histre profile github twitter linkedin hackernews goodreads keybase email pgp rss
You Are Not So Smart
by David McRaney
You Are Not So Smart
My Rating
5 / 5
Date Read October 30, 2017
Pages 302

My Notes

He uses great examples to illustrate logical fallacies and cognitive biases.

About This Book

An entertaining illumination of the stupid beliefs that make us feel wise. Whether youre deciding which smart phone to purchase or which politician to believe, you think you are a rational being whose every decision is based on cool, detached logic, but heres the truth: You are not so smart. Youre just as deluded as the rest of us--but thats okay, because being deluded is part of being human. Growing out of David McRaneys 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 arent 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.