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How We Know What Isn't So: The Fallibility of Human Reason in Everyday Life by Thomas Gilovich
bunrab's review against another edition
5.0
Even though this book is over 20 years old and there's been a lot of research in psychology and neuroscience done in that 20 years, this book is still as good a summary of how we deceive ourselves about what we're thinking, about what we base our decisions on, about how we evaluate risk, as any of the books published this past couple of years. Gilovich is an extremely clear writer, and gives exactly enough examples. He explains the biases that creep in when we are evaluating the amount of information we have - one acronym he uses is WYSIATI - what you see is all there is - a concept that pervades our evaluation of information. While there isn't any way we can change our brains to not perceive some information better than others, there are ways to train ourselves to ask more questions and be more skeptical of the information we have, to deliberately search for disconfirming data, to look at other sections of our decision matrix instead of assuming that since we do have data points already in the section we're looking at, that that section is the "most true." I'm currently also reading the recent books /Irrationality/ and /Thinking, Fast and Slow/ - and a lot of the information presented in those as news is actually stuff Gilovich wrote about already.
The unfortunate side of books showing that we ALL have built-in biases in the way we think, is that the people who tend to read these books are already the people inclined to want to learn more and question more, and the people who are most confident already that everything they think is right are the least likely to read a book that would shake up that notion. If you're one of my friends, please read this book so that you can try and use some of its principles when dealing with other people who have some rigid opinions or habitually make bad decisions; you may get some ideas for how to present information to them in a different manner so that there's a slight chance it will get through.
The unfortunate side of books showing that we ALL have built-in biases in the way we think, is that the people who tend to read these books are already the people inclined to want to learn more and question more, and the people who are most confident already that everything they think is right are the least likely to read a book that would shake up that notion. If you're one of my friends, please read this book so that you can try and use some of its principles when dealing with other people who have some rigid opinions or habitually make bad decisions; you may get some ideas for how to present information to them in a different manner so that there's a slight chance it will get through.
gdaly18's review against another edition
3.0
Gilovich has done so much interesting research in social psychology and this is a really well done representation of some of the work he’s done. It’s also written in really accessible terms.
stephenmeansme's review against another edition
4.0
Mostly a book about cognitive and social psychology, by a research psychologist, but with some examples in the form of things "everybody knows" but which "just ain't so" - ESP, New Age "holistic" treatments, and (less supernaturally) common but rarely-successful social behavior. Kudos to the author for sticking pretty much to what he knows (note how the three examples are focused on the mind or social interaction), but it's a relatively light treatment of each.
The preparatory chapters on how people form erroneous beliefs are much more fleshed out, and nice to read all gathered together by someone who actually has expertise in the field (and research credit, to boot). The bibliography is probably the greatest asset for anyone who otherwise has pretty much heard all this before. Also of historical interest is the running focus on AIDS, as this was written in the early Nineties and nobody was sure if it would become a pandemic (i.e. among heterosexuals) or not.
Overall, the cog psych of bias and error is something everyone should read about, even if the back half of the book falls a bit flat. I'll rate it 3.5 stars, rounded to 4 because of the bibliography.
The preparatory chapters on how people form erroneous beliefs are much more fleshed out, and nice to read all gathered together by someone who actually has expertise in the field (and research credit, to boot). The bibliography is probably the greatest asset for anyone who otherwise has pretty much heard all this before. Also of historical interest is the running focus on AIDS, as this was written in the early Nineties and nobody was sure if it would become a pandemic (i.e. among heterosexuals) or not.
Overall, the cog psych of bias and error is something everyone should read about, even if the back half of the book falls a bit flat. I'll rate it 3.5 stars, rounded to 4 because of the bibliography.
rbogue's review
It’s what we know that ain’t so that gets us in trouble. Whether you prefer that Artemus Ward quote from To Kill a Mockingbird or you attribute the saying to Mark Twain, the sentiment is the same. Knowing something rarely gets us in trouble. Thinking that we know something we don’t can have bad to tragic consequences. Understanding how our thinking goes wrong is at the heart of How We Know What Isn’t So: Fallibility of Human Reason in Everyday Life. Thomas Gilovich’s work has come up in several places in my reading. He’s always associated with outlandish claims, like 94% of college professors felt like they were better than their average peer or 70% of high school students thought their leadership was above average. So, reading his work was a walk through the crazy path of how we see ourselves and how we tend to see ourselves in distorted ways.
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bootman's review against another edition
5.0
2nd read:
This was one of the first books I read on human irrationality and faulty reasoning, and I remember thinking it was super boring. Not only was I bored with it, but a lot of the concepts went over my head. Recently some other books I’ve read have mentioned this book or Thomas Gilovich’s work, so I decided to give it another read, and oh my God. This book is now one of my favorites on the topic.
I must have been in a weird headspace the first time I read it, or it just didn’t capture my attention because I was new to the topic. But this book is hands down one of the best books when it comes to understanding why people believe weird things, but it also helps the reader learn how to become a better thinker.
Even though this book was originally published years ago, everything in it holds up. I especially liked the chapter discussing how we can ask biased questions, which skews the answers we’re getting. I don’t see many books discussing this.
This is a must-read book to understand faulty reasoning, and it’s definitely going on my list of books to revisit at least once a year.
1st read:
I regularly try to read books that make me question my thinking and recognize my unconscious biases, and I think it’s something we should all be doing. This book doesn’t disappoint. I learned of the author through a Jonathan Haidt book, and I’m glad I found him.
This was one of the first books I read on human irrationality and faulty reasoning, and I remember thinking it was super boring. Not only was I bored with it, but a lot of the concepts went over my head. Recently some other books I’ve read have mentioned this book or Thomas Gilovich’s work, so I decided to give it another read, and oh my God. This book is now one of my favorites on the topic.
I must have been in a weird headspace the first time I read it, or it just didn’t capture my attention because I was new to the topic. But this book is hands down one of the best books when it comes to understanding why people believe weird things, but it also helps the reader learn how to become a better thinker.
Even though this book was originally published years ago, everything in it holds up. I especially liked the chapter discussing how we can ask biased questions, which skews the answers we’re getting. I don’t see many books discussing this.
This is a must-read book to understand faulty reasoning, and it’s definitely going on my list of books to revisit at least once a year.
1st read:
I regularly try to read books that make me question my thinking and recognize my unconscious biases, and I think it’s something we should all be doing. This book doesn’t disappoint. I learned of the author through a Jonathan Haidt book, and I’m glad I found him.
drewflynn's review against another edition
4.0
Some chapters were more interesting than others, but those interesting ones were at times incredible. The book makes you want to constantly keep reading more, while your brain wants you to chill so it can process it all. A wonderful dilemma.