-
The Invisible Gorilla
- And Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $15.75
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Nobody's Fool
- Why We Get Taken In and What We Can Do About It
- By: Daniel Simons, Christopher Chabris
- Narrated by: Andrew Sellon
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From phishing scams to Ponzi schemes, fraudulent science to fake art, and marketers to magicians, our world brims with deception. In Nobody’s Fool, psychologists Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris show us how to avoid being taken in. They describe the key habits of thinking and reasoning that serve us well most of the time but make us vulnerable—like our tendency to accept what we see, stick to our commitments, and value precision and consistency.
-
-
How easy it is to be fooled!
- By LISA M. JOHNSON on 01-04-24
By: Daniel Simons, and others
-
Adapt
- Why Success Always Starts with Failure
- By: Tim Harford
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this groundbreaking work, Tim Harford shows us a new and inspiring approach to solving the most pressing problems in our lives. Harford argues that today’s challenges simply cannot be tackled with ready-made solutions and expert opinions; the world has become far too unpredictable and profoundly complex. Instead, we must adapt. Deftly weaving together psychology, evolutionary biology, anthropology, physics, and economics, along with compelling stories of hard-won lessons learned in the field, Harford makes a passionate case for the importance of adaptive trial-and-error....
-
-
Hidden Agenda
- By Lawrence on 05-20-13
By: Tim Harford
-
Fooled by Randomness
- The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets
- By: Nassim Nicholas Taleb
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This audiobook is about luck, or more precisely, how we perceive and deal with luck in life and business. It is already a landmark work, and its title has entered our vocabulary. In its second edition, Fooled by Randomness is now a cornerstone for anyone interested in random outcomes.
-
-
Pass on this one and read The Black Swan
- By Wade T. Brooks on 06-25-12
-
Hidden Potential
- The Science of Achieving Greater Things
- By: Adam Grant
- Narrated by: Adam Grant, Maurice Ashley, R. A. Dickey, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We live in a world that’s obsessed with talent. We celebrate gifted students in school, natural athletes in sports, and child prodigies in music. But admiring people who start out with innate advantages leads us to overlook the distance we ourselves can travel. We underestimate the range of skills that we can learn and how good we can become. We can all improve at improving. And when opportunity doesn’t knock, there are ways to build a door.
-
-
Nope
- By Anna OConnor-McClure on 10-27-23
By: Adam Grant
-
Thinking, Fast and Slow
- By: Daniel Kahneman
- Narrated by: Patrick Egan
- Length: 20 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The guru to the gurus at last shares his knowledge with the rest of us. Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman's seminal studies in behavioral psychology, behavioral economics, and happiness studies have influenced numerous other authors, including Steven Pinker and Malcolm Gladwell. In Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman at last offers his own, first book for the general public. It is a lucid and enlightening summary of his life's work. It will change the way you think about thinking. Two systems drive the way we think and make choices, Kahneman explains....
-
-
Difficult Listen, but Probably a Great Read
- By Mike Kircher on 01-12-12
By: Daniel Kahneman
-
The Formula
- The Universal Laws of Success
- By: Albert-László Barabási
- Narrated by: Ryan Vincent Anderson
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Now, based on years of academic research, The Formula finally unveils the ground-breaking discoveries of their pioneering study, not only highlighting the scientific and mathematic principles that underpin success, but also revolutionizing our understanding of: Why performance is necessary but not adequate. Why "experts" are often wrong How to assemble a creative team primed for success. How to most effectively engage our networks.
-
-
Summed up in the first few chapters
- By Amazon Customer on 07-09-19
-
Nobody's Fool
- Why We Get Taken In and What We Can Do About It
- By: Daniel Simons, Christopher Chabris
- Narrated by: Andrew Sellon
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From phishing scams to Ponzi schemes, fraudulent science to fake art, and marketers to magicians, our world brims with deception. In Nobody’s Fool, psychologists Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris show us how to avoid being taken in. They describe the key habits of thinking and reasoning that serve us well most of the time but make us vulnerable—like our tendency to accept what we see, stick to our commitments, and value precision and consistency.
-
-
How easy it is to be fooled!
- By LISA M. JOHNSON on 01-04-24
By: Daniel Simons, and others
-
Adapt
- Why Success Always Starts with Failure
- By: Tim Harford
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this groundbreaking work, Tim Harford shows us a new and inspiring approach to solving the most pressing problems in our lives. Harford argues that today’s challenges simply cannot be tackled with ready-made solutions and expert opinions; the world has become far too unpredictable and profoundly complex. Instead, we must adapt. Deftly weaving together psychology, evolutionary biology, anthropology, physics, and economics, along with compelling stories of hard-won lessons learned in the field, Harford makes a passionate case for the importance of adaptive trial-and-error....
-
-
Hidden Agenda
- By Lawrence on 05-20-13
By: Tim Harford
-
Fooled by Randomness
- The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets
- By: Nassim Nicholas Taleb
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This audiobook is about luck, or more precisely, how we perceive and deal with luck in life and business. It is already a landmark work, and its title has entered our vocabulary. In its second edition, Fooled by Randomness is now a cornerstone for anyone interested in random outcomes.
-
-
Pass on this one and read The Black Swan
- By Wade T. Brooks on 06-25-12
-
Hidden Potential
- The Science of Achieving Greater Things
- By: Adam Grant
- Narrated by: Adam Grant, Maurice Ashley, R. A. Dickey, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We live in a world that’s obsessed with talent. We celebrate gifted students in school, natural athletes in sports, and child prodigies in music. But admiring people who start out with innate advantages leads us to overlook the distance we ourselves can travel. We underestimate the range of skills that we can learn and how good we can become. We can all improve at improving. And when opportunity doesn’t knock, there are ways to build a door.
-
-
Nope
- By Anna OConnor-McClure on 10-27-23
By: Adam Grant
-
Thinking, Fast and Slow
- By: Daniel Kahneman
- Narrated by: Patrick Egan
- Length: 20 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The guru to the gurus at last shares his knowledge with the rest of us. Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman's seminal studies in behavioral psychology, behavioral economics, and happiness studies have influenced numerous other authors, including Steven Pinker and Malcolm Gladwell. In Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman at last offers his own, first book for the general public. It is a lucid and enlightening summary of his life's work. It will change the way you think about thinking. Two systems drive the way we think and make choices, Kahneman explains....
-
-
Difficult Listen, but Probably a Great Read
- By Mike Kircher on 01-12-12
By: Daniel Kahneman
-
The Formula
- The Universal Laws of Success
- By: Albert-László Barabási
- Narrated by: Ryan Vincent Anderson
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Now, based on years of academic research, The Formula finally unveils the ground-breaking discoveries of their pioneering study, not only highlighting the scientific and mathematic principles that underpin success, but also revolutionizing our understanding of: Why performance is necessary but not adequate. Why "experts" are often wrong How to assemble a creative team primed for success. How to most effectively engage our networks.
-
-
Summed up in the first few chapters
- By Amazon Customer on 07-09-19
-
Predictably Irrational
- The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
- By: Dan Ariely
- Narrated by: Simon Jones
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a series of illuminating, often surprising experiments, MIT behavioral economist Dan Ariely refutes the common assumption that we behave in fundamentally rational ways. Blending everyday experience with groundbreaking research, Ariely explains how expectations, emotions, social norms, and other invisible, seemingly illogical forces skew our reasoning abilities.
-
-
Good lessons, mediocre science?
- By William Stanger on 02-24-09
By: Dan Ariely
-
Strangers to Ourselves
- Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious
- By: Timothy D. Wilson
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In an eye-opening tour of the unconscious, as contemporary psychological science has redefined it, Timothy D. Wilson introduces us to a hidden mental world of judgments, feelings, and motives that introspection may never show us. This is not your psychoanalyst's unconscious. The adaptive unconscious that empirical psychology has revealed, and that Wilson describes, is much more than a repository of primative drives and conflict-ridden memories.
-
-
Interesting, engaging, entertaining, informative
- By Lynn on 10-27-12
-
Incognito
- The Secret Lives of the Brain
- By: David Eagleman
- Narrated by: David Eagleman
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this sparkling and provocative new book, the renowned neuroscientist David Eagleman navigates the depths of the subconscious brain to illuminate surprising mysteries. Taking in brain damage, plane spotting, dating, drugs, beauty, infidelity, synesthesia, criminal law, artificial intelligence, and visual illusions, Incognito is a thrilling subsurface exploration of the mind and all its contradictions.
-
-
The author is NOT a good reader
- By MaryEllen on 06-17-11
By: David Eagleman
-
Noise
- A Flaw in Human Judgment
- By: Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony, Cass R. Sunstein
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the best-selling author of Thinking, Fast and Slow, the co-author of Nudge, and the author of You Are About to Make a Terrible Mistake! comes Noise, a revolutionary exploration of why people make bad judgments, and how to control both noise and cognitive bias.
-
-
Disappointing
- By Z28 on 05-31-21
By: Daniel Kahneman, and others
-
Hopping Over the Rabbit Hole
- How Entrepreneurs Turn Failure into Success
- By: Anthony Scaramucci
- Narrated by: Anthony Scaramucci
- Length: 6 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hopping Over the Rabbit Hole chronicles the rise, fall, and resurgence of SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci, giving you a primer on how to thrive in an unpredictable business environment. The sheer number of American success stories has created a false impression that becoming an entrepreneur is a can't-miss endeavor - but nothing could be further from the truth. Hopping Over the Rabbit Hole gives you the skills, insight, and mindset you need to be one of the winners.
-
-
Scaramucci is Key to Making America Great Again
- By Cynthia on 07-24-17
-
Alchemy
- The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life
- By: Rory Sutherland
- Narrated by: Rory Sutherland
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why is Red Bull so popular, though everyone—everyone!—hates the taste? Humans are, in a word, irrational, basing decisions as much on subtle external signals (that little blue can) as on objective qualities (flavor, price, quality). The surrounding world, meanwhile, is irreducibly complex and random. This means future success can’t be projected on any accounting spreadsheet. To strike gold, you must master the dark art and curious science of conjuring irresistible ideas: alchemy.
-
-
One of the best books I’ve read
- By anon. on 07-23-19
By: Rory Sutherland
-
The Art of Thinking Clearly
- By: Rolf Dobelli
- Narrated by: Eric Conger
- Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A novelist, thinker, and entrepreneur, Rolf Dobelli deftly shows that in order to lead happier, more prosperous lives, we don't need extra cunning, new ideas, shiny gadgets, or more frantic hyperactivity - all we need is less irrationality. Simple, clear, and always surprising, this indispensable audiobook will change the way you think and transform your decision making - at work, at home, every day.
-
-
Major Downer
- By Daniel Ales on 01-22-20
By: Rolf Dobelli
-
Blink
- The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
- By: Malcolm Gladwell
- Narrated by: Malcolm Gladwell
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his landmark best seller The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell redefined how we understand the world around us. Now, in Blink, he revolutionizes the way we understand the world within. Blink is a book about how we think without thinking, about choices that seem to be made in an instant, in the blink of an eye, that actually aren't as simple as they seem. Why are some people brilliant decision makers, while others are consistently inept?
-
-
Interesting read with contradictory messages
- By Danny on 04-21-05
By: Malcolm Gladwell
-
The Ellipsis Manual
- Analysis and Engineering of Human Behavior
- By: Chase Hughes
- Narrated by: Jonam Ross
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Ellipsis Manual is the kind of book that used to be locked away deep in a vault underground, far away from the prying eyes of those who could misuse its power.
-
-
Disappointed with Narration.
- By Dawn W. on 09-07-23
By: Chase Hughes
-
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
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Covers a lot of old territory
- By Sarah Dumoulin on 07-19-12
By: David McRaney
-
Subliminal
- How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior
- By: Leonard Mlodinow
- Narrated by: Leonard Mlodinow
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Leonard Mlodinow, the best-selling author of The Drunkard’s Walk and coauthor of The Grand Design (with Stephen Hawking), gives us a startling and eye-opening examination of how the unconscious mind shapes our experience of the world and how, for instance, we often misperceive our relationships with family, friends, and business associates, misunderstand the reasons for our investment decisions, and misremember important events.
-
-
Pretty Good
- By Bob on 06-24-12
By: Leonard Mlodinow
-
Stumbling on Happiness
- By: Daniel Gilbert
- Narrated by: Daniel Gilbert
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A smart and funny book by a prominent Harvard psychologist, which uses groundbreaking research and (often hilarious) anecdotes to show us why we’re so lousy at predicting what will make us happy–and what we can do about it. Most of us spend our lives steering ourselves toward the best of all possible futures, only to find that tomorrow rarely turns out as we had expected. Why? As Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert explains, when people try to imagine what the future will hold, they make some basic and consistent mistakes.
-
-
Great Book!
- By TL on 06-09-06
By: Daniel Gilbert
Publisher's summary
Reading this book will make you less sure of yourself - and that's a good thing. In The Invisible Gorilla, Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons, creators of one of psychology's most famous experiments, use remarkable stories and counterintuitive scientific findings to demonstrate an important truth: Our minds don't work the way we think they do. We think we see ourselves and the world as they really are, but we're actually missing a whole lot.
Chabris and Simons combine the work of other researchers with their own findings on attention, perception, memory, and reasoning to reveal how faulty intuitions often get us into trouble. In the process, they explain:
- Why a company would spend billions to launch a product that its own analysts know will fail
- How a police officer could run right past a brutal assault without seeing it
- Why award-winning movies are full of editing mistakes
- What criminals have in common with chess masters
- Why measles and other childhood diseases are making a comeback
- Why money managers could learn a lot from weather forecasters
Again and again, we think we experience and understand the world as it is, but our thoughts are beset by everyday illusions. We write traffic laws and build criminal cases on the assumption that people will notice when something unusual happens right in front of them. We’re sure we know where we were on 9/11, falsely believing that vivid memories are seared into our minds with perfect fidelity. And as a society, we spend billions on devices to train our brains because we’re continually tempted by the lure of quick fixes and effortless self-improvement.
The Invisible Gorilla reveals the myriad ways that our intuitions can deceive us, but its much more than a catalog of human failings. Chabris and Simons explain why we succumb to these everyday illusions and what we can do to inoculate ourselves against their effects. Ultimately, the book provides a kind of x-ray vision into our own minds, making it possible to pierce the veil of illusions that clouds our thoughts and to think clearly for perhaps the first time.
Critic reviews
More from the same
Related to this topic
-
Mindwise
- Why We Misunderstand What Others Think, Believe, Feel, and Want
- By: Nicholas Epley
- Narrated by: Nicholas Epley
- Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You are a mind reader, born with an extraordinary ability to understand what others think, feel, believe, want, and know. It's a sixth sense you use every day, in every personal and professional relationship you have. At its best, this ability allows you to achieve the most important goal in almost any life: connecting, deeply and intimately and honestly, to other human beings. At its worst, it is a source of misunderstanding and unnecessary conflict, leading to damaged relationships and broken dreams. How good are you at knowing the minds of others?
-
-
Finally gave up - no real point
- By Thomas on 05-12-14
By: Nicholas Epley
-
Sway
- The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior
- By: Rom Brafman, Ori Brafman
- Narrated by: John Apicella
- Length: 4 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Harvard Business School student pays over $200 for a $20 bill. Washington, D.C., commuters ignore a free subway concert by a violin prodigy. A veteran airline pilot attempts to take off without control-tower clearance and collides with another plane on the runway. Why do we do the wildly irrational things we sometimes do?
-
-
Disappointing book
- By Martin Proulx on 12-10-08
By: Rom Brafman, and others
-
Before You Know It
- The Unconscious Reasons We Do What We Do
- By: John Bargh PhD
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For more than three decades, Dr. John Bargh has been responsible for the revolutionary research into the unconscious mind, research that informed best sellers like Blink and Thinking Fast and Slow. Now, in what Dr. John Gottman said "will be the most important and exciting book in psychology that has been written in the past 20 years", Dr. Bargh takes us on an entertaining and enlightening tour of the forces that affect everyday behavior while transforming our understanding of ourselves in profound ways.
-
-
Political jab
- By Brad on 10-20-17
By: John Bargh PhD
-
Blindspot
- By: Mahzarin R. Banaji, Anthony G. Greenwald
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I know my own mind. I am able to assess others in a fair and accurate way. These self-perceptions are challenged by leading psychologists Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald as they explore the hidden biases we all carry from a lifetime of exposure to cultural attitudes about age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, social class, sexuality, disability status, and nationality. Blindspot is the authors’ metaphor for the portion of the mind that houses hidden biases.
-
-
Difficult to interpret.
- By Ryan Arnold on 12-21-15
By: Mahzarin R. Banaji, and others
-
Bounce
- Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham, and the Science of Success
- By: Matthew Syed
- Narrated by: James Clamp
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few things in life are more satisfying than beating a rival. We love to win and hate to lose, whether it's on the playing field or at the ballot box, in the office or in the classroom. In this bold new look at human behavior, award-winning journalist and Olympian Matthew Syed explores the truth about our competitive nature: why we win, why we don't, and how we really play the game of life.
-
-
Very eye opening
- By Joao on 06-14-10
By: Matthew Syed
-
Mindware
- Tools for Smart Thinking
- By: Richard E. Nisbett
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Many scientific and philosophical ideas are so powerful that they can be applied to our lives at home, work, and school to help us think smarter and more effectively about our behavior and the world around us. Surprisingly, many of these ideas remain unknown to most of us. In Mindware, the world-renowned psychologist Richard Nisbett presents these ideas in clear and accessible detail, offering a tool kit for better thinking and wiser decisions.
-
-
Sound scientific advice on how to live your life
- By Neuron on 08-26-15
-
Mindwise
- Why We Misunderstand What Others Think, Believe, Feel, and Want
- By: Nicholas Epley
- Narrated by: Nicholas Epley
- Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You are a mind reader, born with an extraordinary ability to understand what others think, feel, believe, want, and know. It's a sixth sense you use every day, in every personal and professional relationship you have. At its best, this ability allows you to achieve the most important goal in almost any life: connecting, deeply and intimately and honestly, to other human beings. At its worst, it is a source of misunderstanding and unnecessary conflict, leading to damaged relationships and broken dreams. How good are you at knowing the minds of others?
-
-
Finally gave up - no real point
- By Thomas on 05-12-14
By: Nicholas Epley
-
Sway
- The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior
- By: Rom Brafman, Ori Brafman
- Narrated by: John Apicella
- Length: 4 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Harvard Business School student pays over $200 for a $20 bill. Washington, D.C., commuters ignore a free subway concert by a violin prodigy. A veteran airline pilot attempts to take off without control-tower clearance and collides with another plane on the runway. Why do we do the wildly irrational things we sometimes do?
-
-
Disappointing book
- By Martin Proulx on 12-10-08
By: Rom Brafman, and others
-
Before You Know It
- The Unconscious Reasons We Do What We Do
- By: John Bargh PhD
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For more than three decades, Dr. John Bargh has been responsible for the revolutionary research into the unconscious mind, research that informed best sellers like Blink and Thinking Fast and Slow. Now, in what Dr. John Gottman said "will be the most important and exciting book in psychology that has been written in the past 20 years", Dr. Bargh takes us on an entertaining and enlightening tour of the forces that affect everyday behavior while transforming our understanding of ourselves in profound ways.
-
-
Political jab
- By Brad on 10-20-17
By: John Bargh PhD
-
Blindspot
- By: Mahzarin R. Banaji, Anthony G. Greenwald
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I know my own mind. I am able to assess others in a fair and accurate way. These self-perceptions are challenged by leading psychologists Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald as they explore the hidden biases we all carry from a lifetime of exposure to cultural attitudes about age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, social class, sexuality, disability status, and nationality. Blindspot is the authors’ metaphor for the portion of the mind that houses hidden biases.
-
-
Difficult to interpret.
- By Ryan Arnold on 12-21-15
By: Mahzarin R. Banaji, and others
-
Bounce
- Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham, and the Science of Success
- By: Matthew Syed
- Narrated by: James Clamp
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few things in life are more satisfying than beating a rival. We love to win and hate to lose, whether it's on the playing field or at the ballot box, in the office or in the classroom. In this bold new look at human behavior, award-winning journalist and Olympian Matthew Syed explores the truth about our competitive nature: why we win, why we don't, and how we really play the game of life.
-
-
Very eye opening
- By Joao on 06-14-10
By: Matthew Syed
-
Mindware
- Tools for Smart Thinking
- By: Richard E. Nisbett
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Many scientific and philosophical ideas are so powerful that they can be applied to our lives at home, work, and school to help us think smarter and more effectively about our behavior and the world around us. Surprisingly, many of these ideas remain unknown to most of us. In Mindware, the world-renowned psychologist Richard Nisbett presents these ideas in clear and accessible detail, offering a tool kit for better thinking and wiser decisions.
-
-
Sound scientific advice on how to live your life
- By Neuron on 08-26-15
-
Seeing What Others Don't
- The Remarkable Ways We Gain Insights
- By: Gary Klein
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Insights—like Darwin's understanding of the way evolution actually works, and Watson and Crick's breakthrough discoveries about the structure of DNA-can change the world. We also need insights into the everyday things that frustrate and confuse us so that we can more effectively solve problems and get things done. Yet we know very little about when, why, or how insights are formed—or what blocks them. In Seeing What Others Don't, renowned cognitive psychologist Gary Klein unravels the mystery.
-
-
Not enough actionable ideas
- By Blair on 02-24-15
By: Gary Klein
-
Irrationality
- By: Stuart Sutherland
- Narrated by: Kris Dyer
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why do doctors, generals, civil servants and others consistently make wrong decisions that cause enormous harm to others? Irrational beliefs and behaviours are virtually universal. In this iconoclastic book Stuart Sutherland analyses causes of irrationality and examines why we are irrational, the different kinds of irrationality, the damage it does us and the possible cures.
-
-
Excellent
- By Michael Carrato on 05-07-10
-
Super Crunchers
- Why Thinking-by-Numbers Is the New Way to Be Smart
- By: Ian Ayres
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Today, number crunching affects your life in ways you might never imagine. In this lively and groundbreaking new audiobook, economist Ian Ayres shows how today's best and brightest organizations are analyzing massive databases at lightening speed to provide greater insights into human behavior. They are the Super Crunchers.
-
-
Great book on
- By Jon on 01-31-08
By: Ian Ayres
-
You Are Now Less Dumb
- How to Conquer Mob Mentality, How to Buy Happiness, and All the Other Ways to Outsmart Yourself
- By: David McRaney
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You Are Now Less Dumb is grounded in the idea that we all believe ourselves to be objective observers of reality - except we’re not. But that's okay, because our delusions keep us sane. Expanding on this premise, McRaney provides eye-opening analyses of 15 more ways we fool ourselves every day. This smart and highly entertaining audiobook will be wowing listeners for years to come.
-
-
Not a lot of guidance
- By A. Yoshida on 02-08-14
By: David McRaney
-
Smarter
- The New Science of Building Brain Power
- By: Dan Hurley
- Narrated by: Erik Synnestvedt
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Expanding upon one of the most-read New York Times Magazine features of 2012, Smarter penetrates the hot new field of intelligence research to reveal what researchers call a revolution in human intellectual abilities. Shattering decades of dogma, scientists began publishing studies in 2008 showing that "fluid intelligence" - the ability to learn, solve novel problems, and get to the heart of things - can be increased through training. But is it all just hype?
-
-
People Who Like This Sort of Thing....
- By W Perry Hall on 10-10-15
By: Dan Hurley
-
The Formula
- How Algorithms Solve all our Problems…and Create More
- By: Luke Dormehl
- Narrated by: Daniel Weyman
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A fascinating guided tour of the complex, fast-moving, and influential world of algorithms - what they are, why they’re such powerful predictors of human behavior, and where they’re headed next. Algorithms exert an extraordinary level of influence on our everyday lives - from dating websites and financial trading floors, through to online retailing and internet searches - Google's search algorithm is now a more closely guarded commercial secret than the recipe for Coca-Cola.
-
-
Not about algorithms. Not an original book.
- By Landon Rordam on 12-02-14
By: Luke Dormehl
-
Choke
- What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To
- By: Sian Beilock
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beilock examines how attention and working memory guide human performance, how experience and practice and brain development interact to create our abilities, and how stress affects all these factors.
-
-
Buzz Word Festival
- By andrew on 10-04-10
By: Sian Beilock
-
Friend and Foe
- When to Cooperate, When to Compete, and How to Succeed at Both
- By: Adam D. Galinsky, Maurice E. Schweitzer
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Friend and Foe, researchers Galinsky and Schweitzer explain why this debate misses the mark. Rather than being hardwired to compete or cooperate, humans have evolved to do both. It is only by learning how to strike the right balance between these two forces that we can improve our long-term relationships and get more of what we want.
-
-
Unexpected
- By Garron Rose on 01-05-16
By: Adam D. Galinsky, and others
-
The Secret Life of Pronouns
- What Our Words Say About Us
- By: James W. Pennebaker
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We spend our lives communicating. In the last 50 years, we've zoomed through radically different forms of communication, from typewriters to tablet computers, text messages to tweets. We generate more and more words with each passing day. Hiding in that deluge of language are amazing insights into who we are, how we think, and what we feel.
-
-
Sticks and Stones and Words Can Really Help You
- By Lynn on 09-24-12
-
Smarter Faster Better
- The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business
- By: Charles Duhigg
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The author of The Power of Habit and “master of the life hack” (GQ) explores the fascinating science of productivity and offers real-world takeaways to apply your life, whether you’re chasing peak productivity or simply trying to get back on track.
-
-
Read the last chapter first
- By A. Yoshida on 04-29-16
By: Charles Duhigg
-
To Sell Is Human
- The Surprising Truth about Moving Others
- By: Daniel H. Pink
- Narrated by: Daniel H. Pink
- Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, one in nine Americans works in sales. Every day more than 15 million people earn their keep by persuading someone else to make a purchase. But dig deeper and a startling truth emerges: Yes, one in nine Americans works in sales. But so do the other eight. Whether we’re employees pitching colleagues on a new idea, entrepreneurs enticing funders to invest, or parents and teachers cajoling children to study, we spend our days trying to move others.
-
-
Lenghty book with a few solid tips on persuation
- By Gerardo A Dada on 01-21-13
By: Daniel H. Pink
-
The Plateau Effect
- Getting From Stuck to Success
- By: Bob Sullivan, Hugh Thompson
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Plateau Effect is a powerful law of nature that affects everyone. Learn to identify plateaus and break through any stagnancy in your life - from diet and exercise, to work, to relationships. The Plateau Effect shows how athletes, scientists, therapists, companies, and musicians around the world are learning to break through their plateau - to turn off the forces that cause people to “get used to” things - and turn on human potential and happiness in ways that seemed impossible.
-
-
Heath
- By Oliver Nielsen on 07-22-13
By: Bob Sullivan, and others
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Nobody's Fool
- Why We Get Taken In and What We Can Do About It
- By: Daniel Simons, Christopher Chabris
- Narrated by: Andrew Sellon
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From phishing scams to Ponzi schemes, fraudulent science to fake art, and marketers to magicians, our world brims with deception. In Nobody’s Fool, psychologists Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris show us how to avoid being taken in. They describe the key habits of thinking and reasoning that serve us well most of the time but make us vulnerable—like our tendency to accept what we see, stick to our commitments, and value precision and consistency.
-
-
How easy it is to be fooled!
- By LISA M. JOHNSON on 01-04-24
By: Daniel Simons, and others
-
The Formula
- The Universal Laws of Success
- By: Albert-László Barabási
- Narrated by: Ryan Vincent Anderson
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Now, based on years of academic research, The Formula finally unveils the ground-breaking discoveries of their pioneering study, not only highlighting the scientific and mathematic principles that underpin success, but also revolutionizing our understanding of: Why performance is necessary but not adequate. Why "experts" are often wrong How to assemble a creative team primed for success. How to most effectively engage our networks.
-
-
Summed up in the first few chapters
- By Amazon Customer on 07-09-19
-
The Upside of Irrationality
- The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home
- By: Dan Ariely
- Narrated by: Simon Jones
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his groundbreaking book Predictably Irrational, social scientist Dan Ariely revealed the multiple biases that lead us into making unwise decisions. Now, in The Upside of Irrationality, he exposes the surprising negative and positive effects irrationality can have on our lives. Focusing on our behaviors at work and in relationships, he offers new insights and eye-opening truths about what really motivates us on the job.
-
-
Not as good as the first
- By Stephen on 06-20-10
By: Dan Ariely
-
Adapt
- Why Success Always Starts with Failure
- By: Tim Harford
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this groundbreaking work, Tim Harford shows us a new and inspiring approach to solving the most pressing problems in our lives. Harford argues that today’s challenges simply cannot be tackled with ready-made solutions and expert opinions; the world has become far too unpredictable and profoundly complex. Instead, we must adapt. Deftly weaving together psychology, evolutionary biology, anthropology, physics, and economics, along with compelling stories of hard-won lessons learned in the field, Harford makes a passionate case for the importance of adaptive trial-and-error....
-
-
Hidden Agenda
- By Lawrence on 05-20-13
By: Tim Harford
-
Bad Science
- Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks
- By: Ben Goldacre
- Narrated by: Jonathan Cowley
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Author Ben Goldacre exposes the epidemic of pseudoscience and gives listeners the tools they need to distinguish good science from nonsense.
-
-
The Brits Pull No Punches On Fake Medicine!!
- By aaron on 03-09-12
By: Ben Goldacre
-
Freedom Evolves
- By: Daniel C. Dennett
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Can there be freedom and free will in a deterministic world? Renowned philosopher Daniel Dennett emphatically answers "yes!" Using an array of provocative formulations, Dennett sets out to show how we alone among the animals have evolved minds that give us free will and morality. Weaving a richly detailed narrative, Dennett explains in a series of strikingly original arguments - drawing upon evolutionary biology, cognitive neuroscience, economics, and philosophy - that far from being an enemy of traditional explorations of freedom, morality, and meaning, the evolutionary perspective can be an indispensable ally.
-
-
I knew I was going to like this book
- By Gary on 05-30-14
-
Nobody's Fool
- Why We Get Taken In and What We Can Do About It
- By: Daniel Simons, Christopher Chabris
- Narrated by: Andrew Sellon
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From phishing scams to Ponzi schemes, fraudulent science to fake art, and marketers to magicians, our world brims with deception. In Nobody’s Fool, psychologists Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris show us how to avoid being taken in. They describe the key habits of thinking and reasoning that serve us well most of the time but make us vulnerable—like our tendency to accept what we see, stick to our commitments, and value precision and consistency.
-
-
How easy it is to be fooled!
- By LISA M. JOHNSON on 01-04-24
By: Daniel Simons, and others
-
The Formula
- The Universal Laws of Success
- By: Albert-László Barabási
- Narrated by: Ryan Vincent Anderson
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Now, based on years of academic research, The Formula finally unveils the ground-breaking discoveries of their pioneering study, not only highlighting the scientific and mathematic principles that underpin success, but also revolutionizing our understanding of: Why performance is necessary but not adequate. Why "experts" are often wrong How to assemble a creative team primed for success. How to most effectively engage our networks.
-
-
Summed up in the first few chapters
- By Amazon Customer on 07-09-19
-
The Upside of Irrationality
- The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home
- By: Dan Ariely
- Narrated by: Simon Jones
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his groundbreaking book Predictably Irrational, social scientist Dan Ariely revealed the multiple biases that lead us into making unwise decisions. Now, in The Upside of Irrationality, he exposes the surprising negative and positive effects irrationality can have on our lives. Focusing on our behaviors at work and in relationships, he offers new insights and eye-opening truths about what really motivates us on the job.
-
-
Not as good as the first
- By Stephen on 06-20-10
By: Dan Ariely
-
Adapt
- Why Success Always Starts with Failure
- By: Tim Harford
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this groundbreaking work, Tim Harford shows us a new and inspiring approach to solving the most pressing problems in our lives. Harford argues that today’s challenges simply cannot be tackled with ready-made solutions and expert opinions; the world has become far too unpredictable and profoundly complex. Instead, we must adapt. Deftly weaving together psychology, evolutionary biology, anthropology, physics, and economics, along with compelling stories of hard-won lessons learned in the field, Harford makes a passionate case for the importance of adaptive trial-and-error....
-
-
Hidden Agenda
- By Lawrence on 05-20-13
By: Tim Harford
-
Bad Science
- Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks
- By: Ben Goldacre
- Narrated by: Jonathan Cowley
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Author Ben Goldacre exposes the epidemic of pseudoscience and gives listeners the tools they need to distinguish good science from nonsense.
-
-
The Brits Pull No Punches On Fake Medicine!!
- By aaron on 03-09-12
By: Ben Goldacre
-
Freedom Evolves
- By: Daniel C. Dennett
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Can there be freedom and free will in a deterministic world? Renowned philosopher Daniel Dennett emphatically answers "yes!" Using an array of provocative formulations, Dennett sets out to show how we alone among the animals have evolved minds that give us free will and morality. Weaving a richly detailed narrative, Dennett explains in a series of strikingly original arguments - drawing upon evolutionary biology, cognitive neuroscience, economics, and philosophy - that far from being an enemy of traditional explorations of freedom, morality, and meaning, the evolutionary perspective can be an indispensable ally.
-
-
I knew I was going to like this book
- By Gary on 05-30-14
-
Strangers to Ourselves
- Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious
- By: Timothy D. Wilson
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In an eye-opening tour of the unconscious, as contemporary psychological science has redefined it, Timothy D. Wilson introduces us to a hidden mental world of judgments, feelings, and motives that introspection may never show us. This is not your psychoanalyst's unconscious. The adaptive unconscious that empirical psychology has revealed, and that Wilson describes, is much more than a repository of primative drives and conflict-ridden memories.
-
-
Interesting, engaging, entertaining, informative
- By Lynn on 10-27-12
-
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
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Covers a lot of old territory
- By Sarah Dumoulin on 07-19-12
By: David McRaney
-
Predictably Irrational
- The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
- By: Dan Ariely
- Narrated by: Simon Jones
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a series of illuminating, often surprising experiments, MIT behavioral economist Dan Ariely refutes the common assumption that we behave in fundamentally rational ways. Blending everyday experience with groundbreaking research, Ariely explains how expectations, emotions, social norms, and other invisible, seemingly illogical forces skew our reasoning abilities.
-
-
Good lessons, mediocre science?
- By William Stanger on 02-24-09
By: Dan Ariely
-
Incognito
- The Secret Lives of the Brain
- By: David Eagleman
- Narrated by: David Eagleman
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this sparkling and provocative new book, the renowned neuroscientist David Eagleman navigates the depths of the subconscious brain to illuminate surprising mysteries. Taking in brain damage, plane spotting, dating, drugs, beauty, infidelity, synesthesia, criminal law, artificial intelligence, and visual illusions, Incognito is a thrilling subsurface exploration of the mind and all its contradictions.
-
-
The author is NOT a good reader
- By MaryEllen on 06-17-11
By: David Eagleman
-
Mastermind
- How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes
- By: Maria Konnikova
- Narrated by: Karen Saltus
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No fictional character is more renowned for his powers of thought and observation than Sherlock Holmes. But is his extraordinary intellect merely a gift of fiction, or can we learn to cultivate these abilities ourselves, to improve our lives at work and at home? We can, says psychologist and journalist Maria Konnikova, and in Mastermind she shows us how. Beginning with the "brain attic", Konnikova unpacks the mental strategies that lead to clearer thinking and deeper insights.
-
-
Mindless: How to Regurgitate Useless Information
- By CC on 02-12-13
By: Maria Konnikova
-
The Confidence Game
- Why We Fall for It...Every Time
- By: Maria Konnikova
- Narrated by: Maria Konnikova
- Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Think you can’t get conned? Think again. The New York Times best-selling author of Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes explains how to spot the con before they spot you. A compelling investigation into the minds, motives, and methods of con artists - and the people who fall for their cons over and over again. From multimillion-dollar Ponzi schemes to small-time frauds, Konnikova pulls together a selection of fascinating stories to demonstrate what all cons share in common, drawing on scientific, dramatic, and psychological perspectives.
-
-
The Confidence Game = major disappointment
- By Nicole Kiess on 02-16-16
By: Maria Konnikova
-
The Drunkard's Walk
- How Randomness Rules Our Lives
- By: Leonard Mlodinow
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this irreverent and illuminating audiobook, acclaimed writer and scientist Leonard Mlodinow shows us how randomness, chance, and probability reveal a tremendous amount about our daily lives, and how we misunderstand the significance of everything from a casual conversation to a major financial setback. As a result, successes and failures in life are often attributed to clear and obvious causes, when in actuality they are more profoundly influenced by chance.
-
-
Interested in statistics? This is the book.
- By Robert on 02-21-14
By: Leonard Mlodinow
-
Being Wrong
- Adventures in the Margin of Error
- By: Kathryn Schulz
- Narrated by: Mia Barron
- Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To err is human. Yet most of us go through life assuming (and sometimes insisting) that we are right about nearly everything, from the origins of the universe to how to load the dishwasher. If being wrong is so natural, why are we all so bad at imagining that our beliefs could be mistaken, and why do we react to our errors with surprise, denial, defensiveness, and shame?
-
-
A good read
- By Mike Kircher on 10-06-10
By: Kathryn Schulz
-
Scale
- The Universal Laws of Growth, Innovation, Sustainability, and the Pace of Life, in Organisms, Cities, Economies, and Companies
- By: Geoffrey West
- Narrated by: Bruce Mann
- Length: 19 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Visionary physicist Geoffrey West is a pioneer in the field of complexity science, the science of emergent systems and networks. The term complexity can be misleading, however, because what makes West's discoveries so beautiful is that he has found an underlying simplicity that unites the seemingly complex and diverse phenomena of living systems, including our bodies, our cities, and our businesses.
-
-
Not for a scientific reader
- By UUbu on 10-30-17
By: Geoffrey West
-
The Tell-Tale Brain
- A Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human
- By: V. S. Ramachandran
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
V. S. Ramachandran is at the forefront of his field - so much so that Richard Dawkins dubbed him the "Marco Polo of neuroscience". Now, in a major new work, Ramachandran sets his sights on the mystery of human uniqueness. Taking us to the frontiers of neurology, he reveals what baffling and extreme case studies can teach us about normal brain function and how it evolved.
-
-
Great if you like understanding how brains work
- By Michael on 12-25-11
-
Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me)
- Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions and Hurtful Acts
- By: Carol Tavris, Elliot Aronson
- Narrated by: Marsha Mercant, Joe Barrett
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why do people dodge responsibility when things fall apart? Why the parade of public figures unable to own up when they screw up? Why the endless marital quarrels over who is right? Why can we see hypocrisy in others but not in ourselves? Are we all liars? Or do we really believe the stories we tell? Backed by years of research and delivered in lively, energetic prose, Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me) offers a fascinating explanation of self-deception.
-
-
Excellent insights, but a little too long
- By Anand on 11-11-12
By: Carol Tavris, and others
-
Phantoms in the Brain
- Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind
- By: Sandra Blakeslee, V. S. Ramachandran
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Neuroscientist V. S. Ramachandran is internationally renowned for uncovering answers to the deep and quirky questions of human nature that few scientists have dared to address. His bold insights about the brain are matched only by the stunning simplicity of his experiments - using such low-tech tools such as cotton swabs, glasses of water, and dime-store mirrors.
-
-
Wonderful To See...
- By Douglas on 01-18-14
By: Sandra Blakeslee, and others
What listeners say about The Invisible Gorilla
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Joshua Kim
- 06-10-12
What Gorillas Are We Missing?
This is the famous invisible gorilla experiment, familiar to anyone who has been reading the growing body of cognitive psychology and behavioral economics books about the (predictable) limits of our brains.
The sad fact is that none of us are as smart, rationale, analytical, or emotionally balanced as we perceive ourselves to be (unless we are clinically depressed, the only people who can accurately judge their own looks, performance, or status). We better face up to the fact that we miss more than we ever recognize (the gorilla experiment), and we forget more than we remember (and when we remember we tend to re-write those memories to make us the stars of the action).
We over-value what we have (loss aversion), and are slow to give up existing beliefs (even in the face of overwhelming evidence). We fail to listen to arguments that don't conform to what we already believe (confirmation bias), and give too much weight to arguments that match our existing beliefs. We confuse confidence with knowledge, good looks with expertise, and wrongly assume that skills in one domain (say athletics) transfer to other settings.
We over-think when we should listen to our guts, and listen to our guts when we should take some time and think things through. We see causality when only correlation exists. We see narrative when the only explanation is random chance. We give ourselves too much credit for success, and too much blame for failure. We assume we are exceptional, when in reality almost all of us are merely average.
Does know this change our behavior? If us academic types recognize just how likely we are to get it wrong, to miss the gorilla, will it change how we approach our jobs? Will we be better teachers, administrators, librarians, and technologists knowing how clueless we
really are?
I have a growing library of books to teach me all the things that I'm not very good at. I like this library - these books sort of take the pressure off. If you liked the following books I'm sure you will greatly enjoy The Invisible Gorilla (which, by the way, is well above average in the quality of its writing).
Here is my "why we are so dumb" list of books - can you suggest any additions?:
Predictably Irrational, by Dan Ariely
The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home, by Dan Ariely
Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error, by Kathryn Schulz
Welcome to Your Brain: Why You Lose Your Car Keys but Never Forget How to Drive and Other Puzzles of Everyday Life, by Sandra Aamodt and Sam Wang
Brain Rules, by John Medina
Why We Make Mistakes, by Joseph T. Hallinan
How We Decide, by Jonah Lehrer
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, by Malcolm Gladwell
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Gut Feelings: The Intelligence of the Unconscious, by Gerd Gigerenzer
Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior, by Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman
Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness, by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein
The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives, by Leonard Mlodinow
Kluge: The Haphazard Construction of the Human Mind, by Gary Marcus
Stumbling on Happiness, by Daniel Gilbert
The Ape in the Corner Office, by Richard Conniff
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
28 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Stephen
- 08-27-10
Recognizing your illusions
This book is namved after the now famious experimental video where a you get so focussed on coating the number of times a ball is bounced, that a person in a gorilla suit walks slowly through the scene (even stops and waves to you) and is not noticed at all! This has been followed by another video where the screen background changes color and a person leaves the group and neither is noticed!! This is the illusion of changing blindeess. We are often completely blind to things that we are not expecting - like a person in a gorilla suit walking in the middle of a video..did you know in a court room scene in the movie Jagged Edge, that Glen Close outfit changes 3 times while she is front of the jury and no one notices? These are exceptional demonstrations of how our minds can mislead us.
The authors provide their own theories and experiments to support their theories to answer questions like:
Why do eyewitness to the same event have completely different memories of what they saw?
Why do we trust people who exude confidence? Is this trust well placed?
Why won't some parents get their children innoculated for measles? Is this behavior warranted?
Does listenining to Mozart really make you smarter? How did this believe start?
Why would Hillary Clinton lie about being shot at when their was video to disprove her?
These questions are addressed in the chapters that include:
Chapter 1 - Illusion of Attention. Blinded to changes we are not looking for
Chapter 2 - Illusion of Memory. We believe our memories are better than they really are
Chapter 3 - Illusion of Confidence. Our misplaced trust in associating confidence with competence.
Chapter 4 - Illusion of Knowledge.
Chapter 5 - Illusion of Cause. Mixing up associations and correlations.
Chapter 6 - Illusion of Potential. Why we believe that there are simple methods to unlock our potential. Like classical music will make us smarter.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
26 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Joseph
- 07-21-10
Great Overview over Hygiene of Perception
The authors of this book are master teachers. The clarity of their presentation is excellent. Like school, though, this comes at times at the cost of being a little bit longish. This is especially so, since, if you are interested in this subject at all or merely in touch with popular knowledge, you will know most of the 'surprising' studies already. I did find, though, that in many cases, they would offer that extra bit of interesting information, debunk or logic to a finding that made it more complete. (In written form this would be even more useful, as one would be able to look these things up later on.)
The book is scientifically rigorous and doesn't fear naming 'transgressions' against good thinking by Malcolm Gladwell and others. Still, the authors manage to not come across as entirely negative geeks and offer some useful conclusions. Nonetheless, this work is not inspirational in any classic sense of the word.
Consider it an overview or a high quality review of perceptive follies and you will be very satisfied. The quality of the reading is excellent.
Originality: 7
Clarity: 10
Reading: 9.9
Usefulness: 8.5
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
23 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Thomas
- 06-26-10
5+
I wish i could find a wy to give more than 5 stars. One of the best books i have downloaded. The narration is outstanding, perfect for teh book, well paced.
Now for the content. i have read several sort of "popular psych" books, including Malcolm Gladwell's several books. Here is the idfference...this one is based on evidence and is written by scientists. Its all based on experiments by themselves and others which really question our understanding of how our minds process information. I found the structure excellent..if give you a framework to place all their conclusions. While I think some of the later chapters, especially the one on "self improvement" a little weaker then the first chapeters, that's partly because the first chapters are so rivetting.
I will really use this information as I teach. It's applicable to almost any field. It is incredibly inciteful. And a bonus is they rag on Gladwell several times, which, I agree with. Works like his are observations from which they extrapolate immutable laws about the way the world works. This book tries to rely on solid experimental evident. The difference is striking. In addition, as experts in the field, i find the authors' insights fresh, novel, clearly things that have been thought about and puzzled over for many years.
A remarkable read.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
21 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- chris
- 05-28-10
Enjoyed
I enjoyed this book. The narration is perfect, and the content is very interesting. I feel like it gave me a different perspective on many of the ways that dumb/simple people act while following whatever stupid trend is out there. It has also made me reflect on some of my own feelings towards patterns throughout my life. It turned me onto the 'Fooled by Randomness' book also.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
13 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Gustavo A. Martinez
- 07-14-10
Had Higher Expectations
Don't get me wrong, the book is interesting. It presents a series of interesting ideas on how our minds perceive situations, experiences and our own selves. To do so, it uses a lot and I mean A LOT of examples to illustrate these ideas over and over and over and over again, so I'm betting you'll get the points they're trying to make.
I would suggest learning about these ideas to anyone, it's useful to know them and understand them, though after an over-explained lecture on them I would say the easiest way to simplify the book is to say "Our mind sometimes(often) deceive us".
So, in summary, if you have the time to learn about these ideas it would be an interesting investment for your self-awareness.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Don
- 10-29-10
A True Eye Opener Into Our Thought Process
After reading the book I think I felt dumber, less confident, and less aware, but then I thought maybe my memory was wrong and I'm smarter, more confident, and more aware. Either way I know I really enjoyed this book and keep the list of everyday illusions printed in front of me to keep me aware of what I may be missing.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Jeffrey L. Whitney
- 07-24-10
Eye Opening!
Everyone should read this book! I will be giving it as a gift to some of my family members (who really need it).
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- James
- 06-17-10
What did I miss?
This one is interesting to say the least. Worth the credit, and it may just open your eyes.. If not, you might find out you may have missed a few things along the way..
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- J from NJ
- 09-15-10
An interesting way to look at life
An interesting way to look at life and question the way we think and why
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful