The Irrational Ape

By: David Robert Grimes

Narrated by: David Robert Grimes

Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

The Irish Times Top-Five Best Seller.

Why did revolutionary China consider the sparrow an 'animal of capitalism' - and what happened when they tried to wipe them out? With a cast of murderous popes, snake-oil salesmen and superstitious pigeons, find out why flawed logic puts us all at risk and how critical thinking can save the world.

It may seem a big claim, but knowing how to think clearly and critically has literally helped save the world. In September 1983, at the height of the Cold War, the Soviet Union's early warning system showed five US missiles heading towards the country. Stanislaw Petrov knew his duty: he was to inform Moscow that nuclear war had begun, so that they could launch an immediate and devastating response. Instead, he made a call to say the system was faulty. He'd assessed the situation and reasoned that an error was more likely than such a limited attack.

We may not have to save the planet from nuclear annihilation, of course, but our ability to think critically has never been more important. In a world where fake news, mistrust of experts, prejudice and ignorance all too often hold sway, we can all too easily be misled over issues such as vaccinations, climate change or conspiracy theories. We live in an era where access to all the knowledge in the world is at our fingertips, yet that also means misinformation and falsehoods can spread further and faster than ever before.

In The Irrational Ape, David Robert Grimes shows how we can be lured into making critical mistakes or drawing false conclusions and how to avoid such errors. Given the power of modern science and the way that movements can unite to protest a cause via social media, we are in dangerous times. But fortunately, we can learn from our mistakes, and by critical thinking and scientific method, we can discover how to apply these techniques to everything from deciding what insurance to buy to averting global disaster.

This book, packed with fascinating case studies and examples, helps ensure we are ready for the modern world.

©2019 David Robert Grimes (P)2019 Simon & Schuster UK

Critic reviews

"...If our leaders were forced to read this book, the world would be a safer place." (Richard Dawkins)

"A beautifully reasoned book about our own unreasonableness." (Robin Ince)

Why it matters...

The book is an excellent explanation of why we react superstitiously and emotionally, why we tend to ignore or select evidence to please our views. It debunks a lot of myths, skewed perceptions and beliefs.
But it is the elegant, simple and yet clear-cut way the author arguments that is the best. Few people can explain so eloquently why truth matters and how dangerous it is to ignore it. Unfortunately, this excellent book is likely to only convince the already convinced: Belief is deaf to argument - because it KNOWS...

Why people believe stupid things

With the recent meteoric rise of conspiracy theories and alternative truths, this book is well positioned to explain why this is so. The author is excellent in explaining the different types of ways people get fooled into believing things that do not make much sense.
If you are like me and you are struggling to understand why people believe things that are clearly, in your experience, not true, then this book will help you get a better understanding of the situation through many recent controversies, learnings from history as well as the author's many experiences.
I highly recommend this book and it was 14 hours well spent!