Genre: Nonfiction
Rating: 3.5 Soda Caps
"The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business" by Charles Duhigg was my first good book in a really long time. I picked this book up at the airport to endure a very long trip. I was intrigued by the cover and the idea of habits controlling our lives. As a business major and very analytical person, I found this book an easy pick. As I dove further I found myself a bit disappointed. I had hoped for something more about the activity of our brains during these habit routines. That or something more influential. Why is it that one person will pick and choose their habits but another will not, leaving them plummeting into debt or destruction? Then one person is told they are free to go, while the other must suffer consequences.
By the end of the trip, I still hadn't finished it because it really didn't hold my interest. I liked a few of the stories. However, Duhigg jumped back and forth between the stories, leaving me frustrated by the end. I wouldn't say this book was an entire waste of time because some of the points he made provoked some intense thoughts. Rather, I'd say this book was stretched passed the point of reason.
*Spoilers*
My favorite example in this book would have to be either the one about Febreeze (just because I like saying "hydroxypropyl beta cyclodextrin") or the one of the sleep walking man. For about 50 years Brian Thomas ignored his night terror induced sleepwalking and stopped taking his depression medicine thinking nothing would come of it. Then, he killed his wife in his sleep. Thomas received 10 months until his sentence of "not guilty", though he may feel guilty. Duhigg calls Thomas a victim of habit while saying the woman next-door with a gambling addiction was not because she knew the consequences. My view on this differs quite a bit because Thomas knew he had experienced night terrors for some time and had left the people around him susceptible to the consequences. It is up to each person to understand their bodies and the unpredictability of their habits just as we should understand the side effects of drugs before taking them. Regardless of my point of view, my message still stands that this book is very thought provoking. It may even help you grasp where you stand on political views.
