NotBornYesterday

Not Born Yesterday: Understanding How We Decide Who to Trust and What to Believe

In this engaging and thought-provoking book, Hugo Mercier explores how we make decisions about who to trust and what to believe. Despite the pervasive cultural narrative that portrays people as easily manipulable and gullible, Mercier argues that we are actually quite good at filtering information and identifying false beliefs.

Drawing on insights from political science, history, anthropology, and experimental psychology, Mercier demonstrates that most attempts at mass persuasion by religious leaders, politicians, and advertisers fail miserably. Why is this the case? Mercier shows how our cognitive mechanisms of open vigilance enable us to be both alert to harmful beliefs and open to changing our minds in response to compelling evidence.

While we do have moments of gullibility, such as when we accept false confessions or spread rumors, Mercier argues that these are best understood as glitches in otherwise well-functioning cognitive processes, rather than evidence of our overall susceptibility to manipulation.

Not Born Yesterday provides insight into how we filter the deluge of information and propaganda that surrounds us, and argues that we are, in fact, quite adept at doing so. This book challenges the notion that we are passive recipients of information and instead positions us as active agents who can work to improve our decision making and critical thinking skills.

作者简介

HugoMercierisacognitivescientistattheJeanNicodInstituteinParisandthecoauthorofTheEnigmaofReason.HelivesinNantes,France.Twitter@hugoreasoning