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You Are Now Less Dumb: How to Conquer Mob Mentality, How to Buy Happiness, and All the Other Ways to Outsmart Yourself Kindle Edition

by David McRaney (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 572 ratings
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The author of the bestselling You Are Not So Smart shares more discoveries about self-delusion and irrational thinking, and gives readers a fighting chance at outsmarting their not-so-smart brains

David McRaney’s first book, You Are Not So Smart, evolved from his wildly popular blog of the same name. A mix of popular psychology and trivia, McRaney’s insights have struck a chord with thousands, and his blog--and now podcasts and videos--have become an Internet phenomenon.

Like You Are Not So Smart, You Are Now Less Dumb is grounded in the idea that we all believe ourselves to be objective observers of reality--except we’re not. But that’s okay, because our delusions keep us sane. Expanding on this premise, McRaney provides eye-opening analyses of fifteen more ways we fool ourselves every day, including:
  • The Misattribution of Arousal (Environmental factors have a greater affect on our emotional arousal than the person right in front of us)
  • Sunk Cost Fallacy (We will engage in something we don’t enjoy just to make the time or money already invested “worth it”)
  • Deindividuation (Despite our best intentions, we practically disappear when subsumed by a mob mentality)
McRaney also reveals the true price of happiness, why Benjamin Franklin was such a badass, and how to avoid falling for our own lies. This smart and highly entertaining book will be wowing readers for years to come.
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  1. Print length
    321 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Avery
  4. Publication date
    July 30, 2013
  5. File size
    2.9 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
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  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for YOU ARE NOT SO SMART by David McRaney

"Every chapter is a welcome reminder that you are not so smart — yet you’re never made to feel dumb.  You Are Not So Smart is a dose of psychology research served in tasty anecdotes that will make you better understand both yourself and the rest of us. You’ll find new perspectives on your relationships with people you know, people you don’t, and even brands. It turns out we’re much more irrational than most of us think, so give yourself every advantage you can and read this book."
— Alexis Ohanian, Co-Founder of Reddit.com

“You Are Not So Smart is positively one of the smartest books to come by this year — no illusion there.”
— Maria Popova of Brain Pickings

“Simply wonderful.  An engaging and useful guide to how our brilliant brains can go badly wrong.”
— Richard Wiseman, bestselling author of 59 Seconds and Quirkology

“McRaney’s sweeping overview is like taking a Psych 101 class with a witty professor and zero homework.”
— Psychology Today

“You Are Not So Smart [is] the go-to blog for understanding why we all do silly things.”
— Lifehacker.com

“You’d think from the title that it might be curmudgeonly; in fact, You Are Not So Smart is quite big-hearted.”
— Jason Kottke, Kottke.org

“Want to get smarter quickly? Read this book”
— David Eagleman — neuroscientist and author of Incognito: The Secret Lives of the

“A much-needed field guide to the limits of our so-called consciousness. McRaney presents a witty case for just how witless we all are.”
— William Poundstone — bestselling author of Are you Smart Enough to Work at Googl

“Fascinating… After reading this book, you’ll never trust your brain again.”
— Alex Boese — bestselling author of Elephants on Acid and Electric Sheep

“Deflating to a certain audience that wants to believe in exceptions, You Are Not So Smart is a tonic to the noxious sweetness of overachievement, an acknowledgment of ordinariness that glories in the quirks of being human without forcing them into a triumphant pyramid. That which cannot be overcome is a part as vital to the human experience as that impulse to try even harder to overcome nature. And if that fails, the flip side to a population crediting itself with falsely inflated powers of observation is that no one might notice if you, too, are not so smart.”
— The Onion A.V. Club

“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, syndicated columnist, radio host and author of “Back to Our Future

About the Author

David McRaney is a journalist and self-described psychology nerd. He has written for several publications, including The Atlantic and Psychology Today. He lives in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B009VMBJ5S
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Avery (July 30, 2013)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 30, 2013
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2.9 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 321 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 572 ratings

About the author

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David McRaney

David McRaney

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David McRaney is a science journalist fascinated with brains, minds, and culture.

He created the podcast You Are Not So Smart based on his 2009 internationally bestselling book of the same name and its followup, You Are Now Less Dumb.

Before that, he cut his teeth as a newspaper reporter covering Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast and in the Pine Belt region of the Deep South. Later, he covered things like who tests rockets for NASA, what it is like to run a halfway home for homeless people who are HIV-positive, and how a family sent their kids to college by making and selling knives.

Since then, he has been an editor, photographer, voiceover artist, television host, journalism teacher, lecturer, and tornado survivor.

Most recently, after finishing his latest book, How Minds Change, he wrote, produced, and recorded a six-hour audio documentary exploring the history of the idea and the word: genius.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
572 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book an interesting and entertaining read that provides insightful information about how the mind works. They appreciate the author's approachable explanations of complex ideas and his witty writing style that often makes them laugh out loud.

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ReadabilityInsightHumor
76 customers mention "Readability"76 positive0 negative

Customers find the book an interesting and entertaining read. They say it rehashes much of the information in the original book, but they still find it fascinating and enjoyable for a layperson. Readers are fans of the first book and praise the writing as brilliant and not boring.

"...with great stories, trivia and some pop culture thrown in to make it relatable and a joy to read...." Read more

"Looking at this as a pop psychology, as it's advertised, this is a very enjoyable and thought provoking book skimming the surface of several topics..." Read more

"...'s lethargic tome, "Thinking Fast & Slow." This writer is breezily brilliant...." Read more

"...Otherwise, it's an awesome book. Quite revealing about us humans. The only suggestion I would give the author is this...." Read more

70 customers mention "Insight"63 positive7 negative

Customers find the book provides insightful and counter-intuitive learnings about the way our minds work. They appreciate the accessible explanations of complex ideas and the ability to apply neuroscience to everyday life. The book provides a solid foundation in psychology and how our minds work, with great stories, trivia, and pop culture references.

"...is well research (but not too stuffy or heady) with great stories, trivia and some pop culture thrown in to make it relatable and a joy to read...." Read more

"...psychology, as it's advertised, this is a very enjoyable and thought provoking book skimming the surface of several topics relating to how our minds..." Read more

"It is "a far, far better thing" to read this delightful primer on cognitive heuristics than to slog through Kahneman's lethargic tome, &#..." Read more

"...This, if you believe in it, is a powerful and empowering tool...." Read more

24 customers mention "Humor"21 positive3 negative

Customers find the book's humor engaging and witty. They describe the writing as fun, compelling, and clear. The tone strikes a good balance between erudition and entertainment. Readers also mention that it was fun to poke holes in some of the studies as they read.

"...His writing is awesome; the tone strikes a great balance between erudition and entertainment; and his presentation is blessedly unlarded with..." Read more

"...The books strongest point is its informal and funny language, making it a bliss to read and learn how to be less dumb...." Read more

"...The author took a complex topic and made it read like a novel. His humor is perfect as well as his ability to take the neuropsychology complexities..." Read more

"...The writing is also incredibly easy to read and entertaining. The examples he picks for various biases are realistic and clear...." Read more

Selling used books as new
1 out of 5 stars
Selling used books as new
Great book but I bought a new hard cover. I was sent a used book with a scratched cover, and the cover was dirty and grimy. Not even clean.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Jarie Bolander
    5.0 out of 5 stars Just as Witty, Insightful & Entertaining as His First One
    Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    I'm a big fan of David's first book, You are Not So Smart and his latest, You are Now Less Dumb, does not disappoint.

    Just like his first book, David explains how we trick ourselves into thinking we are smarter than we are, in control, rational and reasonable. Of course, the twist with this book is he lets us in on how to overcome our human frailty by using our self-delusions to improve ourselves.

    I really love the way the book is laid out with the Misconception and then The Truth -- just like the first one. The book is well research (but not too stuffy or heady) with great stories, trivia and some pop culture thrown in to make it relatable and a joy to read.

    The examples and studies are what really drive home the points in the book. My favorite is The Post Hoc Fallacy, which deals with why we find it so difficult to believe that a sequence of events means nothing. This is the behavior behind lucky shirts, favorite meals, rituals and Power Balance bracelets. This section really illustrates the tendency of our minds to find patterns where none exist. That insight along is worth its weight in gold.

    You don't need to read his first book, You Are Not So Smart, to enjoy this book. Both books do stand-a-lone but are good complements to each other.

    Lets hope all of us become less dump so we can get on with living instead of worrying about how many acres we need to plant and tend to in FarmVille.
    7 people found this helpful
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  • Scott & Avryana Mitting
    5.0 out of 5 stars Very enjoyable restaurant menu of pop psychology
    Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2015
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    Looking at this as a pop psychology, as it's advertised, this is a very enjoyable and thought provoking book skimming the surface of several topics relating to how our minds can be irrational surprisingly often.

    Actually some of the more negative ratings on Amazon before I read the book actually helped me a lot reading in this book, as with any field the jargon can make word meanings be a little different, and the claim that the book is poorly edited made me look up a few words when I ran across them. On that comes to mind was affective/effective. Looking it up, the editing happens to be correct, but I was have assumed it was an error had I not read that review. I might have learned more diving into that than the material itself in the book.

    In general, if you're looking for a menu of topics to read up on over the internet (not something I recommend if say, you're training to be in this field, but for entertainment purposes only) this is actually a fantastic read. I'm looking forward to pulling the book out again to find a new topic that interests me and diving in.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Zaher Alhaj
    4.0 out of 5 stars Fear, then Humbleness
    Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2016
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    I was alarmingly reluctant to read this book. It is not pleasing feeling to find out how flawed we are -as human beings. It is not reassuring sense to know that your "great thinking" almost a product of a jumble of biases and fallacies.
    Then it was a moment of epiphany, as a sudden comforting sense of humbleness engulfed me. We are inherently evolving souls who are in a constant flux of change. This humbleness implies three life-changing lessons:
    1- No matter how strong your beliefs or opinions are, hold them weakly, and take them with a grain of salt. You do not know which biases you are succumbing to.
    2- Scientific methods are the only available tool so far to make distinction between facts and delusions. One caveat here: science is continuous process to figure out natural phenomena, so do not use it in reductionist way, not seeing the forest for the trees. It is all about engaging in the scientific discovery journey.
    3- Historically speaking, dogmas, rituals, supernatural beliefs, religions, and the like have played critical roles in our development and emergence as human beings. Although no ideology must be immune to critique, no matter how sacred or holy it is in the view of the followers. Viewing these in the context of human mind biases endows us a more balanced and a more human-centered perspective. This is the anthropologist viewpoint that gives us a sense of our shared human existence and the belonging to the same boat.
    30 people found this helpful
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  • Jan Strnad
    5.0 out of 5 stars Everybody should read this book
    Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    Yes, really: Everybody should read it, or something like it. Why? Because we're doomed if they don't.

    If we're ever going to come to grips with the world and our society and ourselves, we need to understand how we think, how we fool ourselves about the nature and quality of our thinking, and how to get beyond the defenses we've evolved to protect us from challenges to our beliefs.

    Ever wonder why conspiracy theories persist, and even seem to get stronger, the more evidence that piles up to disprove them? Did you ever wonder why someone on the opposite end of the political spectrum can't recognize the most obvious facts supporting your opposing beliefs? Read Chapter 9, "The Backfire Effect."

    Ever wonder why groups of people behave in ways that each individual would find deplorable? Chapter 14, "Deindividuation."

    Why do we keep sinking time and money and effort into enterprises that are obviously doomed? Chapter 15, "The Sunk Cost Fallacy."

    And more. Much more.

    YOU ARE NOW LESS DUMB is a book I intend to re-read and refer to often!
    2 people found this helpful
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  • White Rabbit
    5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful Primer on Cognitive Bias
    Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    It is "a far, far better thing" to read this delightful primer on cognitive heuristics than to slog through Kahneman's lethargic tome, "Thinking Fast & Slow." This writer is breezily brilliant. His writing is awesome; the tone strikes a great balance between erudition and entertainment; and his presentation is blessedly unlarded with political correctness and sales pitches for his personal politics & pet projects (unlike Kahneman & Eagleman in Incognito). He covers a lot of the same findings & experiments that other pop science books on evolutionary psychology do, so I cannot say I learned something specifically "new," but he does so with delightful clarity of thought and purpose. If you have any interest in how your brain works (& doesn't) this is a great place to start exploring your own conceptual blind-spots. I doubt I'm any less dumb now, but at least I know "its not a bug; its a feature."
    35 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Alejandro Dal Bosco Martínez
    4.0 out of 5 stars Un buen libro sobre sesgos cognitivos
    Reviewed in Spain on December 6, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Considero que es una compra acertada si buscas leer sobre sesgos cognitivos; lamentablemente no está a la altura de Daniel Kahneman u otros autores de mayor renombre.
    Es una serie de libros que cuenta con anécdotas cómo funcionan algunos sesgos cognitivos.
    La lectura es entretenida y los sesgos son interesantes, solamente echo en falta que tenga una lectura más atractiva y no me incite a pausar la lectura cada x tiempo.
    Report
  • Ernesto García
    5.0 out of 5 stars Buen libro
    Reviewed in Mexico on July 25, 2019
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    Buen libro
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  • Pzlqun
    5.0 out of 5 stars Every page a new insight!
    Reviewed in Canada on May 22, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    I love this book! It's a fascinating study of the unconscious mind and how we are moving through life, "making" decisions! When, in actual fact, much of the time our responses are simply automatic based on the stimuli offered/experienced. It really is eye opening to discover what our thoughts are comprised of, and where they come from....
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  • Dieuze
    5.0 out of 5 stars Tolles Geschenk
    Reviewed in Germany on January 13, 2019
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    Ich habe dieses Buch meinem besten Freund zu Weihnachten geschenkt, und er hat sich sehr gefreut :) Er liest nicht gerne, mit diesem Buch hat er sich jedoch direkt beschäftigt.
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  • Hayden Thun
    5.0 out of 5 stars solid
    Reviewed in Australia on February 7, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    Good insight but text really small.
    Report

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