Zapped

by Mary H.K. Choi

What if there was a secret world where people—among them US soldiers and Silicon Valley wunderkinds—were making themselves smarter? Their reaction times, aptitude for language, problem-solving skills, and marksmanship are all improving under the watchful eye of scientists and DARPA (the defense advanced research projects agency). Such are the claims of transcranial direct current stimulation—also known as TDCS—a noninvasive treatment where you strap electrodes to your skull to zap your brain. It all sounds like a shady society of secret humans snatched from the pages of comic books, but it's not. It's real life. And Mary H. K. Choi visits as a human guinea pig to conduct experiments on herself to see what she'll find out, to hilarious and fascinating results. Mary H. K. Choi has written for GQ , The New York Times , New York , Wired , and Glamour . She is the former editor of MTV Style and executive producer of the documentary House of Music, Models and MTV . She has also written comic books for Marvel and Vertigo and hosts a podcast on jobs called Hey, Cool Job . It's available on iTunes.

Genres: Essays

MP3 CD

Published May 24, 2016

About the author

Mary H.K. Choi is a Korean-American author, editor, television and print journalist. She is the author of young adult novel Emergency Contact (2018). She is the culture correspondent on Vice News Tonight on HBO and was previously a columnist at Wired and Allure magazines as well as a freelance writer. She attended a large public high school in a suburb of San Antonio, then college at the University of Texas at Austin, where she majored in Textile and Apparel.

Reviews

[chvang · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mary H. K. Choi writes about her foray into the world of TDCS (transcranial direct current stimulation). She literally hooks up two electrodes to her head and zaps her brain for 10 minutes a day, 5 days a week, for 2 weeks. It's supposed to make her become smarter. The science isn't conclusive, but what evidence that is out there is appealing enough for the Ms. Choi to seek it out.

I like science a whole bunch, but I love The X-Files more — I want to believe.

She tries to join clinical studies, repeatedly fails, and finally gets a personal machine to self-administer. She attempts to learn Farsi, become a sharpshooter, and twirl a pen.

I’m going to try to learn how to twirl a pen, in a practice known in Japan as mawashi. It’s otherwise known as that annoying but enviable gift that all Asian mathletes seem to have, where they can register impatience and boredom with elegantly spinning mechanical pencils. Between that and the Hello Kitty sleep mask, I’m a study in abusing electrical neuroscience to get way more stereotypically Asian. I’ve always been jealous of pen-twirling but too cool to practise it, and the one time I tried it was really, really hard.

First she attempts the skill, records how well she does, then tries again after stimulating her brain. There is improvement, but the author is unclear in her documentation. The results, and ending, are inconclusive.

Listen to it on Audible or read it here:

https://aeon.co/essays/would-dabbling...

[Snonono · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a "Kindle single" but I really wish it were a full-length book. An interesting topic that I'd like to read more about.

[Prudence · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've recently learned that some readers decide whether to listen or read a book based on ratings and reviews that other people have left. If that's you and you are like "oooh a 2? That's not good!", then slow your roll. It's a 2 for me. I picked this because it was available in the Audible Plus library and I needed a Z book for my monthly alphabet reading challenge and I wasn't enjoying the book I'd pick. This fit the bill but I never fully understood what was going on. It was like reading a strangers diary and having no background on their life.

[Katrina Lawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over my head and interesting enough for my to digest the whole audiobook. Ms. Choi always astounds me, with her real insight into a different world than the ordinary. I think I’ll stay as smart as I am going to be.

[michelle (travelingbooknerds) · Rating 4 out of 5]

read for #koreadathon 2022

[Denise Lauron · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up as a freebie and because it was a quick read.

I was interested in the topic, and I learned a little about the subject, but it kind of felt like a fluff piece to me. I disagreed with the author's reasoning for attempting her study, but she had some valid points.

I don't really recommend this book, but it wasn't bad.