Not born yesterday : the science of who we trust and what we believe / Hugo Mercier.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mercier, Hugo, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Persuasion (Psychology)--Social aspects.

Persuasion (Psychology).

Influence (Psychology)--Social aspects.

Influence (Psychology).

Trust.

Belief and doubt.

Decision making.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xix, 364 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2020]

Summary:

Why people are not as gullible as we thinkNot Born Yesterday explains how we decide who we can trust and what we should believe—and argues that we're pretty good at making these decisions. In this lively and provocative book, Hugo Mercier demonstrates how virtually all attempts at mass persuasion—whether by religious leaders, politicians, or advertisers—fail miserably. Drawing on recent findings from political science and other fields ranging from history to anthropology, Mercier shows that the narrative of widespread gullibility, in which a credulous public is easily misled by demagogues and charlatans, is simply wrong.Why is mass persuasion so difficult? Mercier uses the latest findings from experimental psychology to show how each of us is endowed with sophisticated cognitive mechanisms of open vigilance. Computing a variety of cues, these mechanisms enable us to be on guard against harmful beliefs, while being open enough to change our minds when presented with the right evidence. Even failures—when we accept false confessions, spread wild rumors, or fall for quack medicine—are better explained as bugs in otherwise well-functioning cognitive mechanisms than as symptoms of general gullibility.Not Born Yesterday shows how we filter the flow of information that surrounds us, argues that we do it well, and explains how we can do it better still.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION

1. THE CASE FOR GULLIBILITY

2. VIGILANCE IN COMMUNICATION

3. EVOLVING OPEN-MINDEDNESS

4. WHAT TO BELIEVE?

5. WHO KNOWS BEST?

6. WHO TO TRUST?

7. WHAT TO FEEL?

8. DEMAGOGUES, PROPHETS, AND PREACHERS

9. PROPAGANDISTS, CAMPAIGNERS, AND ADVERTISERS

10. TITILLATING RUMORS

11. FROM CIRCULAR REPORTING TO SUPERNATURAL BELIEFS

12. WITCHES’ CONFESSIONS AND OTHER USEFUL ABSURDITIES

13. FUTILE FAKE NEWS

14. SHALLOW GURUS

15. ANGRY PUNDITS AND SKILLFUL CON MEN

16. THE CASE AGAINST GULLIBILITY

NOTES

REFERENCES

INDEX

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 26. Mai 2020)

ISBN:

9780691198842

0691198845

OCLC:

1130906184