In The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment, author/Esquire magazine editor-at-large A.J. Jacobs chronicles his adventures doing some pretty extreme things, including outsourcing his life, swearing off multitasking, posing nude and practicing the concept of Radical Honesty, a form of direct communication in which one conveys ideas/opinions and performs actions ( e.g., bodily functions ) without any filter whatsoever.
Windy City Times: After reading your book, I was pretty glad you didn't outsource this interview.
A.J. Jacobs: [ Laughs ] Well, there's still time. Did you want me to?
WCT: No, no; I wanted to speak to the man himself. So, let me be radically honest about this book—I found it pretty entertaining and illuminating.
A.J. JACOBS: Oh, that's a beautiful thing to be honest about! [ Laughs ] I'm radically grateful for that.
WCT: In the book's introduction, you said that you're addicted to experiments.
A.J. JACOBS: Yes. I think the best way to improve your life is to try something and see if it works. So if you want to get out of a rut and find out [ for example ] if we lie too much, conduct an experiment where you don't lie for a few days and see what happens. It might cause a little chaos but... [ Interviewer laughs ]
WCT: What factors help you decide which experiments to choose? How far outside your comfort zone are you willing to go? Would you dress in drag or be a gym rat for a month?
A.J. JACOBS: Actually, my next book is about trying to be the healthiest person alive so I've been spending time at the gym—but I have a way to go.
I would say that I have to be passionate about the topic, and the ones in the book are the ones I'm most passionate about; these things are so fascinating to me.
WCT: How does your wife [ Julie ] put up with it?
A.J. JACOBS: [ Laughs ] She puts up with it by being a saint, basically. At the end of the book, she gets her revenge; she gets her own rebuttal. But she finds her own ways of getting back at me—like, in the year I lived by the bible, it stated that I couldn't sit where a woman who had menstruated had sat; so she sat in every seat.
WCT: I adore her already. [ Jacobs laughs. ] Do you ever feel like you go too far?
A.J. JACOBS: Well, I feel that [ experiments ] can create awkwardness and unpleasantness, but I know that it's going to end after a period of time and, hopefully, you get rid of the bad stuff and keep the good stuff. In this new book, I no longer completely avoid multitasking; I'm down to 8-10 cigarettes a day, metaphorically speaking.
WCT: Let's talk about the Radical Honesty chapter. I hadn't heard of the concept of Radical Honesty, although I know some people who practice it. [ Jacobs laughs. ] I'm not sure many people could spend five minutes with [ concept founder ] Brad Blanton.
A.J. JACOBS: Brad is one of the most interesting men I've ever met, but the man has been married five times. It's difficult to do Radical Honesty and maintain a relationship. But I found him fascinating, and it was the craziest interview of my life; he would say whatever was on his mind.
WCT: And then you learned to do the same.
A.J. JACOBS: Exactly. I would say [ to him ] , "You're boring the hell out of me," and he would say, "Thanks! Great to hear."
WCT: And now you practice Sustainable Radical Honesty?
A.J. JACOBS: Yes. I try to be sustainably radically honest, especially about myself. Whenever I screw up, I like to be right out there. It's very liberating because you don't have to try to remember all the lies you've told.
WCT: But you don't talk about other people's flaws.
A.J. JACOBS: That [ is something ] I have trouble doing. Brad Blanton says that there should be no white lies, but I just can't do that.
WCT: However, you are honest throughout the book. It turns out that you're a pretty randy individual—or maybe you're just saying what everyone else is thinking.
A.J. JACOBS: [ Laughs ] Oh, man—that came through? I think my libido is slightly lower than average. But in the book I do confess what I was feeling.
I do hope I'm writing what everyone is thinking. Like when I wrote about looking down the woman's blouse—that was being Radically Honest. If you believe some of the magazines, like Redbook, men think about sex every 30 seconds; if I think about it only once every six minutes, I'm doing pretty well.
WCT: You also reveal your vulnerabilities as well as your like for power, like in the online dating chapter where you pretend to be a beautiful woman. You had the discretion to choose between all of these potential suitors—but I think that's true of any really good-looking person in this situation, no matter the gender or sexual orientation.
A.J. JACOBS: Yeah. I've never experienced it personally, but there is power that comes from being really attractive—and, apparently, it's stressful. You get approached by dozens and dozens of people, and I started to become really picky. I definitely learned some instant deal-breakers: guys who posed in front of their jet skis; guys who say "I'm not a professional gynecologist but I'd be happy to take a look," etc.
WCT: You also revealed your vulnerable side in the chapter "The Truth about Nakedness."
A.J. JACOBS: That's true. Some people have no problem being naked in public; I'm not so good at it.
WCT: So could you go to a nudist colony?
A.J. JACOBS: I think that might be a challenge. I think I'd pass on that [ invitation ] .
WCT: However, then you go on in the chapter to say that you didn't like it when people did NOT look at you!
A.J. JACOBS: It was funny. At first I didn't want people looking at me and then I did—especially with all of these attractive photography assistants running around. They had no interest in me; I could've been be a wicker table or a slab of concrete.
WCT: What's been the most important lesson that you've learned so far [ in these experiments ] ?
A.J. JACOBS: There have been a few. It's amazing how the human brain always go to the negative. You hear a hundred good things and one negative one—and [ the bad one ] is what you remember. There are reasons for this—biological and evolutionary—but it also makes you incredibly unhappy. It's really important to be conscious and focus on the positive.
I did one experiment with my wife in which I tried to do her bidding for a month, in the chapter "Whipped." I thought I was pulling my weight in the marriage, but I was not. I think it's good for [ spouses or people in relationships ] to write down what they do; I guess I thought that the liquid in the soap bottle magically refilled itself. I used to be blissfully ignorant; now I have to get off my ass and do all these things around the house.
A.J. Jacobs will be at Borders, 2817 N. Clark, on Tuesday, Sept. 22, at 7 p.m. Call 773-935-3909 for more information.
