Why Brilliant People Believe Nonsense

A Practical Text For Critical and Creative Thinking

De: J. Steve Miller, Cherie K. Miller

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

"Engaging, thought-provoking, and surprisingly...fun!"

- Dr. Fred Jones, professor, Supreme Court attorney, author and speaker

Recent surveys of over 1,000 recruiters rank creative and strategic thinking at the top of their lists for both what they're looking for in candidates, and what they're having a hard time finding. This book, in a remarkably accessible, practical and entertaining way, equips readers to meet these needs, as well as to:

•Think more clearly

•Innovate more creatively

•Manage life’s decisions with more confidence

•Simplify complex and convoluted arguments

•Express convictions more powerfully

Targeting high school seniors and college freshmen, but useful to all adult readers, the authors examine surprising and costly mental errors made by respected business leaders, entertainment moguls, musicians, scientists, civic leaders, generals and academics. Then, they draw practical applications to help readers avoid such mistakes and think more creatively in each field.

Twenty-five chapters address innovation, outside-the-box thinking, creativity, questioning expert opinion, developing idea-driven cultures in businesses, research, logic, worldviews, crowd sourcing, paradigms, harnessing the power of teams, deductive and inductive thinking, etc.

Chapter Titles

Why do brilliant people believe nonsense?

Chapter 1 - They're Overconfident

Chapter 2 - They're Under Confident

Chapter 3 - They're Married to Brands

Chapter 4 - They're Blinded by Prejudices, Preconceptions and Biases

Chapter 5 - They Believe What They Want to Believe

Chapter 6 - They're Trapped by Traditions

Chapter 7 - They Fail to Identify Hidden Assumptions

Chapter 8 - They Underestimate the Power of the Paradigm

Chapter 9 - They Fail to Account for Worldviews

Chapter 10 - They Contradict, Leave Out Valid Options, and Knock Down Straw Men

Chapter 11 - They Fall for Other Common Fallacies

Chapter 12 - They Either Fail to Recognize Fallacies, or Misapply The Ones They Know

Chapter 13 - They Draw Conclusions from Inadequate Evidence

Chapter 14 - They're Snowed by Success Bias

Chapter 15 - They "Discover" Meaningless Patterns

Chapter 16 - They Fail to Closely Examine Statistics

Chapter 17 - They Make Common Statistical Blunders

Chapter 18 - They Fail to Learn from History

Chapter 19 - They Learn the Wrong Lessons from History

Chapter 20 - They Miss Subtle Shifts in Word Meanings

Chapter 21 - They Misinterpret Phrases and Sentences

Chapter 22 - They Use Faulty Parallels and Analogies

Chapter 23 - They Fail to Identify and Interpret Fiction and Figurative Language

Chapter 24 - They're Overwhelmed by Their Emotions and Passions

Chapter 25 - They Fail to Reason with Emotional Intelligence and Common Sense

"Why Brilliant People Believe Nonsense should be must reading, not just for every college freshman, but for anyone who wants to think clearly and rationally."

- Doug Erlandson, Ph.D., author, assistant professor of philosophy, University of Nebraska (retired).