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WORK TITLE: Careful
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.stevecasner.com/
CITY: San Francisco
STATE: CA
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevecasner/ * https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/be-careful-your-mind-makes-accidents-inevitable
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Married; children: one daughter.
EDUCATION:Millersville University (Millersville, PA), B.S.; attended the University of Colorado; University of Pittsburgh, Ph.D.; also attended the University of California, Berkeley Extension.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Scientist, psychologist, and writer. NASA, CA, scientist in Human Systems Integration Division.
AVOCATIONS:Aviation, motorcycles, skateboarding, photography.
WRITINGS
Contributor to publications and websites, including Slate.
SIDELIGHTS
Steve Casner is a scientist, psychologist, and writer based in San Francisco, CA. He has attended colleges, including Millersville University, the University of Colorado, the University of Pittsburgh, and the University of California, Berkeley Extension. He holds a Ph.D. Casner has worked as a scientist at a California outpost of NASA and has contributed articles to publications and websites, including Slate.
In 2017, Casner released his first book, Careful: A User’s Guide to Our Injury-Prone Minds. In this volume, Casner highlights his involvement in NASA’s Human Systems Integration Division and explains that his job requires him to create safety precautions for workers and those going into space. His experience has given him a unique look at the many ways in which humans can and do hurt themselves. Casner also recalls all the unsafe activities he engaged in as a child and young adult and discusses his enjoyment of skateboarding, riding motorcycles, and flying aircrafts. Near the book’s beginning, Casner lists several ways, both common and uncommon, that a lack of care can cause death or harm. Texting and driving is among the most dangerous of activities, he suggests. Casner goes on to explain how the human brain figures into dangerous accidents and to offer suggests for keeping oneself safe. Among his suggestions are avoiding speeding, being aware of building exits, and maintaining smoke detectors.
A reviewer on the online version of Publishers Weekly described Careful as a “fascinating debut.” The same reviewer added: “Riveting and relatable, Casner’s book will inspire readers to take a good look at their own lives.” Writing on the Fort Worth Star-Telegram website, David Martindale asserted: “The book is informative, funny and frightening. After reading, you’ll want to wrap yourself in protective bubble wrap.” Discussing the content of the book in an assessment of it on the London Evening Standard website, William Leith remarked: “Why is Casner telling us all this? Are we stupid? Frankly, yes. Casner sometimes tells us things that seem obvious. And that’s the point. Obviously, they are not obvious.” Leith continued: “Much of this should be obvious. Like: be careful around tools. Don’t leave a young child in the bath, even for a moment. Some of it is less obvious.” “A safety expert offers a concise, common-sense guide to not being killed by stupidity,” noted a Kirkus Reviews contributor. The same contributor praised Casner’s “gentle sense of humor” and described the volume as “a modest proposal for a fundamental change to help us not hurt one another.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 2017, review of Careful: A User’s Guide to Our Injury-Prone Minds.
ONLINE
Fort Worth Star-Telegram Online, http://www.star-telegram.com/ (May 18, 2017), David Martindale, review of Careful.
London Evening Standard Online, https://www.standard.co.uk/ (May 25, 2017), William Leith, review of Careful.
Publishers Weekly Online, https://www.publishersweekly.com/ (February 20, 2017), review of Careful.
Steve Casner Website, http://www.stevecasner.com/ (April 9, 2018).
Steve Casner is a research psychologist who studies the accident-prone mind. A NASA scientist by day, Casner also flies jets and helicopters, rides motorcycles and skateboards, and has surprisingly few scratches on him. He lives in San Francisco with his wife and daughter.
Steve Casner is a research psychologist who studies the creative, problem-solving, ever-wandering, and sometimes injury-prone mind. A NASA scientist by day, Casner also flies jets and helicopters, rides motorcycles and skateboards, and has surprisingly few scratches on him. He lives in San Francisco with his wife and daughter.
***
Steve graduated from Millersville University with a B.S. in Computer Science, then went on to graduate school at the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Pittsburgh, earning an interdisciplinary Ph.D. across the departments of Psychology, Computer Science, and Medicine. After graduate school, Steve studied news and magazine writing and editing at UC Berkeley Extension. Steve is a semi-regular contributor to Slate Magazine.
Since 1990, Steve has been a research psychologist at NASA and have studied the effects of increasing technology in the airline cockpit. Many of his scientific publications can be found here.
Steve flies airplanes and helicopters. He holds an FAA Airline Transport Pilot certificate, and is rated to fly the Boeing 737, the Airbus A320, and several business jets.
Steve is an avid photographer and still rides skateboards.
QUOTED: "A safety expert offers a concise, common-sense guide to not being killed by stupidity."
"gentle sense of humor."
"a modest proposal for a fundamental change to help us not hurt one another."
Casner, Steve: CAREFUL
Kirkus Reviews. (Apr. 1, 2017):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Casner, Steve CAREFUL Riverhead (Adult Nonfiction) $26.00 5, 23 ISBN: 978-0-399-57409-2
A safety expert offers a concise, common-sense guide to not being killed by stupidity.In his debut, Casner--a research scientist in NASA's Human Systems Integration Division, which helps maintain strict safety standards for astronauts and others involved in the aerospace field--offers a sharp, concise review of the things that can kill or harm us, how we contribute to the problem, and what we can do together to make us all safer. With specific categories like transportation, watching children, interacting with doctors, and taking and giving advice, the author addresses universal, daily situations in which people are exposed to potential harm. One might think it's another Silicon Valley cheer for technology, but not only does Casner think we're less safe today, he believes the helpfulness of our available tools has reached its peak ability to save us from ourselves. "In this book I will argue that we have come to the end of a really good run," he writes. "That we have wrung all of the big gains we're going to get from putting rubber corners on stuff and saying, 'Hey, don't do that.' Companies aren't going to rescue us from this quandary with new safety features." Instead, the author argues for a fundamental change in the perception of risk and our related behaviors. The risks he identifies in our injury-prone minds are delightfully simple, and he stresses the importance of paying attention, gauging risks, planning ahead, and looking out for each other. To illustrate his points, he uses real-life examples, from red light-running to the 2003 Rhode Island nightclub fire that killed 100 people. Although Casner employs a gentle sense of humor, the book's greatest strength is the author's encouragement of compassion for others in everyday life: "We sometimes miss the point that we're all in this together and we really are one another's greatest resource."A modest proposal for a fundamental change to help us not hurt one another.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Casner, Steve: CAREFUL." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Apr. 2017. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A487668473/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=26fed9f4. Accessed 16 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A487668473
QUOTED: "Why is Casner telling us all this? Are we stupid? Frankly, yes. Casner sometimes tells us things that seem obvious. And that’s the point. Obviously, they are not obvious."
"Much of this should be obvious. Like: be careful around tools. Don’t leave a young child in the bath, even for a moment. Some of it is less obvious."
Careful!: The surprising science behind everyday calamities and how you can avoid them by Steve Casner - review
A book about how not to have accidents. By William Leith
WILLIAM LEITH
Thursday 25 May 2017 17:35
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Back in the old days, Steve Casner tells us, we were less careful. As a kid, he remembers sticking his head out of the car window, putting plastic dry-cleaning wrappers over his head and playing with chemistry sets. In those days people didn’t always wear seat belts. There were fewer guard rails and more dodgy kerosene heaters. “We licked stamps,” he says.
Casner is now in his fifties and a psychologist at Nasa in California. His job is to prevent accidents. This is a book about how not to have accidents. We must be more careful. One of the main problems is that we already know this. “The same psychological mis-steps happen over and over again,” says Casner. Perhaps that’s why there’s an exclamation mark in the book’s title.
Still, we’ve been getting better. In America a century ago, one in 20 people died of accidents. By 1992 the figure was one in 40. Since then, it appears to have got slightly worse. “Today we are back to the safety record we had 30 years ago.” Why? Possibly because the pace of life — of inventions, of distractions, of cars — has been increasing.
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Don’t text and drive. Leave your phone alone. That’s one of Casner’s big messages. Even at stop lights. You may think you can switch your focus from the road to the phone when the car is at a standstill. But you can’t. There is “a sort of hangover effect”. How long before you’re giving your full attention to the road again? “Up to 27 seconds.”
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So don’t try to do two things at once. This is “delusional multitasking”. It’s hard enough doing one thing at once because your attention slips after a while — “vigilance decrement”.
Casner loves these handy phrases. And, by the way, if you’re sitting by the pool, watching your kids, don’t let your attention drift, even for a moment. You might not see the warning signs.
Next: be careful when you’re doing something you do a lot. When you do something a lot, you do it without thinking — “automaticity”. And when you do it without thinking you sometimes have accidents. Casner says: “We sometimes slip.” Chopping vegetables, we chop our hands. “The lesson here is to make slips and mistakes a part of the contingency plan.” In other words, get your fingers out of the way first. Duh! Why is Casner telling us all this? Are we stupid? Frankly, yes. Casner sometimes tells us things that seem obvious. And that’s the point. Obviously, they are not obvious. To be really careful, he says, think: “1. How could this go wrong? 2. Should I really do this? 3. What can I do to prevent this from going wrong? 4. What would I do if it did go wrong?”
But we don’t, do we? On planes, always wear your seat belt, because “turbulence can come out of nowhere”. When you’re in a crowded nightclub, get to know where the exits are. Think ahead. Also, understand that you are subject to “temporary insanity” — like taking risks when you’re in a hurry.
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Like I said, much of this should be obvious. Like: be careful around tools. Don’t leave a young child in the bath, even for a moment. Some of it is less obvious.
A kid can drown in a bucket of water (they fall forward). You’re more likely to be hit by a car in the middle of a block than at the end. Planes are really safe. Speeding is bad — and hardly saves any time. Buy a smoke detector. In the US in 2015, the four per cent of homes without smoke detectors accounted for 37 per cent of fire deaths.
So: be careful. But that’s not enough. Think about it more. Add an exclamation mark. Be careful!
QUOTED: "The book is informative, funny and frightening. After reading, you’ll want to wrap yourself in protective bubble wrap."
‘Careful’ points out everyday dangers and measures to ensure safety
BY DAVID MARTINDALE
Special to the Star-Telegram
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May 18, 2017 02:15 PM
There are no accidents.
Steve Casner, author of “Careful: A User’s Guide to Our Injury-Prone Minds,” maintains that almost every unintentional injury and death is preventable.
He knows whereof he speaks. The NASA research psychologist has dedicated the past 20 years of his life to ensuring the safety of people who are hurtling through space.
Casner’s mission statement in “Careful” (Riverhead Books, $26) is to point out everyday dangers and to provide tips to help “keep the casts off our legs and the tags off our toes.”
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The book is informative, funny and frightening. After reading, you’ll want to wrap yourself in protective bubble wrap.
But the perils, he promises, can be sidestepped if we pay attention to the world around us.
One of Casner’s favorite soapbox topics involves texting and driving.
Conceding that he can’t persuade overly confident (delusional) drivers to stop texting for safety’s sake, he tries a different tack: “Wichita State University recently published a study that shows how the quality of our texting suffers when we are distracted by the task of driving a car.”
How’s that for a reason to put down the device?
Also new in bookstores this week
“The Only Child” by Andrew Pyper (Simon & Schuster, $25). This creepy thriller introduces readers to Dr. Lily Dominick, a forensic psychiatrist whose weird patient claims to be more than 200 years old. He also says he personally inspired the 19th-century horror classics “Frankenstein,” “Dracula” and “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” Could it be true?
“Never Call Me a Hero” by N. Jack “Dusty” Kleiss (William Morrow, $26.99). A WWII dive-bomber pilot recounts his exploits (and those of fellow fliers) during the Battle of Midway. Kleiss helped sink three Japanese warships during the crucial 1942 U.S. victory in the Pacific. He died in 2016 at age 100 as the book neared completion.
“Enemy of the Good” by Matthew Palmer (Putnam, $28). The author of this diplomatic thriller is a 25-year veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service. Kate Wallander, a Foreign Service officer who doesn’t play by the rules, moves from Havana to the Kyrgyz Republic, where a dangerous mission awaits: She must infiltrate an underground democracy movement.
QUOTED: "fascinating debut."
"Riveting and relatable, Casner’s book will inspire readers to take a good look at their own lives."
Careful: A User’s Guide to Our Injury-Prone Minds
Steve Casner. Riverhead, $26 (336p) ISBN 978-0-399-57409-2
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“Being careful today seems harder than it used to be,” observes research psychologist Casner in this fascinating debut. The number of fatal injuries has declined significantly over the past century, but since 1992, accidents have actually been on the rise, which Casner attributes to the influx of technological innovations. He proposes a proactive response, stating, “the next safety revolution is going to have to happen in our own minds.” Using real-life examples, research studies, statistics, and his own experiences, he identifies six basic human vulnerabilities that lead to accidents: inattention, making errors (and being unable to admit them), taking risks, not thinking ahead, failing to look out for other people, and being unwilling to receive or dispense advice. Casner stresses that it is up to each individual to consciously try to overcome these failings. He cautions that people are constantly flooded with an enormous amount of information, which can make it even harder to make wise decisions. Riveting and relatable, Casner’s book will inspire readers to take a good look at their own lives and the safety precautions they take on a daily basis. Agent: Sandra Dijkstra, Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. (May)
DETAILS
Reviewed on: 02/20/2017
Release date: 05/23/2017
Compact Disc - 978-1-5247-7713-5