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A review by emiged
My Life as an Experiment: One Man's Humble Quest to Improve Himself by Living as a Woman, Becoming George Washington, Telling No Lies, and Other Radical Tests by A.J. Jacobs
4.0
This book was more scattered than A.J.'s previous books, probably because it lacked the unifying theme of reading through the Encyclopedia Britannica or living according to the Bible or even improving his physical health. It was still certainly intriguing - and amusing watching him contort himself for our entertainment - but didn't seem to flow as well as the others.
A.J. describes himself straightforwardly as "addicted to these experiments" adding that as a writer he was "cursed with a relatively uneventful upbringing" and since "my ordinary life doesn't merit a book" he inserts himself into these sometimes ridiculous situations to "see what happens." You can call it "immersion" or "participatory journalism," but the key, A.J. claims, is to be "interested in the topic" and to "keep the good parts and not descend into insanity."
He explores the dangers of multi-tasking, the benefits of outsourcing, the perils and perqs of fame, and the vulnerability of nudity. He emulates George Washington for a month by adhering to his 110 "Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour in Company and conversation," spending time with several professional George Washington interpreters. He poses as a woman - his nanny, actually, and with her permission - on an online dating site. And he spends a month responding to his wife's every whim. Which she totally deserved after all the other experiments she's put up with over the years.
His experiments also included a trial of "Radical Honesty" where you not only tell the absolute truth, but you also completely remove the filter between your brain and your mouth, saying everything you're thinking. While the constant confrontations Radical Honesty prompts can be cathartic, A.J. also admits that they are relentless. By the end of the month, he's decided to maintain what he calls "Sustainable Radical Honesty," particularly about his own flaws and mistakes and in relationships, while mostly ditching the aspects concerning other people's flaws. He also states "I've come to appreciate the filter between the brain and mouth. Words can be dangerous. Once they're out in the atmosphere, they can become self-fulfilling prophecies."
I was fascinated by the chapter on the brain's many biases against rationality. He starts out: "My brain is deeply flawed. And no offense, but so is yours. Your brain is not rational. It's packed with dozens of misleading biases. It's home to an alarming number of false assumptions and warped memories. It processes data all wrong and makes terrible decisions." Whew! Tell me how you really feel! But seriously, statements like "Probably 90 percent of our life decisions are powered by the twin engines of inertia and laziness" catch my attention. He highlights several of the most common biases, such as the Lake Wobegon Effect (where all the children are above average), the Availability Fallacy, Unit Bias, Source Amnesia, the Halo Effect, Confirmation Bias, the Mere Exposure Effect, and a half dozen others and then goes about consciously trying to work against them. He states in his conclusion that, outside of his year of living biblically, this month of "the Rationality Project has had the most dramatic, long-lasting effect of all my experiments." It certainly made me think about how I think, gather, and process information.
For more book reviews, come visit my blog, Build Enough Bookshelves.
A.J. describes himself straightforwardly as "addicted to these experiments" adding that as a writer he was "cursed with a relatively uneventful upbringing" and since "my ordinary life doesn't merit a book" he inserts himself into these sometimes ridiculous situations to "see what happens." You can call it "immersion" or "participatory journalism," but the key, A.J. claims, is to be "interested in the topic" and to "keep the good parts and not descend into insanity."
He explores the dangers of multi-tasking, the benefits of outsourcing, the perils and perqs of fame, and the vulnerability of nudity. He emulates George Washington for a month by adhering to his 110 "Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour in Company and conversation," spending time with several professional George Washington interpreters. He poses as a woman - his nanny, actually, and with her permission - on an online dating site. And he spends a month responding to his wife's every whim. Which she totally deserved after all the other experiments she's put up with over the years.
His experiments also included a trial of "Radical Honesty" where you not only tell the absolute truth, but you also completely remove the filter between your brain and your mouth, saying everything you're thinking. While the constant confrontations Radical Honesty prompts can be cathartic, A.J. also admits that they are relentless. By the end of the month, he's decided to maintain what he calls "Sustainable Radical Honesty," particularly about his own flaws and mistakes and in relationships, while mostly ditching the aspects concerning other people's flaws. He also states "I've come to appreciate the filter between the brain and mouth. Words can be dangerous. Once they're out in the atmosphere, they can become self-fulfilling prophecies."
I was fascinated by the chapter on the brain's many biases against rationality. He starts out: "My brain is deeply flawed. And no offense, but so is yours. Your brain is not rational. It's packed with dozens of misleading biases. It's home to an alarming number of false assumptions and warped memories. It processes data all wrong and makes terrible decisions." Whew! Tell me how you really feel! But seriously, statements like "Probably 90 percent of our life decisions are powered by the twin engines of inertia and laziness" catch my attention. He highlights several of the most common biases, such as the Lake Wobegon Effect (where all the children are above average), the Availability Fallacy, Unit Bias, Source Amnesia, the Halo Effect, Confirmation Bias, the Mere Exposure Effect, and a half dozen others and then goes about consciously trying to work against them. He states in his conclusion that, outside of his year of living biblically, this month of "the Rationality Project has had the most dramatic, long-lasting effect of all my experiments." It certainly made me think about how I think, gather, and process information.
For more book reviews, come visit my blog, Build Enough Bookshelves.