Sure. Probably most relevant in terms of this forum is a book 'Artificial Life' by Steven Levy. By itself, there's nothing wrong with this book. It's very interesting, and I would actually recommend this if anyone is interested in the subject matter. The catch is, I read this right before college. The summer before. And it had a profound impact on my course selection (and thus also the things I did not pick to pursue), it affected my internships, and research study all the way through the beginning of grad school. Looking back, I think I could have spent that effort/energy on a different path. Hence my general wariness to popular science books as they often can take mediocre ideas and spin them into romantic tales.