Becoming Sherlock: The Power of Observation & Deduction Paperback – December 2, 2015

Stefan Cain’s Becoming Sherlock: The Power of Observation and Deduction is an interesting and intriguing look at human cognitive skills, and how to improve upon them. This book served to reinforce the concept of mindfulness, a skill that is lacking in much of today’s world. It showed that it is not actually natural for people to observe and deduce, with the brain’s penchant for “fast-thinking.” When one assumes and jumps to conclusions, based on past situations or events, one misses out on the chance to learn how to develop these observation skills. The book gives thoughtful examples to illustrate his teaching throughout the book, with pictures and text samples for you to read, observe, and deduce meaning.The idea of the human brain as an attic in which you store useful ideas and concepts is a thoughtful one. Right away at the beginning of the book, Mr. Cain says the words I like best, “Multi-tasking is a No-No,” using an example to show that one may think that they are accomplishing more in less time, when it is really the opposite—one is accomplishing less in more time! By paying attention to the details, one will not miss any critical information. To illustrate this, Cain provides a few of those riddles where the answer is obvious if you take the time to read all of the words correctly. If one adds the concept of “time” to the five senses, you have six methods of taking in information.He goes on to show the difference between deductive and inductive reasoning, the difference being upon which end of the hypothesis you start. If a hypothesis is proven, then the information becomes “known information,” but if you use inductive reasoning, the solution is only probable. When one uses both types of reasoning, one has a better chance of concluding fact. Cain explained that an inference is a conclusion based on the evidence, while observation is a way of accumulating facts using all of the senses. Many have heard the phrase “sleep on it,” and this is true sometimes. We must step back from our observations and analyze the information we have gained in order to make sense of it.Cain offers a three-step plan for becoming more mindful: a) take note of your surroundings; b) take note of your emotions connected to the surroundings; and c) get into the habit of observing everything around you, at all times. He goes on to describe short- and long-term memory as being information used in quick recall, or “rote” learning, and that of true learning, which involves adding new information to that already known. He recommends taking notes in order to remember things. “Jot notes” are just observations jotted down on paper; “mind notes” are those you commit to memory; and “interview notes” are those you take when talking with people (taken with their permission, of course). Your notes should include: time and place; sensory perceptions; specific facts noted; your response to what has been observed; and any language used at the time. This info should be summarized and then one must question oneself as to whether there is information missing that ought to be included.A method for boosting your memory is also discussed. Cain states that the “Mind Palace,” or loci thinking, is a good way to boost your memory skills, because people remember space better than words or lists of information. If one were to combine emotion and spatial information, it is even better. The steps for creating a mind palace of your own are:1. Choose a “place” that is familiar to “store” your information2. Think about and note what features are distinctive about your place (these become memory pegs)3. Make sure your route through your “place” is the same, time after time, and firmly implanted in your mind4. Put the “palace” to work by “hanging” memories on each of the “pegs”5. Repeat the journey a few times, to make sure you have done it right and remembered all of the pieces of information.**A note he inserted is that funny or silly things will be remembered long after and more easily than normal information.There is a fascinating chapter about detecting deceit, reading body language, and detecting when someone is lying. Cain states that there are “Three Cs” when it comes to detecting a liar. These are cluster (three gestures in a row reveal the person’s entire thought), congruence (does their expression match their words), and context (are the gestures out of context for this situation).All in all, this is a good read about cognitive skills, and given all of the examples one can try out, one is sure to succeed in becoming mindful. You may even eventually be able to suss out a liar in time to save yourself!

Learn some new things about how the human mind works.

This was a well researched book that allows the reader to practice using the skills. I liked the logic games of deduction and the quotes of Sherlock. I found this to be a basic book that combined many fields of research but a good one. This is a good read.Mr. Joe

I love reading Sir Author Conan Dolye. Sherlock Holmes intrigues me. This little book is interesting and good for a quick look into this subject matter. It can help you decide if you want to pursue it further without significant expense as there are more detailed books out there, but generally more expensive.

This is an excellent book to teach one how to be more aware of their surroundings and to think critically. It shows one how to not take everything at face value, an important skill in this day and age. It also debunks the popular opinion of multitasking in an easy to understand explanation. I highly recommend this book.

This book teaches you how to make money.Cram Wikipedia excerpts in triple spaced paragraphs, name the whole thing to something that people want and let it fly.To the 5-star reviewers - I have a fantastic solution to your mosquito problem.My solution is 100% sure to work. It only kills mosquitos and does not harm the environment.For just $1.99 I can supply you with two wooden blocks.Place a mosquito on the block marked with the letter "A" then press on top with the block marked with the letter "B".It works with all mosquito species and the bamboo blocks have been hand-made by albino monks on the misty slopes of the Himalayas.Now about the book.The good:Page 1-4 are useful.The rest contains:Exercises without solutions, i.e. a task is given which supposedly will teach you something, yet often there is no solution.Like a math book that only gives you the tasks but neither shows nor explains the answer.Proof of certain points made in the book is taken from brain research. In most cases the examples are mentioning images that trick a brain into seeing things that do not exist, i.e movement, false perspective, colors etc.. This in itself is a valid point that needs to be mentioned, however Stefan Cain briefly explains these very complex visual stimuli without any visual aid.The effect is same as when you buy a book on impressionist painters, open it and then see a verbal description of a Monet painting.An enthusiastic reader will plow to about Pg. 21 where the first WTF will silently rise in the background ... Quick overview of the next 10 pages now brings these three letters into the foreground (at this point you are at 50% of the volume).I did go over the rest of the pages ONLY to have the right to write this review.The rest are a bunch of concepts and definitions put together into a barely meaningful sequence - Wiki definitions, examples where you are left hanging without the answer.The author has a good "get out of jail" card. None of the definitions are wrong. All of the definitions and concepts do indeed apply to the general areas of thinking and deductive reasoning. So technically Stefan Can is not liable for presenting false info.Most people with moderate education and curiosity about life will not learn much from this book.I put more thought in the above sentence than the author placed in piecing the concepts together.It is a moderately hedged sentence allowing for a wider pool of readers - for me this book was a waste of time - so much so that I actually sat down to write this review.One 5-star reviewer wrote "... more value than you can ask for ..."Holy ... (substitute here your deity of choice)!

Not what I expected from this book. I was hoping the book would focus more on observation techniques and the logical process of deduction. To a small degree it did this. I appreciated the discussion of the mind palace concept in chapter 3, and the techniques for interpreting body language in chapter 8 were helpful. I wish these topics would have been explored more deeply. Beyond these two chapters I found the book to be a very shallow examination of positive psychology. I feel like the author intentionally capitalized on the notoriety and popularity of Sherlock Holmes to make a tenuous connection to the subject matter in the title. If you are interested in positive psychology I recommend Shawn Achor's Happiness Advantage, he explores many of the same topics of this book but in much greater detail with more useful recommendations.

good book

The author doesn’t understand the topic and I can logically prove it (see page 19 below).Positive:- The book is short. Less than 100 pages. I’m willing to pay a premium for a condensed book.- The observation exercises in picture format are good.Bad:- I believe the title says a lot about the author. Has he thought it through? Not in this case. “The Power of Observation and Deduction”. Why only deduction? It’s about induction as well. The first hint that the other hasn’t though.- Page 88: “The only thing that can destroy you is making bad decisions.” Really? That implies you should make no mistakes in decisions. That’s only through not making decisions. And, by default not deciding, you’re in fact deciding. So recommending the reader not to make bad decisions is a terrible mistake.Terrible:Terrible:- Page 19: “One cannot accept the result as an absolute fact, unless he or she employs deductive AND inductive reasoning.” OK, this is hard proof that the author doesn’t understand the topic. Inductive reasoning never gives you the fact, it only let’s you speculate. But deductive reasoning gives you the fact provided the argument is valid. The following is a deductive argument. No need to imply inductive logic here. The deductive argument is valid and a fact.All men are mortal.Socrates is a man.Therefore Socrates is mortal.This book is a waste of time and money.

Non mi ha particolarmente impressionato. Il massimo in questo campo resta Mastemind l'opera della Konnikova. Questo più che altro sembra un affastellamento non molto organico di spunti presi qua e là.

The book has some pretty neat tricks regarding how to improve your awareness, observational skills, and memory. The instructions weren't too easy to process at first, but after some time with consistent practice, I now feel that I have better memory. If you don't get it right the first try, it's completely natural. Just remember not to give up so easily and I guarantee you'll see improvements within a week.

It's useful....