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  • The Expectation Effect

  • How Your Mindset Can Transform Your Life
  • By: David Robson
  • Narrated by: John Sackville
  • Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (330 ratings)
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The Expectation Effect

By: David Robson
Narrated by: John Sackville
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Summary

A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK

A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF 2022

People who believe ageing brings wisdom live longer. Lucky charms really do improve an athlete’s performance. Taking a placebo, even when you know it is a placebo, can still improve your health. Welcome to The Expectation Effect.

David Robson takes us on a tour of the cutting-edge research happening right now that suggests our expectations shape our experience. Of course, you can’t just think yourself thinner, happier or fitter, but using this book you can reframe many different facets of your life. These easy-to-use skills will help you on your way to becoming the person you want to be, living the life you want to live.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2022 David Robson (P)2022 Canongate Book Ltd

What listeners say about The Expectation Effect

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Quite an interesting premise

I had heard this book reviewed before it came out so thought it would be interesting.
Lots of good examples throughout to show how your expectations can influence how your body reacts to things.
The thing I found a bit annoying was that at the end of each chapter there was a bell and then a little exercise to do - bit its really hard to go back after finishing the book to find all these individual exercises - so would have bene good to have them all repeated at the end.

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14 people found this helpful

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Excellent

Just a side note to say not to be put off if you’ve heard the BBC Radio 4 series which is read by the author who says fink and fing instead of think and thing, the reader here is excellent. Not trying to be mean but it’s one of my pet hates and nearly didn’t purchase as a result, sorry! I recommend this 100%.

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12 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Read this book!

"The Expectation Effect" explains why you are always right when you think you can or can't do something. The beliefs we hold about ourselves become self-fulfilling prophecies.
For decades there have been discussions about the power of the mind and how we can harness its "magic," but David Robson illustrates how little we still understand ourselves and what we are capable of. Supported by a plethora of sound sources and evidence, Robson explains how the brain works, why it's a prediction machine and how we can use its powers to our advantage.
This book should be compulsory reading in schools! I genuinely believe that everyone can benefit massively from reading this book.
Thank you, David Robson!

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11 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Pharma shill?

Lots of very interesting insight into the power of the mind, however I have some very serious reservations about the intent of the author in writing this book, particularly given that is released at a time when trust in the medical/pharmaceutical industry is at an all-time low for reasons that don’t need to be elaborated here! While expounding an impressive explanation of the mind’s power to shape someone’s reality, the author takes this to absurd lengths in trying to convince us that the serious negative effects of drugs can all be put down to the nocebo effect, completely ignoring the many well-understood mechanisms of harm and other warning signals associated with them. For instance, in his insistence that vaccine related deaths and injuries are all caused by the power of the mind he completely fails to mention that the developers of such products are generally unwilling to include a true placebo group in clinical trials, but rather administer a toxic adjuvant like Aluminium or existing product developed using the same protocol to the ‘control’ group. Clearly they have neither faith in the safety of their products or in the ability of the nocebo effect to produce sufficient negative effects in a true placebo group to balance those in the active group. In the case of HPV vaccine trials the use of a small true placebo group highlighted the dangers of the product so clearly that the results from it had to be mixed in with the larger sham control group when published, in order to dilute its impact. One would have thought that facts like these would be relevant to the discussion, but the author apparently thinks not, presumably because it would spoil his narrative. Similarly, the very real problems with statins are completely ignored and we are told that the negative effects users experience are all down to the nocebo effect and the world would be a much healthier place if people would just believe in the drugs they are given and stop letting their minds interfere with the beneficence of the drugs industry. There is enough published information on the subject that it is hard to believe that Mr Robson, in all his research endeavours for the book, is unaware of the reality of the situation, so the only conclusion I can come to is that he is deliberately trying to push an agenda. Of course, the health dangers of electromagnetic radiation are dismissed in similar fashion, without a mention of the significant amount of research done on the subject over many years. Apparently it can all be dismissed with a wave of a wand and the incantation of ‘the nocebo effect’. What a convenient phrase that is. The author goes so far as to say that we should all implicitly trust all new technologies and that any ill-effects from them are because people don’t trust them enough. What a completely irresponsible attitude! History is littered with products and technologies that were thought safe at the time but which we now know to be anything but. Has he not heard of thalidomide, for instance? No doubt if he had been writing this book a few decades ago he would have been extolling the safety of smoking and asbestos and writing off concerns as all due to people’s overactive minds.

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4 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Fascinating subject(s) made dull

There is a lot about this book to commend, but I found myself frustrated with the ponderous storytelling. I would have preferred either a much shorter, denser book or one with more engaging prose.

Other people I’ve spoken to did not share my reservations though.

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Inspiring change!

How do our expectations and beliefs influence our lives? Does the picture we hold in our mind's eye influence our reality? David Robson suggests it does.

Using data from various studies in scientific research, from pharmacology, medicine, chemistry, behavioral science, psychology, and athletics. Bridging the counterintuitive results that lack subject-specific explanations. Like how placebos have cured sick patients. How eating less but being told it's more has reduced hunger in study subjects. How elite athletes performed higher than their previous peak performance when their performance output data was manipulated. How an individual's views on old age and biological ability reflect their body. Importantly how people with a negative attitude towards old age demonstrate more characteristic age-related changes.

All the studies are used to underline the importance of the state of mind. The empirical evidence shows that whatever our mind's deterministic emotional inclination affects and molds the outcome of our reality. Adopting this lens to view the world is what David Robson recommends, and I can't help but agree.

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3 people found this helpful

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  • JH
  • 03-04-22

where is the accompanying PDF?


PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

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Don't buy - missing material

Very annoying trying to listen to an audio book which constantly says - 'look at the figure in reference 1' etc when none of the written material is available.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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One of the best books I’ve read (heard)

Relentlessly fascinating.

Working In health care it has helped me bring new meaning to my work and helped me reflect greatly on my attitudes towards so many aspects of life.

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Very interesting!

A very interesting read. I chose this audiobook out of pure curiosity of placebos/nocebos, not realising how useful it would prove in daily life; in dealing with stress, long term conditions/pain, etc.

It's well written, well read, very interesting with real life benefits as a bonus!

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