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Annoying
Book

Annoying

The Science of What Bugs Us

Wiley, 2011 más...


Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative

Recommendation

Why are you annoyed? Perhaps the person sitting next to you at the movies is snapping his gum, a driver on the expressway is hogging the passing lane or the lady in the supermarket line smells like a perfume factory. The list of pet peeves is endless. Science journalists Joe Palca and Flora Lichtman charmingly cover common annoyances and the degree to which science explains them. Although they draw on serious academic research throughout, the authors never take themselves too seriously. The result is a clever, revealing and thoroughly entertaining look at why certain sounds, tastes, smells and behaviors drive you up the wall. Will the book enable you to tolerate that buzzing fly or the endless wait at the post office? Maybe not, but getAbstract believes that you’re bound to look at the world around you a little differently – and probably with a dose of good-natured resignation.

Take-Aways

  • Almost everyone feels annoyed by some bothersome stimulus, whether it’s the cloying scent of heavy perfume or the squishy sound of someone chewing gum.
  • Cultural conditioning influences how people respond to irritations.
  • However, some things are universally annoying, such as being subjected to someone else’s half of a cellphone chat or hearing the sound of fingernails scraping a blackboard.

About the Authors

Joe Palca is a science correspondent for National Public Radio, where Flora Lichtman is the multimedia editor for Science Friday.


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