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Loy Machedo's Book Review - The Man Who Lied to His Laptop by Clifford Nass and Corina Yen

214 views · Published 8 May 2013 · 4:57 · Indexed 22 September 2026

Channel: Loy Machedo · 2013 · Education

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The trend now a days for most books at least is no longer the grandiose claims to Explain How Quantum Physics will help you do the Impossible, or Why you should use the Power of the Universe to help you achieve Mystery and Magic or What happens when you get in touch with your Super Consciousness to reach your Destiny. Albeit such Silly Sounding words sandwiched between a Few Scientific Terms may bring about credibility and popularity to the authors (and yes, the moolah that follows it), the end-result is nothing short of a routine boredom of nothingness & ignorance. 

The Man who Lied to His Laptop is among the new breed of books that complies Scientific Experiments based on a Hypothesis to give you specific results -- positive or negative. And the findings do not limit themselves to proving the accuracy of the assumption, rather the black and white reports of a fact finding mission. 

Clifford Nass's book 'The Man who Lied to His Laptop' is an intelligent compilation of rather unusual experiments designed to find answers relating to human behavior. 
For instance, see if you can answers to the following questions:
1) Does Flattery really work?  
2) What happens if you criticize a person for something wrong he has done versus encourage the person, for the same failure, to do better instead?
3) In the case of German Drivers, Male Voice or Female Voice to guide your GPS system -- Which one proves more effective and why?
4) Does wearing common T-shirts at the workplace boost Team Building & Bonding Feelings in Companies?
5) What about Team Building Exercises -- Are they truly effective?
6) Is it better to arouse your emotions or numb them down while making judgments?
7) Do Work related Labels, like branding youself as an Expert or Specialist really work or backfire?
8) How can the law of Reciprocity help anyone?
9) Which is better -- Trustworthiness or Expertise?
10) Inconsistency or Stereotypes -- Which is worse?
So if these questions intrigue you, then this book is worth looking into. 
However...wait. Before you do that, read the rest. 

What did I love about this book?
1) As usual the book took the road of proving assumptions via scientific experiments, observations & research. The author also was unafraid of proving himself wrong in the process. 
2) There are quite a number of thought-provoking questions related to Human Emotions, Personality Types, Using Praise or Criticism and the impact of Corporate Practices like Teams and Team Building Exercises. 
3) The summary at the end of every chapter was a blessing.

What I didn't like about this book?
1) At first it was exciting to read the experiments, but then it became so repetitive, long drawn and boring, I struggled to read through it. It was nothing short of torture. One of the worst collection of mundane details being regurgitated again and again and again.
2) The book could have been condensed to half its size and still not have lost its originality. 
3) Too many unwanted details and too many characters to give credit to (this was my student whom I conducted this experiment with and who became a professor at this great university is peppered incessantly everywhere and on every page)

Moment of Truth
A book with great points to think about but with horrible, terrible and incorrigible long-drawn details to depress any enthusiasm you have for reading. 

Overall Rating
4 out of 10. 
Loved the findings. Hated the Detailed Reading.

Loy Machedo
loymachedo.com | loymachedo.tv

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