An d 46 Other Ways You're Deluding Yourself - Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook

I've recommended, lent, and gifted this book to many friends since I first read it. I've even bought a print copy for myself, since my first encounter was through an audiobook. It alternately makes me nod in agreement, hang my head in shame (that I have fallen victim to the same thinking traps being described), laugh at myself (or at others), and smile with the pleasure of learning something new and useful. I find its concepts to be useful in everyday life, sometimes helping me avoid arguments with friends, and other times helping me improve my own logical thinking.

When I found the author's website, I figured it had sprung from the book's popularity, then learned the opposite is true. I check out his writing regularly online, and have also enjoyed his second book, whose title ("You Are Now Less Dumb") makes me feel that I really have learned something from both books.

I hope McRaney continues to write and publish... I will absolutely continue to read, laugh, and learn.

Awesome. Clever examples to showcase ideas in each chapter. Very interesting and arresting information to challenge conventional wisdom. This book will often make you pause and reflect on your own cognitive processing. A book about thinking about thinking without being pretentious or dull.

Gleefully covers a host of psychological biases and other phenomena. You’ll have the opportunity to learn a lot about the mind and to do so in small, digestible pieces. A pleasure to read and learn.

I have no knowledge of psychology, human behavior, or anything resembling the fields.
This book was completely understandable, yet I never felt as if the author oversimplified the subject matter. I liked that the chapters were not too in-depth, yet held enough information to keep my interest. Good party conversation material.

I bought the book immediately after reading a blog post by the author. It spoke my mind and answered many question I used to have but are now answered.

The book is filled with diverse experiments. Each chapter tackles a certain misconception with facts and experiments. And the author manages to show different aspects of the fact he reveals.

I read the original blog from which this book was based a few years back and the article was about confirmation bias. At first I was pretty skeptical if anything the author said was based mainstream psychology. However, I was completely overwhelmed with how true his scenarios apply to me. Since I don't have much time to read his blog lately, I decided to buy the book since most of the articles are exactly from the blog. I finished reading it in a week and I'm satisfied with the book. Now at least a bit, I can tell why I'm acting the way I'm acting. After all, I am not so smart.

I am fascinated by how people behave and the mental models and short cuts they take just to function in the world. This book provides some great examples and details on personal behavior. My own included.

We've been told that high self-esteem is important - but this book makes a point that too many people suffer from rather inflated opinion of themselves. They delude themselves by thinking that they are logical, rational, and independent-minded human beings. They assume than they are better than the average. However, reality is, we all are prone to numerous cognitive biases that blur our vision of reality.

We are not what we think we are. Until we face that truth, all the pursuits of personal development will be mostly in vain. From this standpoint, I find "You Are Not So Smart" to be one of the best books I've ever read. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in being a better person. We all need truth and common sense rather than flattery.

Gee, thanks David, now I have to rethink thinking about the way I was thinking, I think.

I love reading about cognitive science, behavior, logic and perceptions. You Are Not So Smart fits quite well into my library and will become a reference book for me. (I am an amateur thinker, at least what people tell me, I got started late in life and now I'm playing catch up.)

Ok, on to David McRaney's next book!

This book is essential for anyone studying psychology, or even someone who simply wants to better understand the flaws in their own mind and the minds of others! Its humorous yet thought-provoking style, along with a strong basis of credible research and studies, make it a must-read!

The book present peer-reviewed research on 48 topics about how we all have cognitive biases that influence our thinking and decision making. We are not the completely rational, clear-headed decision makers we would like to believe. Simple and engaging summaries of authoritative research show how we can be influenced and how our memories are not very accurate. One of the last chapters, on memory, was perhaps the most enlightening and surprising. I won't spoil it for readers, but our memories are not like videos we call up from our internal hard drive and play. The research is shocking, especially when one considers that much of our criminal justice system is based on eyewitness accounts from memory.

As a therapist, coach, parent and member of the human race; I believe this book should be required reading for everyone. McRaney his on excellent topics and backs them up with sound research. I look forward to his next book!

I loved this book! It was not only very informative, it was an entertaining read. It has made me conscious of a few of the tricks my mind plays on me.. I've recommended it to several people and given it as a gift to one (so far!)

A lovely expansion and refinement of content from youarenotsosmart.com. Each chapter covers with examples and referenced research a psychological misconception most of us are unaware we have or make. Very readable and eye opening. To remember even half of what the book contains would give you a fresh set of eyes to perceive the world with.

I would consider myself quite an avid reader. With the tons of self help and psychology books already the market, this one caught my eye in a youtube video about procrastination. I can assure that this one was a pretty good read and worth the time and the money I spent behind it, am going to ship this to my friends so they can give it a read too.

Cheers! :)

Interesting read, moves along at a good pace. There are some places where I ask if the author or scientists can really make the assumptions they do based on the information gathered from their studies. But overall, insightful.

Excellent and thought=provoking book. He writes in a straight-forward style and the whole exercise is self-edifying. Anyone who lives in this modern Facebook world should be paying attention to their own motives.

I found myself making excuses while reading, justifying my own behaviors and thinking about all the ways I defy these norms- which is just more proof that I'm not so smart. Haha! Great read, seriously. Diverting, and informative.

While researching for my next leadership book, I ran across this on the store. After reading it, I'd recommend this to any organization for their employees. As humans (and employees), we are unaware of our biases and assumptions (or at least most of them). While it may be impossible to gain full bias-enlightenment, McRaney's book can make a substantial difference how we work with others and especially in how we practice leadership.

While some of the cited research can be unnerving (at least for me from a dissonance perspective), McRaney guides you through the experience with his non-academic and humorous style.

After reading the book, you'll be smarter about your own not-so-smartness...and that's pretty smart!

The writer diligently explains most of the symptoms of our deficient thinking and why most of us are rated mediocre when it comes to rational reasoning . I admire the writer's style in delivering what he wants his reader's to acknowledge in a concise and easy English . I recommend the book to anyone who thrives on improving his capabilities and competences .

If you've been following the occasional news items and books on how the brain works, then much in this book will be familiar to you. The writing style coupled with organized and concise chapters makes for informative and entertaining reading to the "average Joe". This book (and others in the same vein) would be a good component in a critical-thinking curriculum for high-school students. Getting more people to look for and acknowledge the common flaws in human thought should be a significant benefit to Society on the whole.

I am not literate on subjects concerning human phsyce. maybe it is the reason i found this book so interesting. it is easy to read as well, wit short chapters and interesting samples. would recommend for everyone to spare the time and read it.

This book will make you think deeply about everything you believe, and then make you question everything you just thought about. It's a book about learning not to trust yourself too much. It's fantastic.

This is an absolutely fascinating look into those parts of the human mind that are not beautiful and unique snowflakes, but instead either vestigial survival responses or seemingly just hardwired glitches. More importantly, though, this could be an extremely useful store of knowledge to call on when in a position of dealing with others (which most of us do every day) or examining our own behavior (which would, of course, require a modicum of self-awareness and mindfulness). Question everything, yes, but certainly question yourself. I can't help but feel like much of the strife between humans could be smoothed if we could catch ourselves in these mental acts and correct ourselves more often.