AR

PLEASE SEE THE ACCOMPANYING PDF FOR A FOOTNOTE

Revisado: 05-16-24

I thoroughly enjoy Sapolsky's writing and the scientific depth he does into. What I don't enjoy is the phrase PLEASE SEE THE ACCOMPANYING PDF FOR A FOOTNOTE being interjected after every couple of sentences like some kind of hiccup. For the love of god, I get it, there's a PDF and it includes additional material. I won't be able to finish this in audiobook form.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

pretty interesting!

Revisado: 10-28-23

I was hoping this book would get into the neuropsychology of social media usage a little more, but the book mostly focused on the impact Facebook has had on the political landscape and, especially, how it's effect on us has led to violence. I did still learn a lot from this book and enjoyed listening to it.

the narrator has a clear voice that is easy to follow, but every time there is a quote by anyone other than a white American man, he attempts to do some sort of accent. I found it pretty cringe to listen to, especially the way he would read quotes by women. I guess in the narrator's mind every woman is soft and timid and lacking in confidence because that's how he impersonates them.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Not what I expected but not bad!

Revisado: 05-16-23

My therapist recommended this book to me when we were discussing the possibility that I am on the spectrum. For some reason, the title and cover had me thinking this book would be more about how people with similar neurology somehow gravitate toward each other. I thought it would be very validating.

Mostly, this book is a history of the Western world's perception of autistic people and how autistic traits have been pathologized over the last few centuries. It was indeed very, very validating in many places. But more often it was downright painful to listen to. Heartbreaking stories of eugenics, inhumane "treatments", and well-intentioned harm go on for hours. Even when discussing kinder treatment of autistic people, the narrative still felt very much by neurotypicals, for neurotypicals. Ultimately it pained me too much to hear over and over again how exhausting and burdensome it is to raise or know an autistic person, especially as it followed hot on the heels of descriptions of autistics that I related to on a deep level. I had to bail before the book was over.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Not good for misophonia/sensory issues

Revisado: 04-27-22

The content of this podcast is really interesting and thought-provoking, and it's very well produced. However, as someone with misophonia I was not able to listen to more than a few minutes before I had to shut the episode off because of the sound effects. I was attempting to listen to the episode about dreams, and it was filled with all these little whispering noises and sounds shifting from one side to the other. I imagine many people would consider this ASMR and enjoy it but for me they make my skin crawl. It's involuntary, I can't prevent it or stop it. Unfortunately, of all the sounds I've heard in my headphones, the ones in this episode provoked the strongest physiological response from my body and I was not able to make it more than a few minutes in. Too bad, because I was really interested! I'll try another episode sometime but right now I need something more sensory friendly.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Alas, no social psychology

Revisado: 10-11-21

I just finished listening to a great sociology book and wanted more so I downloaded this. Unfortunately in the first lecture, the narrator explains that they will not be discussing social psychology at all. If you’ve taken any basic psychology classes or have ever had a personal interest in personality tests, much of this will probably be a retread of what you already know. It’s not bad! Just not what I was looking for.

I also wish there was more discussion of the research underlying these conclusions. Initially it seemed like they might when they brought in explanations of various statistical methodologies, but that seems to have been short lived.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Audiobook is not the best format

Revisado: 10-11-21

This book is absolutely packed with really interesting information on what medical science knows and doesn’t know about wellness, fitness, and athletic performance. However, much of the book is written in lists or blurbs that don’t translate well to the audiobook format. In addition, it’s read by the author. I usually like when this is done as the author knows just how they intended for a sentence to be inflected, but in this case it is really difficult to listen to. He constantly pauses at strange places within a sentence or even a word, which makes it very difficult to follow what is being said. I really wanted to be able to listen to this whole book but I just can’t get past the strange stilted performance.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Sound effects were too much

Revisado: 04-11-21

I couldn't get very far into this unfortunately because I cannot handle crunching, crinkling, etc. sounds, especially when they are coming through earbuds and the first part of this book uses a LOT of them. If you are like me you will want to pass this up! If not, it seems like a fun read.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Fascinating

Revisado: 04-11-21

I struggled to keep up with the complexity of information presented at some points, but this was a really intriguing deep dive into the history of what we know about genetics. I particularly loved how the author wove in his own family history and his experiences as a physician. Really looking forward to listening to his book on cancer as well.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Just another diet book, unfortunately.

Revisado: 04-11-21

I was really excited to finally find a book that discusses the science behind the incredibly complex and multilayered processes involved in human metabolism. Too many books overlook and oversimplify nutrition in an effort to peddle a specific diet, and I wasn't interested in any of that. I wanted a robust discussion of the findings of current scientific research. I'm particularly interested in epigenetics and endocrinology, but both of those topics are hard to find on here.

At first, this book seemed pretty promising, but after listening for a little while I realized that the entire thing was just going to consist of the narrator shouting facts at me, one after the other, without stopping to really dig in to how the facts are related to one another, how scientists found out about this stuff in the first place, etc. So many tantalizing ideas are introduced and then abandoned.

After a couple hours, the tone of the book shifted pretty substantially and went from reviewing what we know of digestion, metabolism, genetics, psychology, etc., to shouting at me about how if I want to eat something that tastes good, as opposed to literally the first edible object I come across, I am addicted to...food? All of a sudden the book turned into some sort of instruction manual on how not to be fat, which is not what I wanted to read nor is it what this book presented itself as. I am interested in "the science of weight gain and loss" because it is so complex and influenced by so many internal and external, controllable and uncontrollable factors. If I just wanted to know how to lose weight I'd buy a diet book.

I might have stuck it out if the narrator's tone wasn't so aggressive (impassioned perhaps?), but he sounds like the aural equivalent of a finger being jabbed in my direction and I'd just...rather not.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Informative & engaging

Revisado: 03-27-21

This was a great book. Funny, informative, and validating for anyone who has worked in service or retail. My only criticism is that the accents used by the reader, which feature prominently throughout the book, were so bad as to be offensive in some parts (I’m thinking of the Cuban guy at Amazon in particular.) Would it really have been so bad for the company to just hire one or two more people who could have done those accents justice rather than expecting one person to convincingly do them all?

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña