Customer Reviews

How Real Is Real?

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"How Real Is Real?" - Some may think a book with this title and this topic is a heavy, demanding read. But let that not mislead you: While Paul Watzlawick's book is terribly interesting and thought-provoking, it also very easy to read, entertaining and amusing. And it makes you realize that "Information" is not always what it seems to be. Based on many partly weird, partly funny and thoughtful anecdotes and sample cases, Paul Watzlawick delivers a broad view on what we usually call "reality". He shows that we're often quite alone with our seemingly subjective perception of what's "real".

"How Real Is Real?" is amusing, informative and as thrilling and persuasive as a detective story. You can even try and verify many of the communicative games described in the book with your friends, your family of your colleagues. This book is not only valuable for potential Communication Scientists, but also for everyone who is interested in the way we communicate, in understanding, in truth and lies - and the effects and problems that come with them. This book is definitely a "Thumbs Up".

I use this text as a warm-up to communication theory, and most students enjoy it thoroughly. Watzlawick cleverly intertwines interesting anecdotes with basic tenets of human communication in such a way that the reader can't put the book down. When he or she is finished, the reader walks away with a better sense of how people perceive "reality" and thus explains the basics of how communication works between individuals. I re-read the book at least once a year and always find something novel to take with me, as well. I highly recommend it to anyone, but especially those interested in pursuing a career where communication is involved--and these days that means just about every career you can imagine.

I don't mean literally wet of course. It is possible though that the communications theory at its core could be dry even dull to one with no interest in the subject matter. That is most definitely not the case though. The anecdotal layout of Watzlawick's writing makes for an informative and fascinating read.
Through no fault of the author's some of the anecdotal stories are a little dated due to the time of publication such as when he writes about cold war situations in his disinformation sectiom. However this does not take away from the theories being discussed in these parts so do not affect the overall reality of the book haha.
If nothing else this book should inspire the reader to question exactly what is reality and muse about objectivity vs. subjectivity in communication thus affecting one's own reality and I think he succeeds admirably in getting his points across in an interesting often funny medium.

Drawing on many different sources, the authur shows us how strange 'ordinary' reality is. I challange anyone to read this book, for the first time, and not begin to think differently about this thing called 'Reality'. Facinating forays into topics such as, communicating with animals/dolphins, artificial intelligence,psychotherapy, and espionage.One is shown how 'constructed' reality is and hints at how this construction can be changed to improve our everyday lives.

Confusions are a must in our society today, such as he said that she thinks that I think etc, etc, but only the gifted and the well read human beings are allowed to toy with ideas in terms of manipulation and power. This is a must read book for anyone who thinks they have all the answers. QUESTION EVERYTHING!

I have to admit, the first time I read "How Real is Real" in 1990, I didn't quite understand it the way I do now. That said, it is, like any truly enlightening writing, something to be referred to again and again. And I am pleased to add it to my library of such reference books.
Paul Watzlawick takes the reader through a sampling of alternative takes on reality; how they are generally perceived, along with various details on how these views of reality came about. All meant to instill in the reader a sense that, while the jury may be out on many considerations of reality, there are certain aspects that can be considered touchstones, invitations, as it were, to investigate further how we humans attempt to deal with the here and now. As with any thoughtful author, it is instructive to delve into Mr. Watzlawick's bibliography, to divine how he came to some of the views he holds. Not for the tender-minded. This is definitely for the reader who considers this sort of writing as reading for learning. My purpose in writing this review, by the way, isn't to provide you, the prospective reader, with a cliff notes version of it; I actually stumbled upon the book in the Boston Public library and read it merely on the strength of its title, in one sitting. What's your style?

I bought the book after having read with much appreciation both of his previous technical books: Pragmatics of Human Communication and Change but I found it to be no real match to those previous titles. Basically the author tries to extends his noteworthy analysis of communication to try and give sort of an explanation of the universe! In this effort his covering ranges from the generic, to the unaccurate, to the wholesale wrong (this latter mostly in the part about extra-terrestrial communication, perhaps given to the age of the book: a fact one is led to forget reading the other books that seem to have been written last week).

So, if you are not interested squarely in a theory of everything by a communication psychologist, I would advise against buying this title and be happy instead with the feeling given by the previous ones.

this is a great book for a novice or anyone who wants to better understand the world around them. it is funny,entertaining,educational,and easy to understand! i thoughly enjoyed it and ordered several other books by the same author!