The Invisibile Gorilla
Have been reading quite a fair bit since I'm not working and need to get connected back to the working world. Anyway am going to start writing some reviews of the books I'm reading, be it business or fiction to remind myself about these books so I can go re-read them when the mood strikes me.
I actually borrowed 'The Invisible Gorilla' last year but didn't have time to finish it. I read a few chapters and then had to return it to the library. Luckily, I finally have time to finish it and boy am I glad.
The book is about what is known as 'inattentional blindness' a term used to describe what happens when a person fails to notice some stimulus that is in plain sight. The gorilla is the stimulus that people failed to notice when they are shown a video and asked to count the number of basketball passes. I didn't watch the video cos I was already reading the book, so obviously I would have noticed the damn gorilla but about 50% of people asked to view the video tend to not see it so I could have fallen into either camp.
I really enjoyed the book cos it was easy to read and the examples/ anecdotes given were interesting. I also liked how it wasn't couched in too much jargon and I think it's relevant to everyone, not just people who are into psychology. It definitely makes you re-think how reliable your memory or actually anyone's memory actually is, and of course the flood of books/ games that claim to be able to increase your brain power. Definitely a good read, and the bonus is you can always borrow it from the library!
I actually borrowed 'The Invisible Gorilla' last year but didn't have time to finish it. I read a few chapters and then had to return it to the library. Luckily, I finally have time to finish it and boy am I glad.
The book is about what is known as 'inattentional blindness' a term used to describe what happens when a person fails to notice some stimulus that is in plain sight. The gorilla is the stimulus that people failed to notice when they are shown a video and asked to count the number of basketball passes. I didn't watch the video cos I was already reading the book, so obviously I would have noticed the damn gorilla but about 50% of people asked to view the video tend to not see it so I could have fallen into either camp.
I really enjoyed the book cos it was easy to read and the examples/ anecdotes given were interesting. I also liked how it wasn't couched in too much jargon and I think it's relevant to everyone, not just people who are into psychology. It definitely makes you re-think how reliable your memory or actually anyone's memory actually is, and of course the flood of books/ games that claim to be able to increase your brain power. Definitely a good read, and the bonus is you can always borrow it from the library!