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An entertaining illumination of the stupid beliefs that make us feel wise, based on the popular blog of the same name.
Whether you’re deciding which smartphone to purchase or which politician to believe, you think you are a rational being whose every decision is based on cool, detached logic. But here’s the truth: You are not so smart. You’re just as deluded as the rest of us—but that’s okay, because being deluded is part of being human.
Growing out of David McRaney’s popular blog, You Are Not So Smart reveals that every decision we make, every thought we contemplate, and every emotion we feel comes with a story we tell ourselves to explain them. But often these stories aren’t true. Each short chapter—covering topics such as Learned Helplessness, Selling Out, and the Illusion of Transparency—is like a psychology course with all the boring parts taken out.
Bringing together popular science and psychology with humor and wit, You Are Not So Smart is a celebration of our irrational, thoroughly human behavior.
This book's subtitle assertions mark just the beginning of its counterintuitive lessons. David McRaney's You Are Not So Smart is a savvy pop psychology tutorial on little-known concepts such as the Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy, the Backfire Effect, the Theory of Learned Helplessness, and the Just World Fallacy. A winning guide to common fallacies for the libraries of authors like Malcolm Gladwell.
Anonymous
Posted October 27, 2011
I'm so glad I bought this book. I couldn't put it down once I started reading. The author explains everything in ways that make you remember what he talks about, and applies it to situations you can understand. Very entertaining, interesting, and great conversation starters .
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.George_D68
Posted June 14, 2012
Without getting too deep into the book McRaney covers a lot of information in short tidy chapters. Some may think his explanations are a bit short on some subjects but I think the books purpose is to make you realize you have a lot of built in or developed biases in your thought processes. Further study can be in the notes in the back of the book. Would definitely recommend it as a beginning read and then follow up with with whatever you are more interested in from the bibliography.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted December 3, 2011
A fun review of the current studies of human behavioral science.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted December 1, 2011
This book was interesting and entertaining. Some of the chapters dealt with common issues like learned helplessness or priming but it was still fun to read. The book is written well and reviews a lot of social psychology principles and research. I only wish i had enough focus to remember and effectively use these ideas.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted March 13, 2012
Good size chapters that will drive some humbleness into life. I often had to quit reading from time to time for a little self reflection.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 1, 2013
Worth the money! A deep look into the real world we live in and telling us why we do what we do.
Anonymous
Posted February 4, 2013
It is a good book overall and I enjoyed it, but what annoyed me was his lack of exact information. He would use vague
statistics like "people would react [in this way] somewhat more often." It was a good book but would be better if it was
backed up with exact information.
Anonymous
Posted January 20, 2013
Resourceful, humorous, and meaningful. Nicely organized into chapters with a different topic. Does not make the audience feel totally stupid, rather McRaney points out the delusions, explains, ensures the everyone is just most likely thinking of the same thing, and offers advice on how to improve.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.An excellent book which had been recommended to me by a fellow software designer.
If you're interested in an overview of how we behave in ways we don't always perceive then this book is jam-packed with anecdotes and examples of experiments and research into thinking and behavior without being too stuffy or scientific.
Useful for all sorts of readers from those with an academic interest to folk simply wanting to delight in reading such oddities as why you should never sit in a room with a briefcase and a big office desk when trying to negotiate a better deal from a supplier. No...really.
Great stuff - definitely recommend it.
Anonymous
Posted August 17, 2012
Very enlightening book.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted July 20, 2012
I enjoyed reading this on my Nook and now want to buy it in paperback to use it as a reference. I will be thinking about the information and looking back on it for years to come. If you like to think about thinking - this book is for you!!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted March 8, 2012
Was not what I had expected, however it was interesting.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 1, 2012
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Posted November 14, 2011
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Posted March 4, 2012
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Posted March 23, 2012
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Posted November 6, 2011
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Posted December 17, 2011
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Posted November 6, 2011
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Overview
An entertaining illumination of the stupid beliefs that make us feel wise, based on the popular blog of the same name.
Whether you’re deciding which smartphone to purchase or which politician to believe, you think you are a rational being whose every decision is based on cool, detached logic. But here’s the truth: You are not so smart. You’re just as deluded as the rest of us—but that’s okay, because being deluded is part of being human.
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