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Misbelief

What Makes Rational People Believe Irrational Things

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Misbelief

By: Dan Ariely
Narrated by: Simon Jones
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About this listen

'Thoughtful, moving and well-written' - Yuval Noah Harari

'An urgent examination of the human attraction to misinformation' - Daniel H. Pink

Misinformation affects us daily, from social media to politics and even personal relationships. Policing social media alone cannot solve the complex problem shaped by partisan politics and subjective interpretations of truth.

In Misbelief social scientist Dan Ariely explores the behaviour of 'misbelief' that leads people to distrust accepted truths and embrace conspiracy theories. Misinformation taps into something innate in all of us, regardless of political affiliation. By understanding this psychology, we can mitigate its effects. Grounded in research and Ariely's personal experience as a target of disinformation, the book analyses the psychological drivers behind adopting irrational beliefs. Ariely reveals the emotional, cognitive, personality, and social elements that drive people towards false information and mistrust.

Despite advanced AI generating convincing fake news, Ariely offers hope. Awareness of the forces fuelling misbelief makes individuals and society more resilient. Combating misbelief requires empathy, not conflict. Recognising misbelief as a human problem allows us to be part of the solution.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Dan Ariely (P)2023 Bonnier Books UK
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Nicely read. Easy listen that breaks down different elements that lead to misbelief. Helpful if you have wondered what happened to friends over covid times.

Very useful for truth seekers

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Brilliant as always from Dan. Certainly gives me some pointers for me to help my friends and family, not to mention my own teenagers!

Enlightening

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Full of insights and thoughtful suggestions in navigating this space and the people in it. The recognition that we all to some extent have our misbeliefs, even if the majority do not take it to extreme.

The final section on the link with trust and the long challenges ahead if we are to rebuild our societies is sobering and the final optimism maybe a little forced. Not thet the excuses anyone from trying and persisting.

Willingness to understand, rather than immediate condemnation...

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What a balanced insightful book. So unusual for complete arguments and counter arguments to be made. Very enjoyable

Simply excellent balanced analysis

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Dan Ariely researches and writes well.

However, even experts in cognitive biases sometimes fall prey to cognitive biases themselves. if you believe everything the media, big corporations and politicians tell you, and look with pity at those who don't, then you'll love this book.

This book has many interesting ideas but the assumption is always delusion in the people who dare to distrust the stories they're being fed. No discussion was given to cases when these misbelievers turned out to be right, the value of healthy doubt, or even that it is impossible to objectively know the truth (with 100% certainty) of any media/corporate/political story, narrative, promise, call to arms or cover up.

I don't regret reading it but a little more healthy doubt on the part of the author in regard to the examples given would have gone a long way. It could have been a 5 star book if more balanced.

Very Biased

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The suggestions at the end seem to suggest that practices like government censorship would, like seatbelts in a car, help keep people safe… no mention of examples like Teflon, Purdue pharma etc where scepticism would have mistakenly been classed as ‘misbelief’ for years.

The mention of the FDA secretly editing public databases due to foreign actors inserting misinformation is interesting… if citizens suggested foreign governments were doing this would they not be classed as ‘misbelievers’ by anyone following the suggestions in this book?

Interesting but perhaps one-sided

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Have read previous books by Ariely. Similarly to those the flow and pacing is good but this book shows a real lack of self awareness. Lots of othering without much consideration of how the author himself might fall foul of misbelief. Never once considering whether those he comes across may have a better reading on reality than himself. If the insights he amassed had been applied to realise where he had been wrong in the past about…well…anything, this may have made for a more compelling read.

A little self awareness goes a long way

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I found myself going from: not being very convinced, to being very interested, to not being very convinced etc.

Mixed feelings about this book

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