People Will Talk: The Surprising Science of Reputation by John Whitfield


People Will Talk: The Surprising Science of Reputation
Title : People Will Talk: The Surprising Science of Reputation
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0470912359
ISBN-10 : 9780470912355
Language : English
Format Type : Hardcover
Number of Pages : 256
Publication : First published September 28, 2011

How to get a good reputation—deserved or not!—and why we care what other people thinkWhy does a fish only bite another fish if no one else is watching? Why do people overshare online? Why do some people meet trivial insults with extreme violence? Why do so many gods have multiple eyes? In People Will Talk, science writer John Whitfield shows how reputation helps answer all of these questions, and more. What is the secret to getting get a good reputation? Unfortunately, there's more to reputation than being a good person or being good at what you do. Your reputation belongs to other people, and it's created by what they say about you behind your back. You have a good reputation only if you have a strong social network—a large and close-knit network of friends, family, and allies—to spread good news about you and shout down ugly rumors. If you’ve ever wondered why we care about the lives of celebrities, why young men publicly upload to the Internet pictures of themselves engaged in drunken or dangerous antics, how to make the “honor system” a little more widely honored, how to keep politicians honest, or what keeps gossip going, reputation will give you a clue.


Almost from the moment we are born, we are trying to work out whom we can trust and trying to make others think the best of us.
We carry on doing so throughout life, even when we don't realize it, every time we meet another person in business, friendship, or romance; every time we read celebrity gossip; and every time we tweak our Facebook profiles.
Whether you’re buying a car or selling one, looking for a job or hiring, asking someone out on a date or deciding whether to accept the invitation, reputation matters.
Read People Will Talk and discover how to polish your own reputation, understand what you hear about others, and make the most of both.

People Will Talk: The Surprising Science of Reputation Reviews

  • Andrea

    A solid overview of recent research into how and why we are so tuned into to notions of our own and others reputations, from an evolutionary perspective.

    Very evenly written, largely unbiased and sober, with full reference details if you want to learn more. I'm not altogether convinced about the ultimate usefulness of game theory experiments, cited in abundance here. The models have a certain validity, to be sure, but I feel they are much too reductive to explain complex interaction and decision making in real-life situations. But then that might be my own bias, I'm a decidedly undedicated gamer. However, I was much more interested in the studies involving animal behavior in natural or moderately modified settings, as well as the studies of babies choosing between helpful and unhelpful puppet objects. (No animals or babies were harmed in any of these experiments folks) There is also a fairly edifying chapter on the evolutionary reason for the existence of psychopathic behavior, and another entertaining one on social networks, which includes discussion of author sockpuppeting (on Amazon, but easily applied to GR!)

    One little quibble: a bit too unsatisfyingly brief (217 pages sans notes) and for some reason, the author decided not to include a final chapter to recap, synthesize, and conclude, which would have been welcome.

    I'd like to give 3.5 stars, but I choose to round up for this one, considering the overall quality of the writing.

  • Mir

    The realm of psychology with supporting of scientific research and findings. It dwells you into what does reputation really means.

    At page 4 which stated “our willingness to trust strangers and to be trustworthy is one of the most amazing and powerful things in the history of life and one of the hardest to explain.”

    I find it convenient to open up myself to strangers that i met while travelling than to those in my surroundings, this maybe due that the strangers does not know who i am, what i do for living and i may not see the person again for the entirety of my life. This is what came in my mind while reading the paragraph at page 4.

    The example of blood donation at page 36 make you wonders on how human behave. The blood donation will benefit the society at large and it did not cost you anything albeit a temporary pain yet still people do not do it. This attract the question why.

    A reputation are intangible that you cannot be measured it upon, it derived from a person’s behaviour, character and how the individual interact in his/her life on a daily basis. If you put too much thought on your reputation, i personally believed you indeed succumbed to the forces of others as people will talk irregardless whether you do good or bad things. It’s important not put much weigh on it.

  • Katherine Rowland

    Interesting and readable overview of the scientific study of reputation. While I didn't find every study mentioned convincing, I did find a lot of material for thought, especially in terms of how I think about other people and why.

  • Bessie James

    Thia book is difficult if you have an aversion to studies about human behavior in psychology experiments. Nonetheless, there are some very interesting insights about how powerful reputation is in shaping our behavior, how early in life this starts (at 10 months babies will reward others kindness), and even how reputation influences international confrontations. It's a hard slog but, overall. it's worth the effort.

  • Marla Griffith

    Scientific with a lot of studies. I should have just flipped through it at the bookstore.