You Are Not So Smart, You Are Now Less Dumb (2 books)

 

By David McRaney

 

These two bestsellers by David McRaney explain why we do silly things based upon delusional beliefs about ourselves. The books reveal that every decision we make and every thought we contemplate come with a story (often untrue!) we tell ourselves to explain them. He brings together popular science and psychology with humor. Reading these books is like taking a psychology class.

 

You Are Not So Smart covers a wide range of topics drawn from all aspects of life, such as coffee (it doesn’t stimulate you; it’s just a cure for caffeine withdrawal), placebo buttons (those fake thermostats and crosswalk knobs that give us the illusion of control), hindsight bias (when we learn something new, we reassure ourselves that we knew it all along), confirmation bias (our brains resist new ideas, instead paying attention only to findings that reinforce our preconceived notions), and brand loyalty (we reach for the same brand not because we trust its quality but because we want to reassure ourselves that we made a smart choice the last time we bought it). Packed with interesting sidebars and quick guides on cognition and common fallacies.

320 pages. Softcover. 2011. $16.00.

 

You Are Now Less Dumb is grounded in the idea that we all believe ourselves to be objective observers of reality – except were not. But thats okay, because our delusions keep us sane. Expanding on this premise, McRaney provides eye-opening analyses of 17 ways we fool ourselves every day, including enclothed Cognition, the Benjamin Franklin Effect, Deindividuation, the Misattribution of Arousal, and more.

288 pages. Hardcover. 2013. $22.50.

 

Can purchase each separately. SPECIAL: The two books for $35.95; please see the Product Options box above when ordering.

 

0414