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The Irrational Ape

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The Irrational Ape

By: David Robert Grimes
Narrated by: David Robert Grimes
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About this listen

THE IRISH TIMES TOP FIVE BESTSELLER

'A beautifully reasoned book about our own unreasonableness' Robin Ince

In 1983, the reasoning of one unsung Russian narrowly averted nuclear war, proving that critical thinking can save the world. Today, facing unprecedented tides of disinformation, we’re frequently misled, to our detriment. The Irrational Ape explores the reasons why we get things so wrong, illustrated with incredible stories from the comical to the catastrophic.

With a cast including murderous popes, conspiracy theorists, snake-oil salesmen, dubious celebrities and superstitious pigeons, The Irrational Ape delves into how reasoning errors, skewed perceptions and even our own psychology render us so susceptible to falsehood – and how we can improve our reasoning to ensure we avoid being taken in.

©2019 David Robert Grimes (P)2019 Simon & Schuster UK Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Science Social Psychology & Interactions Thought-Provoking

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Critic reviews

'From anti-vaxxers to Dunning-Kruger, from homeopathy and astrology to “false balance” (what I call the BBC Fallacy), from misused statistics to nuclear brinkmanship, our irrationality could be our undoing. A book exposing the irrational ape and teaching us to mend our ways might so easily have become all preachy and teachy. Instead, such is David Robert Grimes’s storytelling skill, his book is an unstoppable page-turner. If our leaders were forced to read this book, the world would be a safer place' (Richard Dawkins)
'Grimes’s book addresses an all-too-urgent contemporary political question: how do we protect our societies and ourselves from charlatans and fools?...It brings a fresh perspective, and has been painstakingly researched. This spirited cocktail of data leavened with anecdotes is served up in Grimes’s trademark provocative, combative style...a highly creditable debut from a skilled communicator.' (John Gibbons)
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I liked it really but there were a few sections where the author’s bias came through loud and clear. I would have thought that an author of a book about rational thought would try to eliminate as much emotive context as possible.

A good book but...

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What a great read!

This book will give you the tools to distinguish bs from facts.

A panaceum for troubled times.

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Needed in the world of dis and mid information
I enjoyed the stories and analysis
I will question what I read and check my facts
And apply the analytical thinking suggested

Prescribed reading!

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over dense, muddled, but full of interesting thought provoking stuff, maybe needed more editing.

lacking clarity, but full of content

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Essential reading required for everybody. Everybody should be made to question their beliefs and thoughts.
This book is excellently well put together and thought out.

Should form part of the school curriculum

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I loved this book, one of the best I have ever listening to in this category. Amazingly written and narrated by Mr David Robert Grimes, thank you so much for writing this book and giving us hope!! I'm going to purchase some paperbacks to give to a few of my friends !!!

Outstanding from beginning to end !!!

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Good contents, but sometimes hard to follow. Not because of the contents, but because of the (un-needed) philosophical approach at times.

Failed to understand everytime the "so what" of certain parts.

A decent read

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While this book may never be read by those who most need to read it, those that are so wound up in their ideological beliefs that they define their sense of self by those ideologies, it is an invaluable exploration of why we think the way we do and how to counter the flaws in our thinking. It, and other books that promote reason and critical thinking, should be prescribed reading in schools but, unfortunately, the book burners amongst us would happily add it to their bonfires at the first available opportunity for promoting rational thought that questions their ideologies, and prevent these books from appearing on school curricula.

Thought provoking and needed.

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Well read by the man himself. :-)

Well laid out and great examples given to demonstrate the fallacies described.

Brilliantly informative.

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This is an excellent book debunking many popular misconceptions and explains why junk science is so prevalent. I will be buying several copies of this book to give to friends who tell me their head aches are cured by sugar pills and lost weight on a keto diet.

Ideal Christmas present

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