm still interested in TA and this did help to illuminate more than 'Games People Play' did. My search goes on!
camscampbell's review
5.0
Recommended by a good friend. This is potentially a life-changing book for me. It’s the sort of book that really could use multiple reads.
broccsi's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Racial slurs