Your Deceptive Mind: A Scientific Guide to Critical Thinking Skills

By: Steven Novella, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Steven Novella

Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

No skill is more important in today's world than being able to think about, understand, and act on information in an effective and responsible way. What's more, at no point in human history have we had access to so much information, with such relative ease, as we do in the 21st century. But because misinformation out there has increased as well, critical thinking is more important than ever.

These 24 rewarding lectures equip you with the knowledge and techniques you need to become a savvier, sharper critical thinker in your professional and personal life. By immersing yourself in the science of cognitive biases and critical thinking, and by learning how to think about thinking (a practice known as metacognition), you'll gain concrete lessons for doing so more critically, more intelligently, and more successfully.

The key to successful critical thinking lies in understanding the neuroscience behind how our thinking works - and goes wrong; avoiding common pitfalls and errors in thinking, such as logical fallacies and biases; and knowing how to distinguish good science from pseudoscience. Professor Novella tackles these issues and more, exploring how the (often unfamiliar) ways in which our brains are hardwired can distract and prevent us from getting to the truth of a particular matter.

Along the way, he provides you with a critical toolbox that you can use to better assess the quality of information. Even though the world is becoming more and more saturated information, you can take the initiative and become better prepared to make sense of it all with this intriguing course.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2012 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2012 The Great Courses

Great book well organized book.

Its a really good book. I found that it is very helpful in understanding what to believe and what not to. Giving you a toolbox to helping to discern them apart . I love the great courses. And honestly it's very much like attending a college class. If you don't really focus. It'd be better to listen to the book twice. Not that it's not easy to understand, just because of the amount of information.

This knowledge should be taught in college

Excellent material. The scientific method and some basic concepts of human nature should be taught in every university level course.

informative and usedul

I gained not only information but a systematically enjoyable process. It's a way of thinking and living life

intricate thinking guide

This book was very detailed and informative.. I believe it covers most any lose ends you may have regarding Critical Thinking.

think twice

the book teaches you how. loved the information and presentation. I would strongly recommend this book.

A great way to learning about learning.

If you like spending your subscription credit on more weighty material and/or you can't afford the actual price of The Great Courses material, which is often more than $100/course on their website, this is the way to go. It's almost exclusively what I use audible for.

Steven Novella (who also hosts the Skeptics Guide to the Universe podcast) is a great instructor and because it's his material it's quite natural and he has a pleasant speaking voice.

As for the actual lectures, I cannot stress enough how interesting the content is. Any reader/listener that enjoys putting their mind to use and is curious as to how that is actually accomplished would do well to listen to this. If you find logical fallacy, cognitive biases, meta-cognition interesting, this is for you. If you want to be more aware of your own shortcomings in constructing arguments, also for you. Should you want to more efficiently review information and discard non-relevant information more easily, also you. If you know someone who has a difficult time recognizing editorialized information from factual information. If someone you know is going to college or university for the first time, also a great read.

If you like your brain and want to be better friends with it; or conversely, if you want to more readily figure out what other brains are up to and whether or not you would like to be friends with those brains - good starting place.

I have, no kidding, listened to the entire thing five times. It encouraged me to go to college.

Open your mind

Love these lectures, opens your kind to the reality of how we think and why we make mistakes in what we believe in and think is true
And also give you a good plan to how to overcome our shortcomings when it comes to understanding and making judgment about life and what's real and what's not

Thinking about thinking

We’ll laid out and we’ll reasoned - will look for more by this author. A always looking to understand this subject .

well said

a nice listen to fade into sleep and relish many times great info to Grok

well worth the time to listen to, good roundup

What did you love best about Your Deceptive Mind: A Scientific Guide to Critical Thinking Skills?

Most of the facts and ideas presented in this course are well known to everyone who has read a bit about or heard from modern "mind science" or "how our brain works" talks. Yet, Novella's roundup is great to listen to, well paced, always interesting and well worth both time and energy spent.
I really enjoyed, for once, a scientist to remind the listener that he, the scientist, does not know it all and will probably not be right all the time. For one time a tutor explains, in detail, that using your own brain and mind means to check the facts and not just play along. A fair approach.

What other book might you compare Your Deceptive Mind: A Scientific Guide to Critical Thinking Skills to and why?

M. Shermer's "The Believing Brain" is quite similar in general approach, but concentrates too much on personal vendetta of the author and/or believe system. There are more comparable titles, but most, in my eyes (ears), suffer from the same basic problem: Scientists that want to make you BELIEVE that they do not need to believe, because they know all the facts for fact, are ... wretched(?).
Most comparable books start of with or repeat sentences like "well, we know for a fact that ..." - and that, exactly, is not scientific thinking. It's religion.
Novella does not fall for this.

What does Professor Steven Novella bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Most books that cover the same topic come up with the ever repeating "experiments" that "scientists" have done, some of which date back to the 1930s or whatever. These experiments as well as the conclusions drawn from them are not that convincing, in setup, target and evidence. Yet, "science" seems unable to come up with new studies, new experiments and new approaches, so most books chew through the same data over and over again, almost in religious circles.
Novella gets around this quite well by just shortly pointing towards those experiments, but explaining thought processes and prejudices in more "today's" contexts, seemingly being still in contact with the real world and not lost in "scientist's drinking clubs". His narration, wit, pointyness (does that word exist?) and personal involvement make you believe he actually means what he says, yet has the distance to always remember you: He might be wrong.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

There are a few "funny" side notes that are funny enough to make you giggle or even laugh for a moment, but overall the pace (30 minute lectures) and dedication is just about right to not NEED jokes or horror stories.

Any additional comments?

Can you expect "new insights"? No, if you have ever read anything about modern brain science or mind theory. Are you looking for a sumup of the current "believe" in why we believe and how we err in making up our minds: This is a great approach that won't even harm a religious listener (and those are often the targets of pity for so many other authors/teachers).
Not that I am of that kind anyway :-)