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A review by ponch22
Because I Said So!: The Truth Behind the Myths, Tales, and Warnings Every Generation Passes Down to Its Kids by Ken Jennings
4.0
I love books like this; [b:Everything You Know Is Wrong|64113|Everything You Know Is Wrong|Paul Kirchner|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386922507s/64113.jpg|62255] is the first the jumps to mind, which I read a few times as a child. There's something about learning what "common knowledge" is blatantly wrong (I was learning how to become an Um, Actually Guy in middle school!).
My biggest complaint about books like [b: Because I Said So!|16687592|Because I Said So! The Truth Behind the Myths, Tales, and Warnings Every Generation Passes Down to Its Kids|Ken Jennings|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1376474732s/16687592.jpg|19112634] is how it presents so many ideas that range from completely false to completely true and everywhere in between. With so many final decisions, it's hard to remember how each "myth" fared under [a:Ken Jennings|45003|Ken Jennings|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1353968375p2/45003.jpg]'s scrutiny.
Luckily, the book comes with a nice Table of Contents and an Index to easily find your answer if the book is within reach.
Overall, the book was an easy read (despite it taking me two months to read it). There's a bit of that classic Jennings wit that made his other books (and Twitter feed) such fun reads, but the structure of the book limits his quips to the final button of each question and answer (mostly). I'd have loved to get more humor throughout, but it's difficult to add too much humor amidst scientific studies (I'm still not 100% sure I get what studies say about eating your own boogers, and I read that answer three times trying to figure out if I was reading it correctly).
I think the book is a nice collection of old wives' tales that get proven correct or completely debunked. It should be required reading for all adults to try to quash some of the more blatant lies we continue to tell kids (e.g. We only use 10% of our brain—this 100% false idea was even the basis of a movie last year!).
My biggest complaint about books like [b: Because I Said So!|16687592|Because I Said So! The Truth Behind the Myths, Tales, and Warnings Every Generation Passes Down to Its Kids|Ken Jennings|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1376474732s/16687592.jpg|19112634] is how it presents so many ideas that range from completely false to completely true and everywhere in between. With so many final decisions, it's hard to remember how each "myth" fared under [a:Ken Jennings|45003|Ken Jennings|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1353968375p2/45003.jpg]'s scrutiny.
Luckily, the book comes with a nice Table of Contents and an Index to easily find your answer if the book is within reach.
Overall, the book was an easy read (despite it taking me two months to read it). There's a bit of that classic Jennings wit that made his other books (and Twitter feed) such fun reads, but the structure of the book limits his quips to the final button of each question and answer (mostly). I'd have loved to get more humor throughout, but it's difficult to add too much humor amidst scientific studies (I'm still not 100% sure I get what studies say about eating your own boogers, and I read that answer three times trying to figure out if I was reading it correctly).
I think the book is a nice collection of old wives' tales that get proven correct or completely debunked. It should be required reading for all adults to try to quash some of the more blatant lies we continue to tell kids (e.g. We only use 10% of our brain—this 100% false idea was even the basis of a movie last year!).