Social connection is as essential for our health and happiness as a balanced diet and regular exercise. It reduces our risk of stroke, heart disease, and Alzheimer's. It enhances our creativity and adds years to our life span. Yet many of us struggle to form strong and meaningful bonds--and the problem lies not with our personalities but with a series of cognitive biases that stop us from fulfilling our social potential.

In The Laws of Connection, award-winning science writer David Robson describes the psychological barriers that lead us to keep others at a distance and offers evidence-based strategies to overcome them.

Drawing on philosophy, neuroscience, and cutting-edge psychology, Robson introduces readers to new concepts such as the liking gap, the novelty penalty, the fast-friendship procedure, the beautiful mess effect, and the Japanese art of amae. Whether we are shy or confident, introvert or extrovert, we can all build deeper relationships. The Laws of Connection shows us how.

As David Robson makes plain in this compelling book, the way we think about the world can profoundly shape how we navigate it. Based in science and packed with smart advice, The Expectation Effect will expand your mind--and maybe even extend your life.
--Daniel Pink, New York Times bestselling author of When, Drive, and To Sell Is Human

A journey through the cutting-edge science of how our mindset shapes every facet of our lives, revealing how your brain holds the keys to unlocking a better you

What you believe can make it so.

You've heard of the placebo effect and how sugar pills can accelerate healing. But did you know that sham heart surgeries often work just as well as placing real stents? Or that people who think they're particularly prone to cardiovascular disease are four times as likely to die from cardiac arrest? Such is the power and deadly importance of the expectation effect--how what we think will happen changes what does happen.

Melding neuroscience with narrative, science journalist David Robson takes readers on a deep dive into the many life zones the expectation effect permeates. We see how people who believe stress is beneficial become more creative when placed under strain. We see how associating aging with wisdom can add seven plus years to your life. People say seeing is believing but, over and over, Robson proves that the converse is truer: believing is seeing.

The Expectation Effect is not woo-woo. You cannot think your way into a pile of money or out of a cancer diagnosis. But just because magical thinking is nonsense doesn't mean rational magic doesn't exist. Pointing to accepted psychology and objective physiology, Robson gives us the practical takeaways we need to improve our fitness, productivity, intelligence, and happiness. Any reader who wants to take their fate into their own hands need only pick up this book.

The Intelligence Trap explores cutting-edge ideas in our understanding of intelligence and expertise, including motivated reasoning, meta-forgetfulness, and functional stupidity. David Robson reveals the surprising ways that even the brightest minds and most talented organizations can go wrong?from some of Thomas Edison's worst ideas to failures at NASA--while offering practical advice to avoid mistakes based on the timeless lessons of Benjamin Franklin, Richard Feynman, and Daniel Kahneman.

As David Robson makes plain in this compelling book, the way we think about the world can profoundly shape how we navigate it. Based in science and packed with smart advice, The Expectation Effect will expand your mind--and maybe even extend your life.
--Daniel Pink, New York Times bestselling author of When, Drive, and To Sell Is Human

A journey through the cutting-edge science of how our mindset shapes every facet of our lives, revealing how your brain holds the keys to unlocking a better you

What you believe can make it so.

You've heard of the placebo effect and how sugar pills can accelerate healing. But did you know that sham heart surgeries often work just as well as placing real stents? Or that people who think they're particularly prone to cardiovascular disease are four times as likely to die from cardiac arrest? Such is the power and deadly importance of the expectation effect--how what we think will happen changes what does happen.

Melding neuroscience with narrative, science journalist David Robson takes readers on a deep dive into the many life zones the expectation effect permeates. We see how people who believe stress is beneficial become more creative when placed under strain. We see how associating aging with wisdom can add seven plus years to your life. People say seeing is believing but, over and over, Robson proves that the converse is truer: believing is seeing.

The Expectation Effect is not woo-woo. You cannot think your way into a pile of money or out of a cancer diagnosis. But just because magical thinking is nonsense doesn't mean rational magic doesn't exist. Pointing to accepted psychology and objective physiology, Robson gives us the practical takeaways we need to improve our fitness, productivity, intelligence, and happiness. Any reader who wants to take their fate into their own hands need only pick up this book.

Smart people are not only just as prone to making mistakes as everyone else, they may be even more susceptible to them. This is the intelligence trap, the subject of David Robson's fascinating and provocative book.

The Intelligence Trap explores cutting-edge ideas in our understanding of intelligence and expertise, including strategic ignorance, meta-forgetfulness, and functional stupidity. Robson reveals the surprising ways that even the brightest minds and most talented organizations can go wrong--from some of Thomas Edison's worst ideas to failures at NASA, Nokia, and the FBI. And he offers practical advice to avoid mistakes based on the timeless lessons of Benjamin Franklin, Richard Feynman, and Daniel Kahneman.

During the past 25 years of civil war in Sri Lanka, Anjalendran has stayed on, creating architecture that has attracted interest across the entire Indian subcontinent. In Anjalendran, David Robson explores this unique man and his uncommon vision. Anjalendran's buildings have a simple directness, and although totally modern in spirit, they acknowledge the rich design traditions of Sri Lanka. Whether working with ample budgets or at rock bottom cost (like his SOS Children's Village orphanages), his work focuses not only on creative buildings, but--a la Frank Lloyd Wright--also their landscaping, furniture and decoration.

Just as interesting as the architecture is the process by which Anjalendran works—: from home, never employing more than four student assistants, with no office, no secretary, no car and no cell phone. He operates without a bank account and has never signed a contract with either a client or a builder. With stunning color photographs, plan details and behind-the-scenes insights, Anjalendran sheds light on the works of this exceptional man.