One of the worlds most ingenious researchers, Sam Gosling dispatches teams of scientific snoops to poke around in peoples homes and offices, and discovers that our possessions and daily lives can unexpectedly say more about us, often when the information is cleverly combined, than our most intimate conversations Once you know what to look for, you can see how reliable a new boyfriend is by peeking into his medicine cabinet or whether an employee is committed to her job by analyzing her desk The bottom line the insights we gain can boost our understanding of ourselves and sharpen our perceptions of others