Monday, June 26, 2017

Review: The Power of Time Perception: Control the Speed of Time to Slow Down Aging, Live a Long Life, and Make Every Second Count Now by Jean Paul Zogby


Genre: Non-Fiction

Description:

Wondering how time flies? Want to slow it down?

Live the Longest Year of Your Life & Make Every Second Count!

With the latest in brain science, discover how to stretch the good times and fast forward through the bad ones. Understand how your brain perceives time, why it speeds up, and how to make the most of it”

Author:

With the last 6 years spent researching Time Perception in the fields of Neuroscience and Psychology, he is passionate about sharing what science has to say about our experience of time and ways to make every second count.

When not writing, Jean Paul composes soundtrack music for film, does research in astrophysics, and enjoys exploring the world.

A husband and father of two lovely daughters and a son, he currently resides in Dubai where he is the CEO on a multi-billion construction project.”

For more, visit the author’s website.

jpzogby.com

Appraisal:

I admit to being somewhat non-plussed about how to review this book. Not because of the book per-se, but because this is the first time I’ve selected a non-fiction title from Al’s list. However, I am a can-do guy, so here goes.

Why I selected the book: Clearly the title is attractive, probably to everyone, but even more so to me, a person riding out the last few innings of life. Of course I’d like to slow down my inevitable demise.

Did the book deliver on the powerful promise in the title: I’d have to say no. I did acquire an interesting way at looking at time through the lens of our perception rather than as a series of fixed increments measured on a clock face. But the concise message of the title was rarely the focus of the chapters in this book. The author wandered and deviated across a wide range of Neuroscience with a heavy smattering of pop-psychology.

On the positive side, the author did include supporting examples, which broke up the narrative, but unfortunately, there were many instances where three or four studies were detailed back-to-back with the same conclusions and with little or no new insights. This did get wearing at times.

I feel confident in summarizing the book as follows: When we are engaged in enjoyable activities, time appears to go quickly. When we are stuck in unpleasant situations, time seems to drag. So, to make life seem longer, we should be very “mindful” when involved in pleasant activities, and use dead time to focus on more interesting activities. Disciplining ourselves in this manner we will “appear” to live an extended life. For this reader, this revelation didn’t fulfil the promise of the title.

Buy now from:            Amazon US     Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

The number of typos exceeded the standard set by Al. These didn’t cause any misunderstandings, but they were irritating.

Rating:  *** Three Stars

Reviewed by: Pete Barber

Approximate word count: 80-85,000 words

No comments: