Description

The Number One international bestseller featuring contributions from Daniel Kahneman, Dan Ariely, Ryan Holiday, Alison Gopnik, Howard Gardner, Antonio Damasio, and Aaron James.

‘We need books like this one’
Steven Pinker

Stupidity is all around us, from the colleagues who won’t stop hitting ‘reply all’ to the former school friends posting conspiracy theories on Facebook. But in order to battle idiocy, we must first understand it. In The Psychology of Stupidity, some of the world’s leading psychologists and thinkers – including a Nobel Prize winner – will show you . . .

* Why smart people sometimes believe in utter nonsense
* How our lazy brains cause us to make the wrong decisions
* Why trying to debate with fools is a trap
* How media manipulation and Internet overstimulation makes us dumber
* Why the stupidest people don’t think they’re stupid

As long as there have been humans there has been human stupidity, but with wit and wisdom these great thinkers can help us understand this persistent human affliction.

Publisher Review

Remarkably comprehensive and accessible . . . The book has an easygoing, colloquial feel to it. . . . An illuminating look at a subject that is more complex than it might appear to be. * Booklist * Are people getting dumber, or does it just look that way? . . . A smart collection. * Kirkus Reviews * A comprehensive and witty inquiry into human folly in its myriad forms . . . [with a] wealth of insights . . . Urgent and transformative, this compendium will leave readers equally amused, appalled, and enlightened. * Publishers Weekly * Clear and accessible to everyone * Lire * Entertaining and instructive. * France Inter * Can you study stupidity? The answer is a resounding YES. * Le Quotidien * A very clever book. * Le Canard Enchaine * I was totally hooked. Everybody loves it. * La Grande Librairie * We need books like this one * Steven Pinker *