McRaney defines them concisely and illustratively thus: These lies, these narratives, these little stories are either cognitive biases, logical fallacies, or heuristics. Instead, you create narratives, little stories to explain away why you gave up on that diet, why you prefer Apple over Microsoft, why you clearly remember it was Beth who told you the story about the clown with the peg leg made of soup cans when it was really Adam, and it wasn’t a clown. There is a growing body of work coming out of psychology and cognitive science that says you have no clue why you act the way you do, choose the things you choose, or think the thoughts you think. Our species may be rightfully dubbed sapiens when compared to other species, but the truth is, writes McRaney, that In other words, no matter how smart you think you are, your brain is preprogrammed to tell you lies from time to time, either because that’s what helped your ancestors survive or because you are simply built in an imperfect manner. You Are Not So Smart collects 48 of them – all of them interesting, most of them working in a counter-intuitive manner. “You Are Not So Smart PDF Summary”Īs we have told you quite a few times, your brain is a complex machine which follows a set of all but unbreakable rules. However, he owes his fame to his blog, which served as the basis of this book.Ĭurrently, he works as director of new media for a broadcast television company, for which he has also produced a TV show about the music of the Deep South.

David McRaney is an American journalist and psychology aficionado.Īs a journalist, he has covered Hurricane Katrina for several newspapers and magazines and has written many other articles for The Lamar Times and The Huffington Post.

You Are Not So Smart by David McRaney