Time to announce a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity!
I have just finished writing my new book (out in the UK in July). I can’t
say too much about it at the moment, but it follows in the quirky footsteps
of The Luck Factor and Quirkology, with part of it looking at the scientific
basis for quick and effective ways to change your life.
So here is my idea – I thought that it would be fun to offer up a unique
opportunity to write the book’s dedication (the bit right at the start that
reads, for example, ‘This book dedicated to xx’).
If you are the chosen one, you will be free to write any dedication you
like! You might decide to dedicate it to yourself, your friends, a loved
one, a family member or pet.
All you have to do is email me at r.wiseman@herts.ac.uk with:
1) The single sentence that has proved most helpful in your life. It might
be something that a friend or family member has said to you, something you
have figured out yourself, or something you have read in a book or heard in
a film. Either way, send in the piece of life advice that you believe
everyone should know.
2) Your dedication
So, for example you might go with ‘Live every day as if it is your last’ and
‘To Eric’.
A panel of judges will then look at the ‘life advice’ sentences, and choose
the best one. The winner will then get their dedication printed in the
book.
The rules are
http://www.richardwiseman.com/rules.html
Have fun, and I look forward to hearing from you!
Best wishes
Richard
Redefining Crazy
If you wanted to make a list of important books you should read, what would you choose? Anna Karenina, maybe? The Bible? How about the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders?
It may not be at the top of your list, but the DSM, as it’s usually called, is one of the most important books in the world. It attempts to categorize, describe and give a code number to literally every problem that can occur in your mind, from schizophrenia to borderline personality disorder to something called mathematics disorder, which is essentially being so bad at math that it amounts to a mental problem.
The DSM is important not only because it is wildly ambitious but also because mental-health professionals around the world have adopted its classification system. In the U.S., it is virtually impossible to get reimbursed by an insurance company for treatment unless a mental-health professional identifies your condition by a DSM code number.
What is SkeptiCamp?
SkeptiCamp is an international* network of participant generated skeptic conferences.
It’s a new kind of BarCamp, an ‘unconference’ whose content is provided by the attendees themselves. Where barcamp focuses on technology, SkeptiCamp instead focuses on science, critical thinking, pseudoscience, paranormal claims, alternative medicine and the hundreds of topics of interest to skeptics.
Next camp is on the 28th March in Vancouver. Anyone else going?
SkeptiCamp
Old age begins at 27 as mental powers start to decline
Coops will be 30 soon and I’m (ahem!!!) 27 (cough!) this year. Derren is over 50 and practically brain dead!
It’s Pi day
woo hoo – go Pi you… uh.. rock! Derren will be celebrating 3.142 times tonight.
Jon Stewart – The Daily Show
US TV can be pretty poor but one show really I like when I’m over there is the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. For those of you from the UK not in the know it’s the Comedy Central program that every now and again gets a little bit shockingly serious and helps “unspin the spin”. In the link below Stewart interviews CNBC financial advisor Jim Cramer (the guy who screams and shouts at you to buy this and sell that whilst breaking stuff with a baseball bat) and then hands him his ass on a plate by showing him “off the record interviews” about how to spin the truth and lie to people to control stocks and share values. In one instance he talks about encouraging people to highlight fake news about the iPhone to push down AT&T and Apple shares.
This deliberate use of mass misdirection created by the US media is not comfortable to watch but it only leads me to think of the sensationalist reporting we still see in here the UK.
If this doesn’t float your boat watch a few other skits for a definitely the most entertaining way to learn about US political spin at it’s worst.
First Draft Blog
First Draft is the blog of Prospect Magazine – a general interest magazine specialising in politics and current affairs. They have just redesigned their blog and it’s well worth a visit as there are some interesting articles about emerging branches of Philosophy and a great new Science and Technology section.
How dare you call me a fundamentalist
Richard Dawkins may be Britain’s foremost atheist, but he is willing to be inspired and uplifted. Is he a believer after all?
Full interview over at Times Online
This week I will be laughing my ass off to…
Dawn of the dumb. I don’t normally find books that funny, as a medium I prefer audio, live performance or TV, but this week Dawn of the Dumb was left on my desk and after an initial browse I finished it in 2 sittings. Released in 2007 it’s a razor sharp and ascorbic read – at one point I laughed my throat raw, spluttering quotes to my colleagues whilst getting looks of smiling disgust. To say it’s aggressive and angry is an understatement, but if your a fan of his column from the Guardian then do yourself a favor and pick up a copy and laugh until your eyeballs bleed.
The making of “The Crevasse”
I have seen these pavement paintings before but never “the making of”, very cool.
