Hail! Hail! Rock and Roll. It was a chance meeting after a fifty year gap that prompted me to embark on this journey back to my youth. Some things are best left in the past but rock music has endured, so it was not a case of looking back through rose coloured lenses it was more a sense of recording the story so far. Ray Dexter embraced the whole package and used the dual talents of a great voice and classic rock and roll looks to pursue the dream. Back in the day I was inspired by his enth...

想雖然可恥但是有用！亞馬遜讀者五星強推！最熱愛「怪力亂神」的美國心理學暢銷作家帶你重新認識幻想與心理假象的妙用「如果有任何一種信念能促成我們去追求更好的生活，那這個信念就是有益的。」──美國心理學家威廉．詹姆斯「透過清晰又愉快的筆觸，作者讓我們看到非理性衝動的影響力。」──康乃爾大學心理學教授吉洛維奇（Thomas Gilovich）根據美國精神醫學會的定義，妄想是「雖有足以反駁的證據，但還是無法改變的固著信念」，雖然嚴重的妄想是一種疾病，但在人生中，我們卻是靠著適度的妄想才能克服困難、達成目標、走過低潮，這甚至是生活不可或缺的習慣。作者在書中羅列了許多科學研究與案例來說明妄想的效用：．在心中跟過世的親人對話，比較容易走過哀慟的日子。．重病患者在治療時有樂觀的看法，就更有機會康復。．歐巴馬只要在投票日當天去打籃球，就一定會勝選。．納達爾一定用右腳先踏進球場。．有宗教信仰的人容易覺得自己...

Stuart Vyse, Ph.D., is the author of Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition, which received the William James Book Award of the American Psychological Association. A celebrated psychologist and professor as well as a recognized author, he is the perfect guide for this audio series on the power of superstition.This wide-ranging course reveals the method to our madness in everything from finances to Friday the 13th. An expert on irrational behavi...

A fascinating examination of delusional thinking and how it might benefit health, relationships, and wellbeing. Although reason and rationality are our friends in almost all contexts, in some cases people are better off putting reason aside. In a number of very important situations, we benefit by not seeing the world as it is, and by not behaving like logic-driven machines. Sometimes we know we aren't making sense, and yet we are compelled to act against reason; in other c...

Over the last four decades, debt, bankruptcy, and home foreclosures have risen to epidemic levels, and the personal savings rate has sunk dangerously low. Why, in the richest nation on Earth, can’t Americans hold on to their money?First published in 2008, Stuart Vyse’s Going Broke described the epidemic of personal debt that existed in the years leading up to the Great Recession, and anticipated the home mortgage crisis that started it. Ten years later, this fully updated ...

Over the last four decades, debt, bankruptcy, and home foreclosures have risen to epidemic levels, and the personal savings rate has sunk dangerously low. Why, in the richest nation on earth, can't Americans hold on to their money? First published in 2008, Stuart Vyse's Going Broke described the epidemic of personal debt that existed in the years leading up to the Great Recession, and anticipated the home mortgage crisis that started it. Ten years later, a fully-updated new editio...

Over the last three decades, debt, bankruptcy, and home foreclosures have risen to epidemic levels. To make matters worse, the personal savings rate is at its lowest point since the Great Depression. Why, in the richest nation on earth, can't Americans hold on to our money? Winner of the prestigious William James Book Award for Believing in Magic and an authority on irrational behavior, Stuart Vyse offers a unique psychological perspective on the financial behavior of the many Ame...

Do you touch wood for luck, or avoid hotel rooms on floor thirteen? Would you cross the path of a black cat, or step under a ladder? Is breaking a mirror just an expensive waste of glass, or something rather more sinister? Despite the dominance of science in today's world, superstitious beliefs - both traditional and new - remain surprisingly popular. A recent survey of adults in the United States found that 33 percent believed that finding a penny was good luck, and 23 percent believed th...

Over the last three decades, debt, bankruptcy, and home foreclosures have risen to epidemic levels. To make matters worse, the personal savings rate is at its lowest point since the Great Depression. Why, in the richest nation on earth, can't Americans hold on to our money? Winner of the prestigious William James Book Award for Believing in Magic and an authority on irrational behavior, Stuart Vyse offers a unique psychological perspective on the financial behavior of the many Ame...

¿Por qué hay gente que toca madera después de expresar un deseo o se siente incómodo ante determinados números (generalmente el trece) o palabras? ¿O por qué se sienten más tranquilos si se saben acompañados de determinada piedra u objeto, o visten una prenda de un color? El mundo actual se rige por la ciencia, pero pese a ello las creencias supersticiosas, tanto antiguas como nuevas, siguen estando presentes en él. ¿De dónde proceden estas creencias y por qué persisten aún hoy? En este li...

Although reason and rationality are our friends in almost all contexts, in some cases people are better off putting reason aside. In a number of very important situations, we benefit by not seeing the world as it is, and by not behaving like logic-driven machines.The Uses of Delusion is about aspects of human nature that are not altogether rational but, nonetheless, help us achieve our social and personal goals. Psychologist Stuart Vyse presents a lively, accessible explor...

Despite the dominance of science in today's world, superstitious beliefs—both traditional and new—remain surprisingly popular. A recent survey of adults in the United States found that thirty-three percent believed that finding a penny was good luck, and twenty-three percent believed that the number seven was lucky. Where did these superstitions come from, and why do they persist today?Superstition: A Very Short Introduction explores the nature and surprising history of su...