The book is a compelling blend of pop psychology and journalism that makes complex theories of cognitive biases accessible to someone brand new to these concepts. However, it does feel like a collection of blog posts (because it is), with each chapter addressing a different cognitive bias or logical fallacy. I didn't mind that so much, since it made the book easy to pick up and put down.

That said, you do have to remember that McRaney is a journalist, not a psychologist. His explanations are definitely simplified, making some of the psychological theories he's presenting easy to digest but definitely not as nuanced as they could be. I appreciated the accessibility, but I understand why some might consider the book somewhat "shallow" in its treatment of complicated subjects. It's clear that this is more of a journalistic take on psychology rather than a deep-dive into each concept.

I enjoyed the lighthearted tone. Psychology can get heavy, and McRaney did a good job keeping things fun while still making me think. ( )

Easy to read, in little 4 page chapters with a myth and a debunking and an explanation. Good companion to a book I just read by Dan Ariely. ( )

Forty-eight little essays about faults in perception and biases that make us misapprehend ourselves and the world around us. Nothing super deep, but a good round up. As you might expect from the title, there's a bit of attitude involved. ( )

This book doesn't really have anything to do with intelligence-it's more a collection of studies into how the brain works. If you're interested in psychology, if you like thinking about thinking, this book is for you. I thought it was fascinating. It's easy to pick up and put down-I don't think any chapter is longer than 10 pages. Since I tend to take my nonfiction in small doses each morning before work, this worked out well for me. Some chapters resonated more than others-the chapters on normalcy bias and catharsis will stay with me the longest. With chapters this short, nothing is very in depth-they're more like sound bites of different studies and theories, but there was still enough substance to get me to stop and think about how I think and approach life. A good candidate for future rereads or as motivation to read other books on psychology. ( )

Usually when I say that a book by a blogger reads like the author just moved the blog to paper, I mean that as a bad thing. This book is quite heavily based on the blog of the same name, but the book manages to be like the blog in ways that are mostly positive.

First the good. If you're like me and have read a few books about the brain and its shortcomings, you've probably seen a lot of the materials covered in this book. What makes this book special is how easy it makes it to find information again. Usually books about the brain intersperse the discussion of various mental failings within a greater narrative. That's great for reading but not so great when you're trying to remember what that one fallacy about whatever is called. What McRaney's book gives us is interesting content that is presented in an engaging and easy to recall manner (interesting especially compared, say, to reading Wikipedia articles on logical fallacies, although that is also fun).

The not so good is fairly minor but contextually important. This book has no overarching narrative flow. Each chapter is a short independent piece focused on a particular topic. This is great if you are reading in on a bus ride or while waiting for something. However, it does make it somewhat tedious to read for longer than about an hour at a time. Thus, as I found out the hard way, it's not a great book for taking on a transatlantic flight.

But overall, quite good. I strongly recommend it to anyone who hasn't read any books about the limitations of mental processing and moderately recommend it for those familiar with the area. ( )

FANTASTIC book .... if you like psychology and wonder why we do the things we do. ( )

If there was a book about stereotypes for how the brain works this would be it. In most cases though, the stereotypes are true unless you're actively aware of the decisions you're making. This book elaborates on the decisions we make without knowing it. For most of them I was nodding along thinking "yeah, that's true, I knew that was a bias I held", which left it mostly skin deep for me. ( )

A survey of all the ways your brain doesn't work as well as you think it does/ should. I found the book quite interesting although at times the details of the studies got a little dry and the snarky comments at the reader became grating. However, it is broken up into fairly short chapters so it's a great waiting room/ public transportation book. ( )

I listened to the audiobook version and enjoyed it immensely. It is very insightful, albeit a bit distressing. ( )

This was a fun, interesting look at the different levels of psychological impacts we put on ourselves. The ways we rationalize things or the ways we warp our perceptions of the world to view it as we *WANT* to view it more than how *IT SHOULD* be viewed. Mostly done unconsciously, and not on purpose, but still done, all the same. Which is the point of the book really, to showcase and show you all the things you are doing and thinking and acting on, without realizing it.

Most are things that anyone whose taken a High School Psychology class, or read a few studies or read a psychology or even philosophy (or sociology) book or two would know, but compiled like this, was pretty interesting.

3 Stars on GoodReads.
3.5 Stars on LibraryThing. ( )

I don't usually write reviews but this book was EXACTLY what I wanted to listen to. It is really insightful. I couldn't stop listening to the audiobook until I finished it, only putting it down for sleep or work, neglecting everything else.

This book takes almost every logical fallacy and cognitive bias a human you can have and gives detailed examples for it and backs it up with the research that has been done on the topic. It made me stop listening several times to try and recall all the times I fell in to the biases and fallacies mentioned. I knew about some of them before reading the book, but there are 48 of them listed here so I was delighted to learn more.

If you want to be able to have a better conversation with other people, this book is for you. ( )

My first book of 2016, and what a book it was!
The first thing that popped into my mind was this:

It explains each topic succinctly and is perfect if you want to quickly refresh the topics.
Some of the facts really blew my mind.
It serves as the perfect warm-up read for [b:Thinking, Fast and Slow|11468377|Thinking, Fast and Slow|Daniel Kahneman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1317793965s/11468377.jpg|16402639], which I consider to be the best book I've ever read. So, read it if you really want to go in deep for some of the topics.

Reading this book will make you aware of the situations in which you are likely to make an erroneous decision. Hopefully, you will avoid them in the future, because you are not so smart.
It is a must read for everyone; take a bite of the humble pie and read it. ( )

Talks about things that many readers will have read about before, but stands as a good, easy to consume, review of the major cognitive biases and related research. Thinking Fast and Slow is a good, much longer, book if you are interested in learning more about these topics. ( )

Good summary of what many other books go into more satisfactory details about. But if you want a bunch of short reminders of all of the biases and dilutions that we all have, this is a pretty good book.

One consequence of the shortness of each description is that sometimes the author doesn't make as a compelling case as would be necessary to completely believe his case. However there are enough footnotes and references to insure that the author has the backing needed. ( )

A compact and accurate catalog of the biases that hinder (and yet constitute) our species. Should be required reading for these times. ( )

Suppose that you imagine yourself to be a self-aware, intelligent, and reasonable person. Well you’re not. This book details all the cognitive biases that mislead our thoughts and feelings. We naively delude ourselves everyday with imperfect and inaccurate interpretations of ourselves and other people. And we all do it regardless of our level of education or our political persuasion. We are in fact wrong most of the time. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but a fun book to read. ( )

An update to why we make the decisions we do and how much of the process is driven by factors we don't take into account. ( )

A lot of this book covered ground that was fairly familiar to me from other, similar reads, but it was still informative and generally interesting. Even if it did leave me feeling as though I can never trust my own judgement or memory ever again. ( )

Solid collection of cognitive (et al) psych cases. I'd give this four stars if only the tone weren't so dreary. I understand this used to be a blog, and it would work in that medium. Good slant actually, the pessimism. In book form though, being put down at the end of every chapter made this feel depressing.

Am I committing an attribution error (or proving myself stupid by one of the many examples here) by basing my rating on an emotional response, rather than how comprehensive it is? Probably. Am I entitled to my own rating system here on GoodReads? Yep. So there you have it.

God. It's like being around Sheldon Cooper. He can be brilliant, and right, and have valid points, but he's not exactly being very likable about it. ( )

Excellent overview of the many was our brains hijack our rationality. McRainey draws from classic psychological research, as well as more contemporary studies to show how our subconscious and other aspects of brain function cause us to be less smart than we think we are. He covers an amazing amount of territory in this regard, and does so in a very clear and engaging manner. If you want to learn more about how your brain may be working against you and making you more stupid than you realize, read this. ( )

I'm not so smart, this book made it very clear to me. In 48 chapters of this book David McRaney covers several fallacies, biases and phenomenons which affects every aspect of our lives and decisions we make every moment. I related to most, actually all, of the examples but as per David McRaney, everyone would related to those examples and there's nothing unique about me when it comes to making decisions and having opinions. It's too the point and explains everything in detail.

Although, it's uneven in some places. I found some chapters went into too much technical details and psychological lingo and I got bored in between some chapters but most of the chapters were simple and easy to grasp. Another gripe I've is that this book doesn't talk about how to use the understanding of these fallacies and biases. Maybe I'll be able to recognize these fallacies and biases in my and others behavior in future but I don't feel equipped to utilize or exploit this understanding for my benefits. How to utilize the knowledge in this book is something reader needs to figure out him/herself. But it's a good read nonetheless, give it a try.
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The book is an enjoyable read (listen) as the author explores many of the things we know that turn out not to be true. I could add a few more - like we think we can do two things at once (type and watch TV) - but we can't! ( )

This book genuinely changed how I look at the world and how I interact with it - all for the better. ( )

Sounds interesting, although I have to say none of the examples in the preview are particularly compelling. I mean, does anyone actually believe that all 500 of their Facebook friends are real friends? I'll need to hear more about that brand loyalty one, as well, because it doesn't make much sense to me just on the face of it.

About the tricks our minds play to manage all the data that we are constantly trying to process. It was quite interesting, but went on for too long. Anyone who has take an introductory psychology course will be familiar with most of the information presented. Around chapter 30 I started skipping ahead when chapters seemed repetitive. I think it would be better for dipping into, rather than reading straight through. ( )