Having read this, I am now less dumb. However, I don't feel like it, given that I am a walking pile of cognitive biases, mental shortcuts and self-delusion (same as the rest of you). Learning a little about this stuff is a mixed blessing because you start seeing logical fallacies being committed everywhere; by yourself and others. I continue to enjoy the author's podcast series (You Are Not So Smart), and this book is a footnoted expansion of much of that work. I can't recommend this book more highly - it is fairly short, very accessible and very, very interesting. ( )

This book has pushed me into a serious existential crisis. I will likely be melancholy and insufferable for at least a month. ( )

One of my favorite authors and one of my favorite subjects. ( )

Similar to his last one - "You Are Not So Smart", but I found this one to be a bit more boring. Some of it is a retread from the last book, or similar enough to the last one just in changed up ways, that it felt like reading a bit of a repeat. But not completely. There is still a lot of new stuff, a lot of different stuff. But for some reason, this one just didn't engage me as much as the first one. Still interesting and fascinating stuff to read about how our brains work and deceive ourselves. Would still recommend the two books, but just know this one is a bit more of a slog going into it perhaps. Though everyone's mileage may vary. ( )

"The research suggests that the average person thinks she is not the average person. She thinks most people are dumb, and that she is not like most people."

My favorite thing about this book is not just the neat psychological tricks we nearly all play on ourselves (although that too!) but the fact that the author, David McRaney, describes them in a way that even I, brain fog girl, could understand. His writing style is playful and sometimes and even laugh-out-loud amusing. (As in, "Magical amulets do not exist, and even if they did, think about how expensive it would be to hire a factory full of wizards to enchant enough of them for worldwide distribution.") You don't get that in many psychology books! ( )