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You Are Not So Smart

Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You're Deluding Yourself

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You Are Not So Smart

By: David McRaney
Narrated by: Don Hagen
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About this listen

An entertaining illumination of the stupid beliefs that make us feel wise.

You believe you are a rational, logical being who sees the world as it really is, but journalist David McRaney is here to tell you that you're as deluded as the rest of us. But that's OK - delusions keep us sane. You Are Not So Smart is a celebration of self-delusion. It's like a psychology class, with all the boring parts taken out, and with no homework.Based on the popular blog of the same name, You Are Not So Smart collects more than 46 of the lies we tell ourselves everyday, including:

  • Dunbar's Number - Humans evolved to live in bands of roughly 150 individuals, the brain cannot handle more than that number. If you have more than 150 Facebook friends, they are surely not all real friends.
  • Hindsight bias - When we learn something new, we reassure ourselves that we knew it all along.
  • Confirmation bias - Our brains resist new ideas, instead paying attention only to findings that reinforce our preconceived notions.
  • Brand loyalty - We reach for the same brand not because we trust its quality but because we want to reassure ourselves that we made a smart choice the last time we bought it.

©2011 David McRaney (P)2011 Gildan Media Corp Consciousness & Thought Movements Personal Development Personal Success Philosophy Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Human Brain Inspiring

Critic Reviews

"In an Idiocracy dominated by cable TV bobbleheads, government propagandists, and corporate spinmeisters, many of us know that mass ignorance is a huge problem. Now, thanks to David McRaney's mind-blowing book, we can finally see the scientific roots of that problem. Anybody still self-aware enough to wonder why society now worships willful stupidity should read this book." ( David Sirota, author of Back to Our Future: How the 1980s Explain the World We Live In Now)
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I thoroughly enjoyed learning I am not so smart. so much content in such a small book. this is really an overview of a bunch of ways our brains don't perform well. a great introduction to self delusion.

simply brilliant!

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Book covers individual biases in each chapter and doesn’t really matter the flow from one chapter to the next too much, so good to have as a side book on the go. Really interesting, w lots of examples. Readers voice didn’t really suit the content/style of writing.

Interesting and helpful

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Struggled to finish just because its a series of articles which if you just power through all seem to meld together. But the content is interesting!!

I thought this was optional

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A very entertaining view of our”humanality”
Answered lots of my personal questions regarding how this world rotates inside my head.

Loved it .... hated it ... loved it !!

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Great explanations, giving a greater understanding of human limitations. This helps highlight why double blind placebo control studies are so important.

Favourite

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David's work on both his books and podcast is top notch. Well researched content, 'punchy', entertaining, well laid out and the narrator suits the style. Look forward to listening again.

Fascinating look into the human psyche

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Although the narration seems somewhat monotone to begin with, you get used to its style and it becomes okay (least that’s what happens with me)
You learn about 48 logical fallacies, heuristics and biases and understand more about how your brain works in this way.
There’s a good amount of evidence and scientific research discussed and it’s done in a way that has some added humour.
Overall it is a great listen in my opinion.

A great listen

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