Ratings2
Average rating4
What Are the Chances? reveals how psychology and neuroscience explain the significance of the idea of luck. Barbara Blatchley explores how people react to random events in a range of circumstances, examining the evidence that the belief in luck helps us cope with a lack of control.
Reviews with the most likes.
The Chances Are Good That This Is A Solid Book. Blatchley does an excellent job of looking at the various reasons why we believe in luck, from the societal to the social to the psychological and even the biological. And she does it with enough precision to do justice to the mathematics involved, but with enough generality to be enjoyable to a non-mathematics-oriented public. Overall an excellent “popular science” level look at the subject at hand, and very much recommended.
⭐⭐⭐
So this was an interesting book. The author has a very readable voice that kept me interested throughout. Often difficult to do with a book such as this. I especially enjoyed the historical religious beliefs, the majic tricks, and the luck deities throughout history. That said, sometimes the narrative ventured a little into the “dry” side of things. Still, definitly worth a read.
ARC Via NetGalley