An Outsiders Guide to Humans
(Camilla Pang, PhD)
Book Summary and Notes
🚀 The Book in 3 Sentences
Dr. Camilla Pang is a scientist with Asperger's Syndrome. Asperger's syndrome is a conditions that involve delays in the development of many basic skills, most notably the ability to socialize with others and understand social nuances. She could be compared to Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory, just a way cooler female version. Her book "A Guide to Explaining Humans" is her guide-map of scientific theories that helped her understand the behavior and the social norm, to navigate to navigate herself through the world.
🎨 Impressions
Remarkable. Through this book I got to see into the world of neurodiverse humans. Things we take as granted like understanding facial cues, sarcasm or feelings. Things like these do not come easy to her. She had to figure out her own way of living within these social norms and doing that, while using science is such a unique perspective.
How I Discovered It
It was suggested to me via the Libby app. I first thought it might be a novel, because I immediately thought of an outsider as aliens and told myself I am not that much into sci-fi. but once I read the description of the book, I was immediately intrigued and couldn't wait to start reading it.
Who Should Read It?
If you have Asperger's, it might be a great guide for you to understand the social norms with actionable tips to follow. If you do not have Asperger, but you know someone who does OR you genuinely want to be more inclusive of neurodiverse people, this is a great read to look into the minds and struggles of those, who do not have the same way of thinking as you and I do.
☘️ How the Book Changed Me
How my life / behaviour / thoughts / ideas have changed as a result of reading the book.
This book covers a lot of our day to day experiences and struggles. How to deal with anxiety, perfectionism, social awkwardness or how to achieve your goals.
When I started reading it, I did not think that any of it might be applicable to me or my life, but reading through the chapters, theory by theory and tool by tool, I realized that there is always something to learn, even for someone like me who falls into the social norm.
For example the very first chapter already pulled me in when she explained the concept of "branch thinking". Instead of thinking inside the box, with very limited options and no plan B, this way of thinking allows us to be flexible and still get to the root of the problem. (pun intended)
Another chapter that was mind blowing to me, while in hindsight it should have been obvious, was the one on how to achieve your goals. Ill explain with this example. There are two versions of us. One is the version in our head. The one who wakes up early, goes for a run, eats healthy, is insanely productive at work AND has time to pursue his hobbies at the end of the day, even after spending time with his family. The second version is how we are in this very moment in life. The gap between these two is one that we are constantly trying to lessen. Constantly wanting to improve ourselves, especially when we are motivated by the beginning of a new year. The problem here is, that we already have given up by day 3. The problem lies in wanting to get all the things done all at once. Here is where Dr. Camilla Pang explains that we don't need to do it all at once and paralyze ourselves by depleting our willpower. We need to figure out what is the one thing that will have the most impact on our life and make everything else run smoother. What is the one thing that will get the snowball rolling downhill. Picking up speed, momentum and grow faster and faster. For me it meant to concentrate my focus on waking up early. Having time in the morning before my family is up, because once they get up it means go-time for me. In the evening I am often depleted of energy and the capacity to think straight, so the mornings are golden for me. It is the time I feel fresh and rejuvenated and it is the time I am most likely to be a better writer. Now this sounds very obvious, duuuh, but for a night owl like me who always has been someone who stays up late and enjoys doing my tasks later during the day, that meant adjustment. So if I could just manage to wake up early the habit of reading, writing and other creative projects becomes easier. Finding time to read becomes easier, homeschooling becomes easier. Once I wake up earlier all the other habit and tasks I want to include into my life, get a slot into my day.
Beside the fact that this book has given me many more "tools" to add to my toolkit for life, it has also opened up the world of science to me. I view the world from a perspective of awe now, being amazed by the wonders of nature and God's creation and how His natural laws are all present in what we do and who we are. It has brought me closer to my Creator and more in tuned with the laws of nature.
📒 Chapter Summary
- How to actually think outside the box. Machine learning and decision making
- How to embrace your weird. Biochemistry, friendship and the power of difference.
- How to forget about perfection. Thermodynamics, order and disorder.
- How to feel the fear. Light refraction and fear.
- How to find harmony. Wave Theory, Harmonic Motion and finding your resonance frequency.
- How to not follow the crowd. Molecular dynamics, Conformity and individuality.
- How to achieve your goals. Quantum Physics, network theory and Goal setting.
- How to have empathy with others. Evolution, Probability and Relationships.
- How to connect with others. Chemical Bonds, Fundamental Forces and Human Connections.
- How to learn from your Mistakes. Deep learning, Feedback Loops and Human Memory.
- How to be Polite. Game Theory, Complex Systems and Etiquette.
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