juliepjones's review against another edition
5.0
Great example of research that meets practicality with a sense of sitting alongside the author over hot beverages. ☕️
elliottmoore's review against another edition
5.0
I would never have guessed Neuroimmunology would be a topic I'd voluntarily read about, never mind enjoy.
This is my second book by Robert Sapolsky, and I couldn't resist getting stuck in after finishing "Behave". Maybe a slightly easier read, less dense and more intuitive material but doesn't sacrifice any of the immense research and thought provoking discussion about subjects we take for granted.
WZDGU (not so catchy) has completely changed how I view the psychological impact of stressors on the body, my favourite quote from the end of the book sums it up for me:
"Perhaps I'm beginning to sound like your grandmother, advising you to be happy and not worry so much. This advice may sound platitudinous, trivial, or both. But change the way even a rat perceives its world, and you dramatically alter the likelihood of it getting a disease. These ideas are no mere truisms. They are powerful, potentially liberating forces to be harnessed."
"In our privileged lives, we are uniquely smart enough to have invented these stressors and uniquely foolish enough to have let them, too often, dominate our lives. Surely we have the potential to be uniquely wise enough to banish their stressful hold."
Awesome stuff, highly recommend
This is my second book by Robert Sapolsky, and I couldn't resist getting stuck in after finishing "Behave". Maybe a slightly easier read, less dense and more intuitive material but doesn't sacrifice any of the immense research and thought provoking discussion about subjects we take for granted.
WZDGU (not so catchy) has completely changed how I view the psychological impact of stressors on the body, my favourite quote from the end of the book sums it up for me:
"Perhaps I'm beginning to sound like your grandmother, advising you to be happy and not worry so much. This advice may sound platitudinous, trivial, or both. But change the way even a rat perceives its world, and you dramatically alter the likelihood of it getting a disease. These ideas are no mere truisms. They are powerful, potentially liberating forces to be harnessed."
"In our privileged lives, we are uniquely smart enough to have invented these stressors and uniquely foolish enough to have let them, too often, dominate our lives. Surely we have the potential to be uniquely wise enough to banish their stressful hold."
Awesome stuff, highly recommend
captainoz's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't finish reading this book. I already figured out that stress is bad for my health, so there wasn't too much more I wanted to read about that theory.
acousticdefacto's review
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
katiestein0's review against another edition
4.0
Pretty good but decided to bail and return to the library
tygg3n's review against another edition
5.0
One of the best books I've read on a biological topic. It gives a thorough understanding of most of the human psyche, health etc.
drdoleroux23's review against another edition
5.0
-It has a language basically everyone understands.
-It explains it in a hilarious way.
-You learn some curious facts about somethings you never thought were related to this book, plus the mechanism of how stress affects the body, health, sleep, etc.
I really recommend this book. The last chapters are some life-changing advices (I hope so) that may help you for life to manage your stress.
-It explains it in a hilarious way.
-You learn some curious facts about somethings you never thought were related to this book, plus the mechanism of how stress affects the body, health, sleep, etc.
I really recommend this book. The last chapters are some life-changing advices (I hope so) that may help you for life to manage your stress.
gstone899's review against another edition
2.0
Unpopular opinion but I didn't care for this book overall. Listened to the audio and it couldn't keep my attention. The Glucocorticoid talk became white noise for stretches. Didn't help that the narrator has a nasally voice. Would have given the book a 3 because it is full of information but taking a star away due to the narrator. It reads like a boring lecture from a professor.