Saturday, June 14, 2014

You Are Not So Smart (David McRaney)

You Are Not So Smart
David McRaney
Gotham
Nonfiction, Human Psychology
**** (Good)


DESCRIPTION: You're not like those other people - the ones who are swayed by advertising and political posturing, who jump to conclusions, who are willfully blind to their own weaknesses, who are capable of acts of unthinkable callousness or cruelty. You know what's going on. You are in control of your life and your future. Sure, you make a few mistakes, but you learn from them, and will never repeat them.
If you think all that, you are not so smart. But don't worry. Nobody else is that smart, either.
McRaney outlines 48 common intrinsic faults in human thinking that skew our perceptions, handicap our growth, and hinder logical thought processes, most of them hardwired into our brains... yes, even yours.

REVIEW: This is an interesting - if often depressing - look at how little control we have over our mental processes and behaviors. No, we're not mindless automata enslaved by our ancestral subconscious brains, but we still have a lot of unacknowledged clutter in the attic... much of which we cannot eliminate. The articles are short, rarely longer than three pages, and make their points without too much psychological jargon. It makes for interesting food for thought... well, insomuch as my useless brain is capable of thought.

You Might Also Enjoy:
Predictably Irrational (Dan Ariely) - My Review
Duh!: The Stupid History of the Human Race (Bob Fenster) - My Review
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents Earth (The Book): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race (Jon Stewart et al.) - My Review

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