Quirkology: The Curious Science of Everyday Lives

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Wiseman launched the Dream: ON App at the Edinburgh International Science Festival 2012. It is developed and maintained by YUZA, a mobile experience team based in London. The app is powered by an engine which constantly monitors and adjusts the behaviour of Dream: ON; optimising the experience for the user. When the user enters the rapid eye movement (REM) stage of sleep where dreaming is most common, the app delivers unique audio soundscapes which the subconscious is shown to respond to. [35]

In 2011, the first section of a collaborative story at Libboo in an attempt to produce a full-length novel in two months. The final result of this experiment, was a novel called, Paradox: The Curious Life, and Mysterious Death, of Mr Joseph Wheeler. [27] Focus on the paranormal [ edit ]

Quirkology review: Top 5 quotes

Richard Wiseman's Beginners Guide to... Fermat's Last Theorem" with writer and broadcaster Simon Singh. [17] How do you make someone fall in love with you? (Get their heart rate up when meeting them - meeting on a bridge / scary movies - since their mind confuses that with attraction.) What is the role of superstition? (provides an illusion of control; we believe in superstitions more during times of uncertainty.)

a b Wiseman, Richard (1992). The assessment of psychic claimants: an application of schema theory to the evaluation of strong psychic claims. era.lib.ed.ac.uk (PhD thesis). University of Edinburgh. hdl: 1842/20306. OCLC 606153209. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.663964.

Quirkology review: Top 5 takeaways

People focus more on what they see than what they hear Really useful for any of us in the customer comms business, Quirkology describes how we are very much ‘taken in’ by what we see. Wiseman cites the example of the first ever televised debate, featuring Richard Nixon. When asked, the TV viewers thought Nixon came across badly and lost the debate to Kennedy. However, all the radio listeners believed Nixon did much better. This is because Nixon looked awkward and had refused TV makeup, meaning he looked sweaty and uncomfortable. But clearly what he said and how he said it was powerful for those who could only listen. Official Program, Masters of Magic World Convention" (PDF). Masters of Magic . Retrieved 13 May 2020. The Q test described in the beginning was still fascinating; even though I don’t take it seriously. It’s still fun, and I’m surprised that didn’t make it into his final chapter on quirky dinner conversations. He studied psychology, while he was working as a street performer. He moved to Edinburgh where he obtained his PhD in Psychology from the University of Edinburgh for research. We have teamed up with Marvin’s Magic to create a Quirkology box of goodies. The set is crammed full of jaw-dropping illusions, surprising science stunts, and sure-fire bets. Appear to move objects with the power of your mind, transform anyone into a zombie, defy gravity and lots lots more. The box contains everything you need to astound your friends and family, and even has a specially filmed Quirkology DVD.

Anagrams: President Clinton of the USA [= ‘to copulate he finds interns’] and US President Ronald Regan [= ‘repulsed and ignorant arse’]. To combat the worlds trend of becoming a more isolated, creating a sense of community is important. One can create this sense by first initiating others to smaller acts of altruism followed by larger acts.

Is our altruism uniform? (No. We tend to help others more often if they are similar to ourselves. From an evolutionary viewpoint, people who look and behave like us are more likely to be genetically related to us, or at least from the same tribe, and so are seen as being more deserving of our goodwill.) The difference between a genuine smile and a fake smile is all in the eyes – in a genuine smile, the skin around the eyes crinkles; in a fake smile it remains much flatter.” This was a fascinating book to listen to, regarding many psychological experiments carried out on unsuspecting persons, with the results analysed statistically. Some of the results might be considered predictable (such as people are more inclined to help people or groups with whom they identify), and some just off the wall (such as most inconsiderate drivers being FEMALES in white vans).

In 2011 the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSICOP) presented Wiseman the Robert B. Balles Prize for Critical Thinking for his book Paranormality. "Wiseman is not simply interested in looking at a claim... He is interested in showing us how easy it is for us to be deceived and how easily we can be fooled and fool others." [40] We also recently reviewed Adrian Swinscoe’s How to Wow Which details his 68 practical ways to improve Customer Experience Professor Richard Wiseman started his working life as a professional magician, and was one of the youngest members of The Magic Circle. He then obtained a degree in psychology from University College London and a doctorate from the University of Edinburgh.

Wiseman's 2011 book, Paranormality: Why We See What Isn't There was electronically self-published in the United States, as Wiseman was told by American publishers there was no interest in scepticism. [26] The Good Magic Award Winners announced". Good Thinking Society. 17 March 2020 . Retrieved 6 July 2020. Paranormal anomalies have long been a target of Wiseman’s experimental bow. To test the psychology of ghostly experiences, for example, Wiseman spent 10 days at Hampton Court Palace in London, having individuals walk through specific locations and describe any unusual experiences. He discovered that people who have a vivid imagination and are easily hypnotized reported a sensed presence and an uneasy feeling in the exact same locations where those with dry imaginations reported nothing. In a related study, Wiseman’s psychologist colleague James Houran of Southern Illinois University had subjects walk through an abandoned cinema and describe how it made them feel. One group of subjects was told that the building was haunted, and the other group was told that it was being renovated. The “haunted” group reported significantly more unusual experiences than the other group did.