Powerful ideas from top nonfiction
Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 7,000+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.
Start your free trial
Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
Listen to the Intro
Quirkology summary
Richard Wiseman
The Curious Science of Everyday Lives
14 mins
Brief summary
Quirkology by Richard Wiseman examines the quirks of human behavior, from illusions and superstitions to humor and body language. It provides insights into the fascinating world of psychology and the peculiar behavior of people.
Topics
Table of Contents
Quirkology
Summary of 6 key ideas
Audio & text in the Blinkist app
Key idea 1 of 6
Astrology doesn’t work – or, at least, not as expected.
Do you check your daily horoscope? Are the predictions always mysteriously accurate? Well, that notwithstanding, science demonstrates that astrology actually does a poor job of predicting the future.
In one experiment, the author tried to determine if astrology could help make predictions about the stock market. He asked three individuals – an astrologer, a normal investment specialist and a four-year-old girl – to pick successful financial investments.
The results spoke for themselves: the astrologer was the least successful, losing 10.1 percent of the money he invested. The regular financial expert did only slightly better, losing 7.1 percent. And, surprisingly, the four-year-old girl, who invested at random, fared the best, losing only 4.6 percent.
Furthermore, when the participants were asked to make a second round of investments, the child made a profit of 5.8 percent, while the astrologer remained at a loss of 6.2 percent.
You may be thinking: Okay, so astrology can’t predict events, but it can still tell us about who we are, right?
Actually, the stars don’t affect us. What changes our behavior is our belief in what astrology says.
For example, renowned psychologist Hans Eysenck performed a test on over 1,000 students to determine who were extroverts and who were introverts. It turned out that students with an “extrovert” astrological sign (such as Aries and Leo) scored as extroverts on the test. The same held true for students who were born under “introvert” signs, like Virgo and Scorpio.
But Eysenck suspected that the students’ knowledge of what their sign supposedly means had an influence on their answers. So he performed another test, this time with children, and the results showed that there was no relationship between personality and astrological sign.
As we can see, astrological predictions are often wrong, and even when they aren’t, this is because we tend to unconsciously change our behavior in order to make them seem right.
Want to see all full key ideas from Quirkology?
Key ideas in Quirkology
More knowledge in less time
Read or listen
Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
Find your next read
Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
Shortcasts New
We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.
What is Quirkology about?
Quirkology (2007) takes a uniquely scientific look at some common questions that are often dismissed as trivial: What kind of impact does astrology have on our lives? Is the number 13 really unlucky? Can a joke truly be harmful? And more!
Best quote from Quirkology
The most important thing … is the destruction of superstition. Superstition interferes with the happiness of mankind. - Robert Ingersoll, politician, at the Thirteen Club in 1886
—Richard Wiseman
Who should read Quirkology?
- Readers who enjoy quirky scientific facts and experiments
- People who like to debunk superstitions and myths
- Anyone interested in popular psychology
Categories with Quirkology
Book summaries like Quirkology
People ❤️ Blinkist
Sven O.
It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.
Thi Viet Quynh N.
Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.
Jonathan A.
Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.
Renee D.
Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.
People also liked these summaries
4.7 Stars
Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
29 Million
Downloads on all platforms
10+ years
Experience igniting personal growth