I picked this book up the other day from none other than Barnes & Noble (a company I worked for for a very short period of time - however that's another story). Immediately I was drawn to the lollipop on the cover....ok so that's a lie. I was drawn to the table that said "Buy 2, Get the 3rd free". I mean who doesn't love a good book deal? Good job, sneaky B&N people. So, like most people, the first thing I did was read the back cover (it's a paperback book). What I found were phrases like "tastier than a Twizzler and more protein-packed than a spinach smoothie" and "succulent neurological nuggets." Hmmm...is anyone else hungry?? The back of the book also has a brief overview of the tidbits inside. The ones that caught my interest were why you should be writing bad poetry, the mental benefits of coffee and cigarettes (my friend Joe would love to hear about that!), and what pigeons know about art. But, the back of the book is absolutely nothing compared to the vast amount of knowledge (and huge words that I had to look up to make sure I was pronouncing right) inside. This reminds me one of those movies that your dying to see because of the previews. Then, when you finally get to see the movie, you see the wise people who put the trailer together added just the right amount of scenes to intrigue you but not enough to give the whole movie away. :-) That always makes my day. And so with that being said, ladies and gents, I hope to not spoil the book for you either.
This book is filled with science, paradoxes, logic, illogic and various puzzles. Although it jumps back and forth between these subjects, it's actually a really good thing. I'm the kind of person that likes a little distraction if I'm reading something that's important and can't be put in laymen's terms. So here are some contents that I especially liked:
- Action and Free Will: You may think that 100% of the time you are the only one that can control your actions. However, the truth is you can act without knowing it, can think you've acted without actually doing so, and can intend to act and think you've acted without moving at all. Funny, right? Well Garth tells you how this can be so with the use of your parietal cortex.
- Crazy People Weren't Just Invented in the 20th Century: For instance, Roman emperor Caligula committed incest with and pimping of his sisters. Also, Christian VII of Denmark enjoyed roaming through streets beating subjects with a spiked mace and having himself stretched on the rack and flogged.
- Brain-Deflating Fallacies to Win Any Argument: These are throughout the book. You'll enjoy them. He calls them strategies to ensure dominance in debate club and/or with an unsuspecting significant other.
- Algebraic Eight-Ball: Different algebraic equations to calculate situations like at what age will technology overtake your ability to use it, the chances that he/she is the one, and men what's your sex appeal.
- Wild Kingdom: These are short paragraphs in the book about animal brains. My fave was the one about chickens liking models.
All in all, I loved this book from cover to cover. I'm even reading it again but this time to a friend. My advice after purchasing this book is just to sit back with your drink of choice, a bookmark (you may not finish it in one sitting), and a pencil. You're going to love what's inside!
P.S. I plan to buy his other book The Geeks' Guide to World Domination sometime in the near future. Also, check out the author's website at http://www.garthsundem.com/.
~BB~
