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Annoying: The Science Of What Bugs Us (2011)

by Joe Palca(Favorite Author)

3.17 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0470638699 (ISBN13: 9780470638699)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Wiley

review 1: Annoying: The Science of What Bugs Us by Joe Palca was an enjoyable book that I personally really liked. It is a nonfiction book that adds a little humor in neurology. The book is about scientists quest to find out how to scale what truly bugs us through testing their hypothesis.Throughout the book there are tests performed that I was satisfied with because of their accuracy and variation, so that not all the tests were the same. Many of the tests include how people react to tastes and noises. This was funny for me because I wonder why people would volunteer for something that annoys them.I also found results to be pleasing simply because that they seemed to be true to the test. Even though there is not really a scale for how annoying something really is. The results reall... morey give a good insight of the scientist's purpose for the test.There was only one thing that I found enjoyable, which was the somewhat high use of large complicated vocabulary. I enjoy trying to learn to new larger vocabulary, but some of the words that the author used in this was just a little over whelming to understand. Overall, I rate this book a 4 stars and a recommend you read this book if you want to know how to annoy people using simple things.
review 2: This book was supremely interesting! If you like psychology or NPR or are easily annoyed (like me) then you'll find "Annoying" fascinating. I expected this book to be about the many situations and people we find annoying, but it was largely sensory oriented. In order for the book to work, the definition of "annoying" was broadened to "irritating" or "unpleasant"--especially when it came to our senses of taste, smell and hearing. This was necessary in order to explain the research: largely because the book attempts to span across cultures and also includes animal research in order to find experiences that are universally annoying. The authors really delve deep into the science behind unpleasant experiences. They explain why some experiences become less unpleasant over time and can become something we prefer (like eating hot peppers). While other experiences start out cute and become more annoying as time waxes on (like your partner's quirks). The authors leave no stone unturned and I guarantee you'll see your surroundings (and that cell phone talker on the bus) through a new lens. less

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