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

By: David McRaney

Narrated by: Don Hagen

Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

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

You believe you are a rational, logical being who sees the world as it really is, but journalist David McRaney is here to tell you that you're as deluded as the rest of us. But that's OK - delusions keep us sane. You Are Not So Smart is a celebration of self-delusion. It's like a psychology class, with all the boring parts taken out, and with no homework.Based on the popular blog of the same name, You Are Not So Smart collects more than 46 of the lies we tell ourselves everyday, including:

• Dunbar's Number - Humans evolved to live in bands of roughly 150 individuals, the brain cannot handle more than that number. If you have more than 150 Facebook friends, they are surely not all real friends.
• 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.
• 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.

©2011 David McRaney (P)2011 Gildan Media Corp

Critic reviews

"In an Idiocracy dominated by cable TV bobbleheads, government propagandists, and corporate spinmeisters, many of us know that mass ignorance is a huge problem. Now, thanks to David McRaney's mind-blowing book, we can finally see the scientific roots of that problem. Anybody still self-aware enough to wonder why society now worships willful stupidity should read this book." ( David Sirota, author of Back to Our Future: How the 1980s Explain the World We Live In Now)

Just Wow!

It takes a little getting used to as the studies are listed and the myths about your normal thought process are systematically dismantled. And I imagine a lot of people are going to become a bit uncomfortable hearing some of the things that we do in our heads all the time, everyday, but this can really be a great book to launch a change in cognitive thought.

I already have a few areas that I am trying to really focus on right now, and I will likely return to this book over the next year or two as I try to self-improve how I approach things in life that I often come at with my biased lens and misconceptions.

Nothing New Under the Sun

Any additional comments?

While I enjoyed the book, it did not really give me any new information. I voraciously read science mags and most of these "not so smart" researches and studies have been previously published. HOWEVER, the book is good and does have everything in one place. So for those interested in one stop shopping - this is the book for you!

Why I make some decisions...

Interesting book about tricks our brain play with us. The author uses solid arguments and plenty if exsmples

great stuff

please read this to help reduce the spread of idiocy . play it in the car when you drive with others and refuse to turn it off. when people knock on your door to talk to you about how great vacuum cleaners are invite them inside, turn this on, and go do the laundry.

If You Tell Someone Something Long Enough...

What did you love best about You Are Not So Smart?

There was plenty of information that was interesting and somewhat applicable to life.

Any additional comments?

He said your not so smart long enough that i was starting to believe it. I didn't appreciate that. "You are.. You would.. You think..." was littered throughout the story and was worth the deduction of a star or two. If that was taken out of the story I probably would have listened to it for a second time just because the studies were mind boggling and made me well informed on the topic at hand.

Very informative, easy to follow.

Where does You Are Not So Smart rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Presents new ways of analyzing human behavior.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

Compels critical thinking and self analysis.

Any additional comments?

I will be listening to this multiple times.

Mostly Psych 101

A neat collection of the biases, fallacies, and other mental deceptions we experience, mostly unconsciously on a daily basis. A lot of psych101 type content, but also some interesting nuggets and examples I hadn't heard before. Style is very accessible, no background needed, and chapters' contents are predominantly independent. All in all, this book is as advertised, but if you're looking for something that goes in depth into these phenomena you'll be disappointed.

Glad I'm Not Average Or Am I?

If you could sum up You Are Not So Smart in three words, what would they be?

This is one of those books that tells you who you are. Kind of annoying, but very interesting. All I can say is I hope I'm not the "average" person described in many of the studies.

Made Me Think!

What did you like about this audiobook?

A lot of fun tidbits to ruminate on!

How has the book increased your interest in the subject matter?

Yes

Does the author present information in a way that is interesting and insightful, and if so, how does he achieve this?

Very easy and clever style.

What did you find wrong about the narrator's performance?

Not a young and captivating as the subject matter.

I feel smarter now

Nice set of short segments offering insight for the open minded. I stopped many times and had no trouble coming back later.