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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
An engaging and informative read. Nice to pick up and read whenever you feel like it rather than read cover to cover (unless that's what you like to do....)
This book provided a unique and refreshing perspective on many typical and mundane, though fundamentally important, aspects of life. This book is accurately labelled as a "guide" providing these helpful lessons for the reader. However, the interspersion of the personal experiences of the author made it much easier to see how these ideas could be applied in practice. The vulnerability which the author shared and her ability to comically though not flippantly engage with her struggles made reading this book emotionally engaging and cause for reflection. This orientation allowed the reader to see the author both as instructor and inspiration. Generally speaking the Pang was also very effective at discussing the specialized and technical scientific concepts in a way that was easy to understand. However at times, I felt this lack of depth at times inhibited the usefulness of the theory and came off as a gross generalization limiting the direct correspondence between the science and life. Instead reflecting more of a correspondence at a far level of abstraction from the actual science which could allow the author to ignore the aspects of the science that did not accord with the point she was making. Nonetheless, Pang was effective in describing the plentiful ways that scientific concepts can be reconceptualized to guide insights on how to behave and provide a useful framework when considering different issues moving forward.
Despite being a nurse and working in health care, from this book I have realised science is not the language for me.
Also to consider, this book may just not be written for me.
It has given me a lot to consider however, my rating is on enjoyability, inability to finish, writing style.
Dr Pang has clearly had a lot to deal with and grown as a person to write this book, however this is not truly a memoir and also not truly a manual, it's a Hodge podge of the two and made it quite difficult to read.
May come back to in the future.
Also to consider, this book may just not be written for me.
It has given me a lot to consider however, my rating is on enjoyability, inability to finish, writing style.
Dr Pang has clearly had a lot to deal with and grown as a person to write this book, however this is not truly a memoir and also not truly a manual, it's a Hodge podge of the two and made it quite difficult to read.
May come back to in the future.
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
informative
fast-paced
Do you identify as “someone who had to learn people and human behaviors as a foreign language”? When you feel love or empathy or trust, do you experience it as others do, and how could you tell either way? If these questions resonate, check out An Outsider’s Guide to Humans by bioinformatics PhD and postdoctoral scientist Camilla Pang. Think of it as an instruction manual for those who struggle with the code implicit in the social contract, and come to recognize that even “those who claim to be fluent have gaps in their vocabulary and understanding, too.”
This is a book about how to use scientific concepts as a way to understand what you're seeing when you look at human behavior, so you can then decide what to do in response. It's not a workbook or a list of tips, though as the author says, this framework gave her a compass and a map to navigate otherwise fraught situations.
This is a very reassuring book, its tone is very firmly in the "do what you need to do to be able to live the life you want, but also be true to yourself" camp. "If this is the problem you're encountering, how can you better understand it so you can navigate it or go around it?" is the main thrust. And several times scientific concepts are invoked to point out that "normal" is just a concept, that any collection of differences is expected and "normal" within a sufficiently large population. We are all part of the system.
I think that there's a lot that people of all neurodivergences can take from this book. We all have our own quirks, our own mental blocks, our own anxieties and struggles. Looking at situations from a different angle can help with those, and the author's point of view is a fresh and new way to do that.
This is a very reassuring book, its tone is very firmly in the "do what you need to do to be able to live the life you want, but also be true to yourself" camp. "If this is the problem you're encountering, how can you better understand it so you can navigate it or go around it?" is the main thrust. And several times scientific concepts are invoked to point out that "normal" is just a concept, that any collection of differences is expected and "normal" within a sufficiently large population. We are all part of the system.
I think that there's a lot that people of all neurodivergences can take from this book. We all have our own quirks, our own mental blocks, our own anxieties and struggles. Looking at situations from a different angle can help with those, and the author's point of view is a fresh and new way to do that.
I really loved her voice and reasoning to some of the ways she acted. The science did go over my head though. I am glad I went outside of my box, but some of it was too complex for me to get.
✨“On life’s pendulum, we all have to find our own rhythm, and the people who can help us dance to it” ✨
Loved this.
Loved this.
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
slow-paced
A great personal account of how humans act and why. I enjoyed the book but it felt like there was something missing, maybe beacuse of the examples used or I wanted a bit more depth in the stories and science, but nonetheless a good book to have on the shelf.
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
This was not a guide at all. Instead it was like a deep dive into one neurodivergent person’s mental models and the scientific metaphors she uses.
I have no idea what a neurotypical person might think of this book. But if you’re neurodivergent:
You might not like this if you want a guide, if you want a psychological perspective, if you don’t like when concepts from science are applied metaphorically to people, or if your own mental models of the world clash with the author’s.
I did like the experience of what felt like seeing inside of the head of someone who seems very similar to me in a lot of ways. This probably would have been a 5 star book for me if I read it at 14.
I have no idea what a neurotypical person might think of this book. But if you’re neurodivergent:
You might not like this if you want a guide, if you want a psychological perspective, if you don’t like when concepts from science are applied metaphorically to people, or if your own mental models of the world clash with the author’s.
I did like the experience of what felt like seeing inside of the head of someone who seems very similar to me in a lot of ways. This probably would have been a 5 star book for me if I read it at 14.