If you read one book for yourself this year-yes, it is possible to read a book for enjoyment in college-this is the one.??\Astonish Yourself! 101 Experiments in the Philosophy of Everyday Life"" by Roger-Pol Droit is quirky yet insightful at the same time.
Originally written in French, this book crosses cultural boundaries and readily applies to American life. ??
Droit is a philosopher and researcher at the Centre de la Recherche Scientifique, columnist for the French newpaper Le Monde and author of ""La Campagnie des Philosophes.""
He wrote this book to give readers a different perspective on things they do every day and to help us question why we do what we do by giving us tasks meant to make us think.
Every chapter, or experiment, explains the duration each experiment should last, the props that are needed and also tells what effect the reader is supposed to experience while performing this experiment. ??
For example, experiment 18 is to ""visualize a pile of human organs.""??The duration is estimated at 30-40 minutes, props required are anatomical plates, but noted as optional and the final effect is ""pitiless."" ??
In other words, if one completes the experiment, ""you can then conceive of a world where the human species, no longer living normally, will have been dismembered and stashed in piles at every crossroads-organs in heaps along every roadside to signal the triumph of a new order.""
At first glance of the table of contents, one laughs at the absurdity of some of the titles-such as ""Hurt yourself briefly,"" ""Drink while urinating,"" ""Eat a nameless substance,"" ""Contemplate a dead bird"" and ""Look for a blue food""-which is much harder than one would think, since one of the rules is it has to be naturally blue (and blueberries are violet). ??
While about half of the book's experiments are hilarious and fun to try, the other half are, well, boring. Of course it is nice to drive through a forest and fast for a while to feel one's self empty. But the first impression of the book as being comical leads to disappointment. Even for these boring chapters, though, contemplation breeds what Droit was trying to achieve-a different perspective on the world.
While doing some of the experiments that were not too extreme for this non-daring reader, some of the desired effects really did tilt the perspective through which the world is seen-even if only a little bit.
Drinking while urinating, it must be said, had to be the most bizarre feeling in the world. As Droit said, ""the water you are drinking seems to exit directly from your bladder"" and your body ""organized in a way which until then you had never imagined possible.""??The stated effect of ""wide open"" was certainly true for this strange task.
What is particularly enjoyable about this book, aside from being immensely entertaining in most of its chapters, is that it is very readable for a college student. There is often little time to read what is required-much less reading a book for the heck of it.
Since this book is divided into two and three-page chapters, it is easy to fit 10 pages into an already busy schedule without missing anything, as one would with a novel. ??
Readers can also jump around and read chapters that catch the attention instead of just reading straight through.
Despite some pitfalls, the benefits that can be derived from this book definitely outweigh any excuses not to read it. Hilarious and thoughtful at the same time, this book is a must-read for the busy student.
