Has anyone read the Chimp Paradox?

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The author Prof Steve Peters came in to speak to us. Very interesting chap and very interesting concept/explanation of how our minds work in practice. I am definitely going to buy the book (and his childrens one as well)

Be interested if anyone has any thoughts on his approach?

 marsbar 08 Mar 2019
In reply to Bjartur i Sumarhus:

I've found it useful.  

 Exile 08 Mar 2019
In reply to Bjartur i Sumarhus:

Similarly, I found it useful, as did some of my staff team that I suggested it to.

 DaveHK 08 Mar 2019
In reply to Bjartur i Sumarhus:

Pseudoscientific pish.

5
In reply to Bjartur i Sumarhus:

Listened to the book on audible, an interesting model for interpreting how the brain works. A different model but some similarities with transactional analysis.

I would say it's a model that some people could use to improve some areas of their iife.

Post edited at 20:15
In reply to DaveHK:

Have you read it? What did you not like about it?

GoneFishing111 08 Mar 2019
In reply to Bjartur i Sumarhus:

I couldn't get on with it but everyone else i have mentioned it to, including the guy that gave me the book raved about it.

 wildebeeste 08 Mar 2019
In reply to Bjartur i Sumarhus:

I found it useful in terms of identifying priorities in life and maintaining a more even keel emotionally. Rather than ‘pseudoscientific pish’, I would say therapeutic approaches underpinned by some neuroscience and digested for easy lay consumption.

 planetmarshall 09 Mar 2019
In reply to DaveHK:

> Pseudoscientific pish.

Only just looked it up on Amazon, but an immediate red flag is an author using an academic title. Something Stephen Hawking or Roger Penrose never felt the need to do.

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 planetmarshall 09 Mar 2019
In reply to DaveHK:

> Pseudoscientific pish.

...and also, I'd bet money that he wrote his own Wikipedia page.

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 wildebeeste 09 Mar 2019
In reply to planetmarshall:

I don’t follow. 

 snoop6060 09 Mar 2019
In reply to Bjartur i Sumarhus:

I read it, well most of it. It's a bit meeh. I mean it's OK but it sorta reads like it's for children. Or adult morons. 

Post edited at 07:11
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In reply to planetmarshall:

When you are Stephen hawking you and your publisher probably realise that you don't need to boast about academic qualifications. 

There are a lot of "self help" books written by celebrities and professional self help gurus. If you are writing a book as a non famous name and your profession and academic qualification relate directly to the subject it seems sensible to mention it. 

I don't know if it is what you intended but it sounds a bit like you are saying "we have had enough of those so called experts"

In reply to snoop6060:

When he was speaking to us it was the stuff he mentioned about children and how to understand what’s happening when they behave a certain way which I thought was interesting and I could relate to. 

In regards to people suggesting it’s a load of balony, well maybe, but in his defence an awful lot of the world’s leading sportspeople have found his ideas very useful in achieving success judging by their testimonies. 

I have never read a “self help” book before so I’m looking forward to it. Olympics medals here I come 😉

 DaveHK 09 Mar 2019
In reply to Bjartur i Sumarhus:

It was a while ago that I read it and I didn't finish it. I did some side reading around it and came to the conclusion that his strategies may help people but the neurological basis he advances for them is at best out dated. 

edit: I was a bit grumpy when I wrote last night's comment!

Post edited at 08:27
 marsbar 09 Mar 2019
In reply to snoop6060:

That's quite rude. 

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 toad 09 Mar 2019
In reply to Bjartur i Sumarhus:

He's the guy that worked for british cycling? Isn't that a bit of a tainted brand these days, what with bullying and drug use allegations?

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 snoop6060 09 Mar 2019
In reply to marsbar:

Why? It's just came across as something you try to teach your kids. Something that adults should already understand. Perhaps morons is a bit strong. 

In reply to toad:

Not just cycling. Also athletics, Ronnie O’Sullivan , Liverpool fc. Sure there are others. 

If British cyclists cheated. I don’t think it was their positive mental attitude and stress coping mechanisms 

 planetmarshall 09 Mar 2019
In reply to mountain.martin:

> I don't know if it is what you intended but it sounds a bit like you are saying "we have had enough of those so called experts"

In a manner of speaking, though in the manner of Popper rather than Gove, in so far as a method with actual scientific validity should stand on its own merit. Adding the academic prefix sounds to me like, "I know this is a bit dodgy, I'll stick 'Prof' on the cover because the content isn't good enough to stand on its own"

Anyway I haven't read it. And I can't say an endorsement from Ronnie O'Sullivan is going to have me rushing to Waterstones.

 farmus21 09 Mar 2019
In reply to Bjartur i Sumarhus:

I read it a while back, based on the fact that a number of athletes and others had endorsed it plus a growing awareness of CBT etc.

I thought it was interesting and the writing style (lay terms, backed up with evidence) appealed to me as a lay-type. 

I can't say I digested and understood it all but the general take away messages struck a chord and I have gone on to read a couple of other titles that I probably wouldn't have done otherwise.

If you haven't already, I  recommend checking out:
Nate Silver - The Signal and the Noise
Daniel Kahneman - Thinking, Fast and Slow
Roanne van Voorst - Fear!
Dan Gardner - Risk
A few Oliver Sachs titles too

I'm sure these titles will single me out as some kind of pseudo-science pish receptacle (the thinking man's dump-it) but I enjoyed them and they have definitely taught me to look at things, particularly risk and training, differently.  

And Ronnie O'Sullivan or not, I worked at Waterstones at the time of reading it, so had no choice but to be there. 

J

In reply to planetmarshall:

Whatever you think of Ronnie O'Sullivan he is a man who has achieved remarkable success in his field, as are many others who state that they have benefited from steve peters approach. 

Much better than a celebrity endorsement surely?

I listened to the book this year and found some useful insights in it that could be of benefit to a child or an adult. There are a large number of adults who don't understand why their brains cause them problems, myself included sometimes. A model (even if simplified and not a strict scientific interpretation) to aid some people's understanding can't be a bad thing

Clauso 09 Mar 2019
In reply to Bjartur i Sumarhus:

I read it, took a lot from it, and recently moved into a cage at London Zoo. 

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 Mr Fuller 09 Mar 2019
In reply to Bjartur i Sumarhus

I saw Steve Peters speak about five years ago on the subject and thought it was one of the best lectures I've ever seen. It was extremely powerful and I think the theories in the lecture actually changed the way I think. It was brilliant.

I bought the book and to be honest was pretty disappointed. It's got roughly the same principles as the lecture had but it is a hundred pages too long and needs a serious edit. It covered much of the content of the lecture but didn't have the same gravitas. If you made notes in the lecture they'll be better than the book.

Post edited at 12:43
 DaveHK 09 Mar 2019
In reply to planetmarshall:

> In a manner of speaking, though in the manner of Popper 

The guy with the penguins?


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