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You Are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You're Deluding Yourself

David McRaney

3.86 · Rating details · 33,519 ratings · 2,138 reviews

An entertaining illumination of the stupid beliefs that make us feel wise.

Whether you’re 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 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 delude ...more

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Hardcover, 302 pages

Published October 27th 2011 by Gotham Books (first published October 1st 2011)

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Jun 28, 2012 Stephanie *Eff your feelings* rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, 2013

Turns out everyone thinks they are somehow smarter than the people around them, everyone. We all are guilty of it. We walk into a Wal-mart, take a look around us and think “what a bunch of freaks, and always in Wal-mart” …..But we are also in Wal-mart as we make this judgment. I don’t go into that store unless they are the only option, but every time I look around and I think to myself “do I also look like a freak by just entering this store, then magically go back to normal when I leave?”

I once ...more

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Jun 14, 2012 Kent rated it it was ok

Shelves: reviewed, audiobooks, creative-nonfiction

I love Radiolab. It is the best thing. Here are the episodes that you should listen to instead of reading this book:

Deception - http://www.radiolab.org/2008/mar/10/
Memory and Forgetting - http://www.radiolab.org/2007/jun/07/
Placebo - http://www.radiolab.org/2007/may/17/
Morality - http://www.radiolab.org/2007/aug/13/
Stress - http://www.radiolab.org/2007/apr/09/
Choice - http://www.radiolab.org/2008/nov/17/

Also the other ones. Mmmmm Radiolab.

The good thing about YANSS:WYHTMFOFWYMISFA46OWYDY, as I l ...more

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Nov 23, 2012 Terri Timonen rated it did not like it

Readers Beware!!! NEVER believe a book that presents "all-or-nothing" concepts as absolute truth!! And that's exactly what David McRaney's book attempts to do. Each chapter identifies a "Misconception" and a "Truth" attempting to persuade the reader to believe "The Truth" as the author sees it...biased and supported with biased, shallow research. What the author fails to do is provide evidence to the contrary. He presents a very subjective, one-sided argument in favor of his beliefs on a variety Readers Beware!!! NEVER believe a book that presents "all-or-nothing" concepts as absolute truth!! And that's exactly what David McRaney's book attempts to do. Each chapter identifies a "Misconception" and a "Truth" attempting to persuade the reader to believe "The Truth" as the author sees it...biased and supported with biased, shallow research. What the author fails to do is provide evidence to the contrary. He presents a very subjective, one-sided argument in favor of his beliefs on a variety of so-called "myths" and "facts".

For example, one chapter titled "The Bystander Effect" states this misconception When someone is hurt, people rush to their aid and the truth as The more people who witness a person in distress, the less likely it is that any one person will help. The author defines this "truth" even more simply: "I could help them, but I'm sure someone else will come along." Followed by "Everyone thinks that. And no one stops.

Is David McRaney for real?! True, this phenomenon has been researched and proven to be credible among social psychologists, BUT it is NOT an all-inclusive/exclusive "doctrinal truth" for the entire human population. David McRaney chooses not include the "rest of the story". He lists only specific, well-known events that prove his point. But what about the population of people that have stepped in to help someone who was hurt? Where are those studies? Non-existent? Maybe. Why? Because they are incidental. You might hear about some altruistic stranger who came to someone's rescue on the evening news every now and then, but that's about it.

I have personally experienced a few "emergency" situations among a crowd and the Bystander Effect was never the case. Sweeping conclusions that present outcomes as either black or white are very dangerous. This author is irresponsible at best and deceptive at worst. I will concede that some of the chapters do provide "food for thought", especially The Straw Man Fallacy which addresses how we attempt to win an argument by re-framing our opponent's position (i.e.making it personal, etc.). The only conclusion one can glean from this book is that the "misconceptions" and "truths" David McRaney identifies are unprovable. Circumstantial. Biased. To lump the behavior of the majority of the human population into these "boxed" fallacies is insulting.

If you're a free-thinker, creative problem-solver, or desire to see the whole picture beyond "the elephant's trunk", then this book will most likely be a waste of time...unless of course anger spurs you to action. In that case, I would make it a case study. ...more

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Jan 01, 2014 B Schrodinger rated it really liked it

Shelves: psychology, science

This great work boils down to: "Despite millions of years of evolution your brain is a jumbled mess of neurons that covers up it's downfalls by lying to you constantly. Here are just 46 ways your brain is being an asshole."

Just like Dawkins argues against a creator in showing that evolutionary adaptations can be flawed and seemingly badly designed, David McRaney shows in this work that despite those claims that the human mind is one of the most complex structures in the known universe, it's shod This great work boils down to: "Despite millions of years of evolution your brain is a jumbled mess of neurons that covers up it's downfalls by lying to you constantly. Here are just 46 ways your brain is being an asshole."

Just like Dawkins argues against a creator in showing that evolutionary adaptations can be flawed and seemingly badly designed, David McRaney shows in this work that despite those claims that the human mind is one of the most complex structures in the known universe, it's shoddily put together, with bits that don't work together and bits that were added on at the last minute and that the only way it 'works' is that it constantly lies to itself about the reality it exists in. You have in your head a used car salesman.

David demonstrates the limitations of our brains by picking out these 46 different ways our brain lies to us and writing a small chapter on each. Each lie is well researched and refers to different published studies for evidence. For example the chapter on why you have too many Facebook friends talks about studies about the limitations of how many people you can hold in a social circle in the physical world and compares these figures to the data on Facebook. He also talks about the reason why you 'befriend' all those people using the internet.

Most interesting are the chapters that highlight the limitations in vision and the comprehension of sensory input. You are not a little person in a box watching a ultra high definition surround sound movie of your existence. More like your homonculus watches a scratchy silent movie from 1908 with no sound and missing film cells, a friend tells them about the soundtrack over the phone.

There are also great chapters on how you think you are better than everyone else out there. He actually gives statistics on how many people think they are better than average drivers and how many people think they have a better than average IQ. The figures will astound you.

I highly recommend this fun and enlightening read. It certainly will make you question everything you think and perceive, which is a practice that all science endorses strongly. This book is so much more than your average pop-psychology book that litters the popular science section of bookshops and libraries. It holds no punches and approaches the subject from a critical standpoint. Weeks after reading this book I'm still laughing at my brain when I know it's lying to me. ...more

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Nov 10, 2015 Clumsy Storyteller rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-for-nerds

We have endless internal dialogues that assist with interpretation of information and decision-making based on what we know , feel , and think it's right but the truth is we are all delusional ... somehow ! All of us think we’re smarter than everyone else , just like we believe that we’re better looking, funnier, more attractive and more likeable and more generally competent than everyone else. Of course we’re not , we are naturally hindered into thinking in certain ways and not others, and the ...more

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Sep 11, 2014 David Rubenstein rated it liked it

Recommended to David by: B Schrodinger

Shelves: psychology

This is a fun, pop-psychology book that kept me interested from beginning to end. It is arranged into 48 chapters, each devoted to a different misconception that we are all subject to. Some of these misconceptions have technical names that will be unfamiliar to most people. For example, I never heard of "apophenia", which is the idea that coincidences are so miraculous, they must have meaning. The "truth" is that "Coincidences are a routine part of life, even the seemingly miraculous ones. Any m This is a fun, pop-psychology book that kept me interested from beginning to end. It is arranged into 48 chapters, each devoted to a different misconception that we are all subject to. Some of these misconceptions have technical names that will be unfamiliar to most people. For example, I never heard of "apophenia", which is the idea that coincidences are so miraculous, they must have meaning. The "truth" is that "Coincidences are a routine part of life, even the seemingly miraculous ones. Any meaning applied to them comes from your mind."

Another misconception is "Brand Loyalty". This is the idea that you prefer the things you own over those you don't, because of rational choices you made. The truth is that you prefer things that you own, because "you rationalize your past choices to protect your sense of self". Retailers understand this misconception, and try to prevent you from suffering from "buyer's remorse."

The "expectation" misconception is a classic. Wine experts can be fooled by altering their expectations. Experiments have shown that putting wines into bottles with cheap or expensive labels can alter the expectations of wine drinkers and experts alike, thus changing their opinions of wine quality. Some manufacturers put high prices on their products in order to persuade consumers of their high quality. I think of this, when I see high-priced headphones of certain brands.

Many of the misconceptions are described in terms of classic psychology experiments. They are all fun to read, and made me laugh (at myself). The only problem is that I've read about most of these experiments in other books. That is the problem with pop psychology books--after a while, they repeat the very same material over and over.

I do wish the book had an index. Here I am trying to remember where I read various anecdotes and experiments, and I am at a loss as to where to find them. Many of the chapters reiterate, "You are not so smart". So, the tone of the book might rub some readers the wrong way. But I felt like it was just written that way to add a bit of humor, not to be condescending. ...more

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Jun 01, 2013 Megan rated it did not like it

Shelves: non-fiction, 2013-electric-lime, new-to-me-authors-2013, read-in-2013

The way this book is written is SO condescending! Every chapter he says "You are not so smart!", but when it comes to himself I guess that doesn't apply? Why do I say this, you ask? Well chapter 2 is all about confabulation, (view spoiler), and he says that everybody does this so much and so oft The way this book is written is SO condescending! Every chapter he says "You are not so smart!", but when it comes to himself I guess that doesn't apply? Why do I say this, you ask? Well chapter 2 is all about confabulation, (view spoiler), and he says that everybody does this so much and so often that we can never be sure about facts. And then chapter 4 is about Hindsight Bias, how you look back on things and even if you didn't know them or had a feeling that the opposite would happened you would subconsciously change it to make yourself right. Well considering just these two chapters, how can he be so sure that he's correct when he's tell us something that happen to him? In chapter 7 he "clearly" remembers how "smart" he was when hurricane Katrina was on its way - how he was one of the only people stocking up on weeks' worth of supplies, while others were only getting a couple days worth. Here's a quote from that chapter:

When Hurricane Katrina bore down on my home in Mississippi, I remember going to the grocery store for food, water, and supplies and being shocked by the number of people who had only a few loaves of bread and couple bottles of soda in their carts. I remember their frustration as they waited behind me with all my bottled water and canned goods. I told them, "Sorry, but you can never be too prepared." Their response? "I don't think it's going to be that big of a deal." I often wonder what those people did for the two weeks we were without electricity and the roads were impassable.

Maybe the majority of people wouldn't be able to solve the puzzles in this book, but I found most of them to be very easy and think others would too, so it was annoying how after giving his little tests he would say "You are not so smart!".

I didn't like this book and don't recommend it. ...more

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Dec 30, 2011 Lara rated it really liked it

like to think that I know just how advertisers are trying to sway my thoughts and opinions and gain my buying power. I also like to think that I am in complete control of such things as my thoughts, opinions, and buying power. But, evidently, I am not so smart.

I like the color red. I also like to think that I know exactly why I like the color red. But, David McRaney says that I am not so smart.

I like to think that I am a good person who would rush to the help of others in an emergency. I also li like to think that I know just how advertisers are trying to sway my thoughts and opinions and gain my buying power. I also like to think that I am in complete control of such things as my thoughts, opinions, and buying power. But, evidently, I am not so smart.

I like the color red. I also like to think that I know exactly why I like the color red. But, David McRaney says that I am not so smart.

I like to think that I am a good person who would rush to the help of others in an emergency. I also like to think that I can think quickly on my feet and would know exactly what to do in such an emergency. But the book I just read tells me that I am not so smart. (Sometimes I like to think that I would have no idea what to do in an emergency. Just so we're clear that at least sometimes I'm smart. Maybe.)

I like having friends. I also like having Facebook friends. I like having more than 150 Facebook friends. But apparently, I am not smart enough to have more than that. You know--because I AM NOT SO SMART.

I could go on, but I will spare you, and let you read about it for yourself in David McRaney's new book You Are Not So Smart (though I bet you were smart enough to figure out that that was the title already) which is based on his popular blog by the same name (that I wasn't smart enough to hear about before now, but have now read daily since).

McRaney has taken his blog and moved it to book format with small, blog-sized chapters which announce a misconception (when you are around others, you feel as if everyone is noticing every aspect of your appearance and behavior) and a reality (people devote little attention to you unless prompted to). McRaney then uses psychological studies and examples to explain the misconception du jour and help us all understand exactly how not smart we are.

Fascinating stuff, people. I really enjoyed reading it. It's the kind of stuff that I can really eat up because it is just so interesting.

That said, I found myself being just the teensyist bit angry at the lack of control I have in my life. Everything around me is apparently manipulating my thoughts and views and I am so unaware of it that I make up lies and reasons to explain my actions. I also don't like how psychology and the brain are the everything. Some of the studies and misconceptions/truths don't match up with my religious views. Especially my beliefs that God answers prayers and that the Holy Ghost can lead and guide us through personal revelation. I'm sure that my brain does play a part in that, but I don't think it's ALL my brain.

But then, I am not so smart. ...more

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Jan 19, 2013 Crystal Starr Light rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommended to Crystal Starr Light by: Willowfaerie

Shelves: non-fiction, psychology, so-good-it-s-awesome

We think we're really smart, that we are much better than the stupid people around us, but in reality, our brains take shortcuts to make situations easier for us to handle. This book divulges 48 ways that show we aren't really all that smart.

This isn't so much a full review as just my brief impressions. Which are, in one word: WOW! This book was incredible to read! I spent an entire 2+ hour flight reading this, unable to put it down and read my fiction books!

Some of these examples I had heard of ...more

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Dec 29, 2017 Jim rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 1audio, 2non-fiction, science

A quick, informal view of cognitive biases, behaviors, & other glitches that keep us from being the rational beings we believe we are. Each chapter is brief explanation of what brain glitch is being covered. I knew most of them, but found even those chapters interesting as he gives very good examples. It's interesting how & why many of these evolved plus how they're playing out in modern society. Many are used to trick us by advertising, political candidates, & others. Many of these are necessar ...more

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Apr 18, 2022 Atty. Winston Pagador rated it it was amazing

YOU ARE NOT SO SMART by David McRaney is both humbling and comforting -- humbling to know that we are not so smart than we think we are and comforting in the sense that we are wired in seeing the world in some ways and not so good in others. Because of these reading experiences, this book offers a way of looking at our own minds, our thoughts, our memories, our emotions through the prism of cognitive biases, heuristics, and logical fallacies. If you want to know why you tend to filter the world ...more

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Jun 16, 2020 Nada Majdy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

Highly recommended.

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Oct 06, 2011 Amber rated it liked it

Shelves: informative, psychology

Sometimes first impressions are the right ones. Below in italics is my original impression of the book after reading the intro:

I've just picked this book up from the library and have only read the introduction, written by the author, who briefly explained why we, as a society, are generally stupid, and how each of us has an internal dialogue that convinces we are much smarter than we are. So, I can't help but wonder what makes this guy think he's one of the rare truly intelligent humans beings w Sometimes first impressions are the right ones. Below in italics is my original impression of the book after reading the intro:

I've just picked this book up from the library and have only read the introduction, written by the author, who briefly explained why we, as a society, are generally stupid, and how each of us has an internal dialogue that convinces we are much smarter than we are. So, I can't help but wonder what makes this guy think he's one of the rare truly intelligent humans beings who seemingly has enough authority to write a book telling the rest of us how stupid we are. Is he going to explore the fact that it's possible he just thinks he's smart enough to write this book, and that it's perhaps just his internal dialogue telling him that the majority of society is stupid in order to make himself think he is much smarter than he really is? Hmmm... it will be interesting to see where this book goes. As with most informational books, I will probably piddle through this as I feel motivated to read it.

Now that I'm done with it, after spending months piddling through this book (as I thought I would), reading a chapter here, two chapters there, putting down for a week or a month, and picking it back up again, I have decided that while I do like this book, and do think it is informative, I have also found that my original thoughts on my book remain nearly the same....

No matter what way you spin it, according to this book, we are all a bunch of dumb asses. The author, McRaney, reviews 48 different heuristics (mental short cuts) and cites psychological studies to inform us that none of us really think for ourselves, that it is our environment that influences our thoughts and behaviors, that we don't know when we are lying to ourselves, that we only pay attention to the information we believe in and ignore the rest, that we don't understand why we like what we like, that are memories our mostly fiction, and that we have an internal dialogue that convinces us that all this stuff that happens in our head is real, even when it's not. You can try to convince yourself you don't fit most of these descriptions, but then McRaney serves up the self-serving bias to refute that idea. Basically we are all egotistical, whimsical dim wits walking blindly through this world, making more of coincidences than we should and constantly living in an unconscious state of our own fictionalized worlds. No one is self aware, except of course for those conducting the studies and the author of this book. However, I cannot deny that I see a lot of truth what McRaney reveals, I just think that he and the psychologists cited in these studies forget that some of the conclusions they are drawing can come from their own heuristics. Interesting stuff, nonetheless. ...more

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Dec 28, 2014 Vonia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: academia, coffee-table, nonfiction-reference, all-time-favorites, unique-chapter-titles, self-help, philosophy, psychology

This awesome read evidences basic theories to a lot more complicated, the obvious to those you never would believe until you read the data.... but the difference being that the writer backs that up with really good data and/or studies. Some of the "theories"/"ways" you already know like the Texas sharpshooter fallacy, normalcy bias, the Dunning-Kruger effect, brand loyalty, the ad hominem fallacy, groupthink, hindsight bias, The anchoring affect, the illusion of transparency, Cognitive Bias, The ...more

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Jan 19, 2019 Jim rated it it was amazing

Shelves: social_science, psychology, sociology, non-fiction

I enjoyed this book immensely and I found that I could identify many of my own flaws laid bare in these pages. Mr McRaney explains how we have been hardwired to act in certain ways ever since we swung down from the trees and elaborates on how these vestigial impulses and instincts affect how we act and think today. Want to know why you overeat or why you procrastinate? It's all right here.

I think the book is very well organized. McRaney touches on so many topics pertaining to our thoughts and ac ...more

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Jul 24, 2017 Ali Sattari rated it really liked it

Shelves: behavioural-economics, psychology, skepticism

Far better than The Art of Thinking Clearly!
...more

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Aug 27, 2017 Jennifer rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, psychology, 2017

Written in a light and humorous tone, You Are Not So Smart is a nice introduction to several different areas of psychology. Never diving too deep into the science, each chapter gives examples and case studies into why we behave and think the way we do. If you are new to psychology, or looking for a light read on the subject, this is a good place to start.

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Nov 13, 2012 Sean M. rated it it was amazing

Someone once said, "It is far easier to entertain than it is to educate." What McRaney pulls off with shocking ease, in this book, is that rare combination of educational material that is extremely entertaining. What's the difference between this pop psychology book and most of the others out there? The others are relatively boring. The others speak in a professorial manner to prove expertise. McRaney cites studies to bring his points home, but he rarely belabors points. He also explains the com ...more

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May 19, 2017 Noor rated it really liked it

Shelves: critical-thinking

"In the modern world, the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt." - Bertrand Russell

This is a book about logical fallacies and critical thinking. Essentially, humans think they're pretty smart. But in fact, we easily mislead ourselves into thinking we have a greater grasp of our reality than we actually do.

Some parts were a bit repetitive and could have been combined with other chapters of a very similar nature; other parts reinforced studies I've come across in other book ...more

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Nov 04, 2011 Alexander rated it it was amazing

Shelves: zeitgeist, mind-games

If only books like these could be liquefied and piped into the water supply.

Fox News and MSNBC would self-destruct, and democracy might become something more than the "least-worst" option.

YOU ARE NOT SO SMART is antifreeze for your thinkbox.

Granted, there's nothing new here, but having forty-eight of the most fundamental brain-hacking principles of heuristics theory in one populist, user-friendly package, gives one hope that sanity, rationality, and most of all, humility, will occasionally prev ...more

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Jun 27, 2020 Charlie Miller rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction-various

This is a brilliantly informed collection of key findings in psychology- written with the express intention to systematically tear down your delusions of sophistication. Each chapter addresses a diifferent phenomenon, such as 'the affect heuristic'. It's the kind of information you may have come across parts of elsewhere, like in a TED talk on Youtube perhaps, but having so much of it all in one place all structured around a straightforward aim is very handy.

The person who designed the book cov ...more

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Nov 06, 2011 Meg - A Bookish Affair rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, 2011

I always like a book that I know I'm going to be thinking about and spouting out facts from long after I close the book; You Are Not So Smart is definitely one of those books. The subject of the book is psychology based but McRaney writes in such a way that these ideas are accessible to everyone even if you don't have a degree in psychology. I found myself saying "Wow" a lot throughout the book.

I like to think of myself as a pretty rational person. I think most of us think that we're pretty rati ...more

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Dec 02, 2011 Nicky rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction

I don't normally consider myself a reader of non-fiction. Okay, yeah, lit crit, and funny things like Damn You Autocorrect! I've even read some Dawkins and such. But I didn't expect this to be something I didn't want to put down. But it is: it made me think a lot about the way I behave, and showed me some of the hypocritical things we all do -- it made me laugh at myself, actually.

It's very easy to understand, but references real psychological experiments and has a reasonably extensive bibliogra ...more

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Mar 03, 2013 Paige rated it it was ok

Shelves: stalled-sampled-did-not-finish

2 or 2 1/2 stars. Why oh why do I get suckered into pop psychology again and again?

This book started out as a blog and maybe it should have stayed that way. It seems like great material for a blog and I've actually started following it in my RSS reader. But a published book? Not so much...

Mostly the delivery rubbed me the wrong way. My first thought about this book was, "Wow, so there really IS a reason English teachers tell you not to write in the second person--it is SUPER annoying." An articl 2 or 2 1/2 stars. Why oh why do I get suckered into pop psychology again and again?

This book started out as a blog and maybe it should have stayed that way. It seems like great material for a blog and I've actually started following it in my RSS reader. But a published book? Not so much...

Mostly the delivery rubbed me the wrong way. My first thought about this book was, "Wow, so there really IS a reason English teachers tell you not to write in the second person--it is SUPER annoying." An article or blog post at a time isn't so bad, but when we're talking book-length... Also, for a "self-described psychology nerd," someone who spends a great deal of time and I would assume effort learning about this subject, it seemed like he didn't have all that much respect for the material. For example: "You should always be the first person to break away from the pack and offer help--or attempt escape--because you can be certain no one else will."
Ahh yes...

SCIENCE!!
Should. Always. Certain. No one else. It's even more annoying because the data he JUST cited refutes this statement. He does things like this a few times--make statements that are contradicted by things he JUST CITED. When I took this complaint to Peter, he said that that sort of writing "appeals to the masses" with its "accessibility factor." Well. He just might have a point. But I was still LKSKDfjsdlfasdDSFing about it.

In another example, he talks about Littlewood's Law, stating "He said the average person is alert for about eight hours every day, and something happens to the average person about once a second." O OK. I guess that clears everything up then. ?!?! I suppose you could be more vague if you tried...but you would have to try hard. Please, author, define "something." Without even the attempt to tell us what "something" means in this context, the sentence is worthless. Do sounds a person hears count as "something" that "happens" to them? Words they see? The effect of gravity on their body? The feeling of their socks on their feet? The fact that their cells are metabolizing? Thoughts drifting through their head? The bombardment of UV rays? You can make the argument that billions of things are happening to a person every second, but you gotta set up some kind of definition, some loose parameter of what this "something" that is happening to "the average person" once a second IS. That kind of stuff really doesn't meet my criteria for information or truth.

"If a celebrity basketball player tells you to buy a particular brand of batteries, ask yourself if the basketball player seems like an expert on electrochemical energy storage units before you take the player's word." Right. ...And this is supposed to be changing my world view, my perception of myself, as promised by the book's introduction? The author seems to be under the impression that he providing revelations to unknown mysteries... in really small, easy to digest pieces with moralizing & free advice thrown in.

I think some of my frustration also comes from having been introduced to most of these concepts already--hell, I've written essays and done 40 minute presentations on a few of them. So maybe I'm not really the target audience in the first place. A lot of this information has been out there for a long time, cited all over the place in books and articles. There were a couple of new ideas for me, and I'm appreciative of them, but mostly, as you might guess when a small book has 270 pages & 50 topics, the coverage is shallow. I got a bit over 100 pages in before I put it down. I have it out from the library and I'll probably pick it up to read a few sections every day until its due date. It's not that it's BAD, it just wasn't what I was looking for and the tone rubbed me the wrong way. There are people I would recommend this to; if you have never learned about any kind of social science and/or applied it to yourself, never examined your own headspace or wondered about people, it would probably be entertaining and enlightening. I'm saying, At least he cites sources. ...more

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Feb 18, 2012 Marilyn rated it liked it

I read this book in dribs and drabs, as each two to three page chapter covers one of the 46 ways people delude themselves -- and how we do it. Each chapter begins with a misconception, followed by the truth. For example:

THE MISCONCEPTION: You are a rational, logical being who sees the world as it really is.
THE TRUTH: You are as deluded as the rest of us, but that's OK; it keeps you sane.

The book goes on to show "how and why we are naturally hindered into thinking in certain ways and not others, ...more

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Jul 17, 2012 Atila Iamarino rated it it was amazing

Já li alguns livros sobre o tema "como nossa mente nos engana", como os do Dan Ariely, mas achei este o melhor. Não tem como não gostar de um livro de teoria da mente que cita Terry Pratchett:

Be careful. People like to be told what they already know. Remember that. They get uncomfortable when you tell them new things. New things . . . well, new things aren’t what they expect. They like to know that, say, a dog will bite a man. That is what dogs do. They don’t want to know that man bites a dog, b ...more

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Mar 29, 2013 Jon Swartz rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A lot of great insights into the foibles of human psychology in this book. Divided into 48 short (three to five page) chapters, perfect for short modern attention spans and BART commutes, though it was hard to read more than a few chapters at a time without glazing over. Research experiments are cited in every chapter.

Some favorite chapters:

* The Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy - in which we draw patterns around random information. Helps explain how conspiracy theories come to light - surrounding eve ...more

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Jul 18, 2011 Audra (Unabridged Chick) rated it really liked it

The basis of this immensely entertaining book is McRaney's blog (which is, unsurprisingly, immensely entertaining). A journalist who was inspired by an intro to psychology course, McRaney cogently explains the various ways we delude ourselves and act irrationally. Each essay opens with a 'Misconception' followed by 'The Truth', and then a thorough explanation. As a result, each chapter is a self-contained gem packed with nerdy trivia and fascinating science. They don't necessarily build off ea ...more

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Sep 26, 2016 ade_reads rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Here are seven reasons why you are not so smart :
1. You have invented of your memories, especially the details. Your childhood nostalgia is mostly fiction
2. You have 500+ friends on social media, but your brain can only handle a maximum of 150. But you won't admit that bcause you want feel important
3. You are not open minded. You only think you are because you've spent years "discovering" information that confirms your biases, instead of challenging them
4. When someone is in trouble, you are les ...more

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Jun 22, 2012 Lucija rated it liked it

Shelves: psychology

Written in a interesting form, with a lot of small chapters devoted to a theme. Themes often overlap. The style reminds that the book started as a blog and editing did not do much to shake off that feeling of reading a blog. For example there is no referencing between chapters, even when in one theme of the other is mentioned. Instead of referencing, author just repeats what is needed.
On the other hand, writing is very informal and some informations are incorrect. For example author incorrectly ...more

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About David McRaney

David McRaney

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At his blog You Are Not So Smart—and in the book of the same title—David focuses on why humans are so "unaware of how unaware we are." His newest book, You Are Now Less Dumb, expands on these ideas of self-delusion and offers ways to overcome the brain's natural tendencies. ...more

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“You are a confabulatory creature by nature. You are always explaining to yourself the motivations for your actions and the causes to the effects in your life, and you make them up without realizing it when you don't know the answers. Over time, these explanations become your idea of who you are and your place in the world. They are your self... You are a story you tell yourself.” — 87 likes

“If you are thinking about buying a particular make of new car, you suddenly see people driving that car all over the roads. If you just ended a longtime relationship, every song you hear seems to be written about love. If you are having a baby, you start to see babies everywhere. Confirmation bias is seeing the world through a filter.” — 83 likes

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