Friday, July 5, 2013

Just Jennifer

 Time Warped: Unlocking the Mysteries of Time Perception by Claudia Hammond (Harper Perennial, June 2013)

Modern life seems to revolve around time, the lack of it and the speed of it.  As a child, the time between birthdays seems to drag on forever while the time between the last day of school and the return shortly after Labor Day speeds by at a startling pace.  While many people experience time in a linear fashion, not everyone does and Hammond, a psychology lecturer, writer and broadcaster, offers other ways to view time and perhaps change the shape of it.  Using current scientific, physiological and psychological research, Hammond attempts to explain how we see time and why we see time differently based on our circumstances.  Even the book, arranged in six parts, does not need to be read in a linear fashion.  Chapters on the illusion of time, why it speeds up for some people and how we can manage our time better all illustrate how time is a very personal thing and how we can individually shape how we perceive and use it.  Hammond’s easy writing style present the information in a fascinating manner; reading through this book like having a discussion with a friend over a cup of coffee.  This is a book that is definitely worth, well, taking the time to read.

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