Book Review: A Deadly Wandering by Matt Richtel

June 9, 2015

About:
A Deadly Wandering: A Tale of Tragedy and Redemption in the Age of Attention by Matt Richtel is a fascinating book which conveys much scientific information in an interesting way. There is much scientific information presented in the book, but it is never dry or boring.

The pub­lisher is giv­ing away one copy of this book –to enter fill out the Raf­fle­copt­ter form at the end of the post.

  • 416 pages
  • Publisher: William Morrow
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0062284061

Book Review: A Deadly Wandering by Matt RichtelMy rating for A Deadly Wandering5

Buy this book in paper or elec­tor­nic format*

More Books by Matt Richtel

Thoughts:
A Deadly Wandering: A Tale of Tragedy and Redemption in the Age of Attention by Matt Richtel combines scientific data with a the story of Reggie Shaw, who at the age of 19 was involved in a fatal car crash. Shaw was convinced he was innocent, as sad as the accident was, it was simply that – an accident.

But Mr. Shaw was texting a few moments before the accident, this was in 2006 when scientists were just studying the effects cell phones and texting have on the brain. After all, we can do multiple simple tasks while driving, we can talk, listen and even find our favorite radio station.

What scientists were, and to some degree still are, figuring out is that constant emails and texts appeal to a primitive part of the brain which is on constant lookout for a change in the environment because it might be important. That change used to be a crush of leaves indicating a predator behind you, now it’s a car speeding up and cutting you off. That part of the brain is on constant alert scanning the environment (which includes your electronic device) not knowing if the next message is SPAM or an important business deal. Our brains are geared towards a dynamic, constantly changing environment like Facebook or a slot machine – a win could be just around the corner.

Mr. Richtel takes the reader on a scientific and judiciary journey. Along the way Reggie Shaw, a devout Mormon, completes a journey from complete denial to realizing that he was at fault for the deadly accident and works tirelessly to spread the message of the inherent dangers of texting and driving.

I found the book to be very informative and interesting, as well as learning a few things (such as the concept of “inattention blindness” where a driver looks like he/she is focused on the road but is mentally somewhere else, this could happen up to 15 seconds after sending a text). Even before reading this book I was a firm believer on doing one thing at a time and that multi-tasking might allow you to do multiple things, but none would be as good if you only concentrated on only one task, I have many conversation about this with co-worker and family – this book must might become a staple on my bookshelf for easy reference.

Buy this book in paper or elec­tor­nic format*

More Books by Matt Richtel

Give­away

  • Give­away ends: June 16, 2015

  • US Ship­ping Addresses Only

  • NoPOBoxes

  • Win­ners will have 24 hours to write back with their address, oth­er­wise an alter­nate win­ner will be picked

Congratulations: shamy@

Zohar — Man of la Book
Dis­claimer:I got this book for free from TLC Book Tours.
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account

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One Comment

  • 9103a1771d28397bf776d863e883a413
    Heather J @ TLC Book ToursJune 13, 2015 at 12:07 pm

    I have never heard anything about the science behind paying attention and distraction but I have to say that it sounds absolutely fascinating. Tragic in the case described here, but fascinating.

    Thanks for being a part of the tour!

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