Timothy Caulfield

Every day, you make thousands of decisions: when to wake up, what to eat for breakfast, how to commute to work, whether to drive the kids to school, how often to check your email, and so on. Making so many decisions takes a toll on your brain. In this book, Timothy Caulfield walks through one action-packed day to talk about common decisions and how they are often based on fear or misinformation. At every step of the way, you’ll find out how to relax and save your energy for the really important decisions.

I liked this book a great deal. The structure of a day is an excellent framing device, and the writing is conversational, with amusing examples drawn from the author’s life. The author acknowledges his own biases and limitations (e.g., his weakness for overpriced coffee), which is a good thing when you’re discussing how other people make decisions. Caulfield is a Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy and is therefore knowledgeable about how scientific studies work, and most importantly, how they are reported on, often incorrectly. He provides examples of language to watch out for that marks it as “observational” and therefore not a conclusive study that demonstrates a causal relationship.

I would recommend this if you’ve read books by Ben Goldacre, Dean Burnett, or Dan Ariely.… (mehr)

I was actually really excited to read this book as I have always had a deep rooted understanding of how manipulative media can be and how celebrity branding can make or break "health" trends. Gwyneth Paltrow has become one of the celebrities that people idolize and follow religiously for their spiritual and health needs so I loved seeing this book hit the shelf. In this book the author examines how celebrities are able to influence health trends despite lack of scientific proof, or credible scientific studies to back the health fads up. The author also delves into the impact celebrity culture has in cosmetic surgery and other treatments.

I did feel the book went topic when if went into odds of achieving stardom, which sadly account for half of the book. I would have rather had a smaller book, then read the rest in regard to his personal views on rising to fame and fortune. Sadly due to this topic change I can only give the book a 3 star rating.… (mehr)