Will I love How Minds Change?

This is a fascinating and lucidly written book, filled with individual stories, describing the author’s attempts to understand what he calls “the psychological alchemy of epiphanies.” It is particularly timely during our current period of pernicious partisan polarization reinforced by propaganda, social media echo chambers, and viral misinformation. From numerous discussions with psychologists and neuroscientists and consideration of psychological experiments, McRaney presents a coherent analysis of the human brain’s evolved resistance to change. That resistance is manifested by attempts, often without our conscious awareness, to reject or rationalize perceptions and information that appear to contradict the neural patterns and worldviews… show more.

Most people hold somewhat delusional views about how and why they believe what they believe, and they are unaware of the various manipulation techniques and strategies influencers use to persuade and maneuver our opinions.

McRaney shows us how our beliefs are formed, why it can be so hard to change them, how they can be manipulated, he does so in a wonderfully insightful manner, making the science of human psychology relatable through practical stories and examples.

Moreover, the writing style is warm, not dogmatic or smug.

One of my favorite podcasts is David McRaney’s You Are Not So Smart, so I guessed his latest book would be fantastic. I was not disappointed.

Too many books that address the cognitive biases governing our beliefs either 1) treat the topic like a basket of insurmountable problems or 2) treat the topic like something we can only impact within our own mind. 

The third option is what fascinates me most, and it’s what McRaney bravely and superbly tackles: How can we use an understanding of how minds think and change to guide how we communicate with others (a… show more.

I read a lot about the brain and how humans make decisions – and this book by David McRaney completely blew my mind.

Inspired by his own curiosity into why some people change their minds in incredibly drastic ways (like leaving a cult) when so many others remain stagnant. What is the difference? How can we use that insight to encourage better decision making and open mindedness?

David takes you on a journey of his own discovery with insights from experts, joining a team knocking on doors to understand voter polls, and so much more. The fundamental insights into how… show more.

I am a long-time fan of David McRaney’s.

He’s smart, funny, and provides well-written insights into how our brains work, a topic I passionately care about. I recommend all of his books, but his latest targets the topic of this collection – having a good conversation with someone who disagrees with us.

You will learn from David’s experience and research why simply laying out the facts doesn’t work and how *not* working hard to convince someone turns out to be the most convincing thing we can do!