Product Description
From terror attacks to the war on terror, real estate bubbles to the price of oil, sexual predators to poisoned food from China, our list of fears is ever-growing. And yet, we are the safest and healthiest humans in history. Irrational fear seems to be taking over, often with tragic results. For example, in the months after 9/11, when people decided to drive instead of fly—believing they were avoiding risk—road deaths rose by more than 1,500.
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The Science of Fear: Why We Fear the Things We Shouldn’t–and Put Ourselves in Greater Danger
I was very intrigued by this book and enjoyed it thoroughly until I got to Chapter 2… As a Christian I am insulted by this chapter and recommend against anyone else buying it, unless you truly believe we share a line with apes and that God did not in fact create all beings. I couldn’t get through ch.2 due to the amount of misleading statements and opinions stated as facts by the author. I took it back for a full refund within 2 hours of purchasing it.
Rating: 1 / 5
This book talks about EVERYTHING but the science of fear. It documents, quotes and references EVERYTING except subjects related to the science of fear. Chapter 1 is interesting and good but goes downhill from there. My guess is that it was a great journal article that went too far and fell short of a good book. I kept reading hoping it would turn around but it never did.
Rating: 1 / 5
This book reads like a text book, very slowly. Lots of interesting info but too much of it. The author could have been just as effective by describing only 2-3 psych studies per point instead of describing study after study after study. I sometimes wondered if I was reading an original work or just reading a summary of psych experiments.
Rating: 2 / 5
The author rambles some, yet does present most of the material in a readable fashion. He does provide some referencing, but his index needs work. This author really needed a more aggressive editor. The lack of editorial discipline detracts from the subject, and this and Chapter 9, keeps this book from being significant. Unfortunately, in Chapter 9, the author takes sophomoric and unsubstantiated shots at the Bush administration. Read the book, but either skip Chapter 9 or realize as a lefty newspaperman without a competent editor (no shortage of these) he just could not stay with the science.
Rating: 3 / 5
This is a very good read and interesting book. I learned about how our brains really work written in a way that the layman can understand.
Rating: 4 / 5