andvru's review against another edition
4.0
I would personally recommend this book to someone who wants to start reading science book. The author knows well how to tell stories while enhancing the reader’s understanding about neuroscience and psychology. Very enjoyable book afterall.
strangebehavior's review against another edition
I read half this book and then put it down, therefore I'm not officially rating it.
The book *could* be an interesting read but I personally found that for many of the topics, I have seen the material before in various psych texts or even magazine articles (e.g. self-fulling prophecies, learned helplessness, cognitive dissonance).
I think if this topic is new to you, you could enjoy this book. If you have any psych background or have read books or articles on a similar topic, you may not find this book as captivating as there is nothing necessarily new or mind blowing in it that you haven't read elsewhere.
The book *could* be an interesting read but I personally found that for many of the topics, I have seen the material before in various psych texts or even magazine articles (e.g. self-fulling prophecies, learned helplessness, cognitive dissonance).
I think if this topic is new to you, you could enjoy this book. If you have any psych background or have read books or articles on a similar topic, you may not find this book as captivating as there is nothing necessarily new or mind blowing in it that you haven't read elsewhere.
mia333's review against another edition
informative
reflective
After about chapter 4 or 5, the writing got repetitive and formulaic, and I felt she had already made all her claims and explained them all. Some of the claims and explanations were not strong, but I think it's a good book to see lines of reasoning in context and to evaluate an argument. It taught me about my own optimism in comparison to the rest of the world, and how it affects my own life.
rickycatto's review against another edition
5.0
I love books that encourage rational bias by helping you understand how to wield it well. I'm a big fan of "lie to yourself" in a way that sets you up to succeed.
momentum262's review against another edition
2.0
The topic of the "Optimism Bias" has come up often in our modern world, so this book had promise of delving into this subject. Mainly, I enjoyed the science discussions in the book about the brain and neuroscience related to the "Optimism Bias." I felt some of the experiments discussed covered the same topics, just in different ways, so it did get a bit repetitive. There was enough difference in the material to please any reader (i.e. some neuroscience-type lessons, some qualitative experiments, some history as it relates to psychology etc.), but as a whole it wasn't a deep page-turner. For a popular science non-fiction read on a dense topic, it does a great job explaining this theory to the general population.
luvbug7554's review against another edition
3.0
Some interesting information about how scientific studies reveal how we as humans view ourselves, our communities, countries, and the world around us.
ivybeans's review against another edition
4.0
I liked the idea that optimism bias might have co-evolved with consciousness. Once humans understood their mortality, they needed to become optimistic to avoid being overtaken by depression.
lizshayne's review
4.0
I enjoyed Sharot's glimpse into the workings of the optimistic mind, though I might have preferred a bit more information about the experiments. The data felt a bit scarce in places.
The writing, overall, was excellent, and that which she did provide was fascinating and provocative. This was definitely a fun (pop) science read.
The writing, overall, was excellent, and that which she did provide was fascinating and provocative. This was definitely a fun (pop) science read.
karend's review
3.0
This was slow going for me at times, but I did like reading about the various studies (and learned the exchange rate is between Cheerios and marshmallows topped with a fruit roll ups according to one group of primates). The point that stuck with me is one that wasn't explicitly made in the book: there's a biological mechanism in the brain that explains why positive affirmations can work: "Via neuronal signaling, higher layers of the brain can convey expectations to lower levels, biasing their activity." There was a chunk in here about people's memories of 9/11 that didn't seem to have anything much to do with optimism but did shed some light on how memories are stored.
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