:59 Seconds is Wiseman's second pop-psychology overview, this time taking a rationalist and scientific look at the self-help industry. Rather than taking a Richard Dawkins-like furious rant attitude at the unscientific though, he prefers to limit his study to things that have been evidenced to work, rather than ideas that don't have any real provenance, and offering useful (in the sense that they might actually be effective) hints for the whole getting on in life business. Handily, chapter summaries give the short version, and the coda gives the less-than-a-minute version that the title promises.
Some might carp that there's overlap in the case studies and examples that Wiseman draws on here with his other books Quirkology and Paranormality (I do that to some extent here), though on reflection, that misses the point. The books are meant to stand alone, and if there's some commonality between them then that's science, baby. In addition, we should maybe take into consideration Wiseman's role as a professor for Public Understanding of Science; his mass-market books aren't necessarily for the cognoscenti as they draw on well-known case studies to make some of their points. What is invigorating though is is reliance on scientific principles, evidence and a generally well-judged light touch to get his ideas across. And yes, you can alter aspects of yourself for the better without resorting to crystals, reiki, hypnotism or sweat lodges...
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