Publisher's Synopsis
Thinking is difficult work. While most people assume they are quite good at making decisions, assessing probability, evaluating evidence well, and thinking clearly the evidence from psychologists and philosophers who study thinking says otherwise. We are not naturally born critical thinkers. Our thinking has evolved over millions of years to be very good at thriving in the kind of environment that we originally lived in. But, our environment has changed radically. We now live in a world which requires a different set of cognitive skills and, what makes things worse, requires us to overcome a set of cognitive biases that served us well long ago but now lead us to draw wrong conclusions, make bad decisions, incorrectly estimate probability, and act in was that author Dan Ariely describes as "predictably irrational." So, what can we do? One answer is to study logic and psychology. We now know quite a lot about how our mind works, how we think, and the cognitive biases that prevent our thinking clearly and rationally. While understanding these principles won't provide a cure for all your thinking mistakes, becoming aware of the common pitfalls of thinking can provide a good defense against poor thinking. This short book will provide you with a strong introduction to some of these basic principles.
