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The March of Nonsense.

EBSCOhost Academic eBook Collection (North America) Available online

Format:: Book
Author/Creator:: Pely, Doron, 1953-
Series:: Human Evolution, Biological and Cultural Domains Series
Language:: English
Subjects (All):: Truthfulness and falsehood.; Storytelling--Social aspects.; Storytelling.; Social epistemology.; Knowledge, Sociology of.
Physical Description:: 1 online resource (282 pages)
Edition:: 1st ed.
Place of Publication:: New York : Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated, 2024.
Summary:: "We're a story-telling species. Stories give our lives meaning; they cause us to get up in the morning, fashion our thoughts and behavior, send us to war, to church, to the marketplace and to the workplace. Our stories become us, and we become our stories. Using a wealth of scientific evidence and real-life examples, this book illustrates how many of the stories we regularly use to explain and motivate our lives - from religion to economics, from free will to rights and privileges - often consist of myths, obfuscations, and/or outright lies - convenient, useful, but false"-- Provided by publisher.
Contents:: Intro; Contents; Preface; Chapter 1; Introduction - Adrift in an Ocean of Nonsense; What is Nonsense?; Who Invented Nonsense?; Why Do We Live a Life of Lies?; What Does a Life of Nonsense Look Like?; Chapter 2; Lying to Ourselves - The Glory and Pain of Self-Awareness and Its Absence; Absence of Self Awareness - The Signs; The Upside of Absence of Self-Awareness; The Downside of Absence of Self-Awareness; The Art and Science of Lying to Ourselves; Between Self-Awareness and Its Absence; Self-Awareness in the Age of Machine Learning; Chapter 3; It's Showtime! Lying to Strangers and Friends; Lying by the Numbers; The Psychology of Lying; The Sociology of Lying; The Neurology of Lying; Gender and Lying; All in the Family - Lying to Spouses, Children, Parents; Advantages of White Lies; Disadvantages of White Lies; Lying in the Digital Age; Conclusion?; Chapter 4; How Free Is Our Free Will?; How Self-Evident is Free Will?; The Philosophical Side of Free Will; The Scientific Perspective on Free Will or Its Absence; The Brain and Free Will; Free Will and Religion; What Happens When We Do Not Believe in Free Will?; Chapter 5; The Trouble with (Ir)rationality; Rational Choice Theory; The Psychology of Rationality and Irrationality; The Sociology of Rationality; The Neuroscience of Rationality; Human Reasoning; Chapter 6; Ignorance Is Really, Really, Bliss; The Psychology of Ignorance; The Sociology of Ignorance; The Neurology of Ignorance; Ignorance in the Age of Big Data; Can We Really Equate Ignorance with Bliss?; Chapter 7; Myths - Civilization's Home-Made Yellow Brick Road; The Psychology of Myths; The Anthropology of Myths; The Sociology of Myths; Science and Myth; Chapter 8.; The Meritless Fallacy of Meritocracy; The Myth of Meritocracy; The Facts of Meritocracy; Why Does it All Matter?; Chapter 9; There Are No Giraffes - The Art and Science of Denialism; The Psychology of Denialism; The Manifestations of Denialism; The Brain as a "Denial Junky"; The Social Effects of Denialism; Famous Songs About Denial and Denialism; Conclusions?; Chapter 10; The "Rights" Charade Parade - There Are No Rights, Only Privileges; The Origin of Rights; When Rights Meet Life; Privilege - Then and Now; The Logical Weakness of the Rights-Privileges Dichotomy; Chapter 11; The Great Bias Trap - How and Why Our Brain Constantly Lies to Us; Cognitive Biases; Confirmation Bias; Safety Bias; Anchoring Bias; Similarity Bias; Expedience Bias; The Cognitive Bias Trap; Chapter 12; The Happiness Game - Snake Oil for the Masses; The Biology and Neuroscience of Happiness; The Evolution of Happiness (and Misery/Despair); Happiness and Pleasure - Relatives or Different Animals?; Nostalgia - In Search of (Non-existent) Happier Times; Chapter 13; Religion - The Ever-so-Confusing Story of Hell and the Loving God; Where Did Religion Come From?; God - A (Very) Short Biography; Myths - The Foundation of Religiosity; The Creation Myth; The Patriarchs; Joshua Conquered Jericho and Destroyed its Fortification?; Religiosity and Rituals; What's With Monotheism?; Religion Meets Enlightenment; The Psychology of Religion; The Biology and Neuroscience of Religion; The Sociology of Religion; Are Religious People Less Intelligent than Secular Folks?; Chapter 14; Looking Out For "Number 1" - Managing the Obstacle Course of Our Endless Conflicts of Interest; The Psychology of Conflict of Interest.; The Sociology of Conflict of Interest; The Neurology of Conflict of Interest; Challenges to Managing Conflict of Interest; Managing Conflict of Interest; Chapter 15; The "Trickle-Down" Con Job - The Economics of Grand Looting; The Origins of Trickle-Down Economics; The Bull of Trickle-Down Economics; Why "Build-Up" Instead of "Trickle-Down"?; Chapter 16; The Unrealistic Spectacle of Reality TV; The Sociology of Reality TV; The Psychological Underpinning of Reality TV; The Neurological Aspects of Reality TV; How Pervasive Is Reality TV?; Why is Reality TV so Popular?; The Impact of Reality TV; The Redeeming Features of Reality TV; Chapter 17; Stock Markets - The Financial Casino, Where the Bank Always Wins; Stock Markets - The "Serious" Folks' Casino?; A Few Words about "Traditional" Economics; Building a Worldview - Bridging Tenets and Reality; Governments are Inefficient and Private Industry is Efficient; The Psychology of Stock Market Trading; Greed and Fear: The Twin Forces of Trading; Herding and Bias; Emotional Trading; The Role of Self-Awareness; The Sociology of Stock Market Trading; Social Networks and Information Flow; The Role of Culture and Institutions; The Impact of Market Narratives and Framing; The Role of Market Intermediaries ("Experts"); The Impact of Technology; The Sociology of Market Crises; The Neuroscience of Stock Market Trading; Brain Activity During Trading; The Role of Emotions in Trading; Individual Differences in Brain Structure and Function; The Neuroscience of Market Crashes; Searching in Vain for "The Rational Actor"; The Myth of Fairness and The Level Playing Field; The Inside Story of Insider Trading; Wall Street vs. Any Monkey; The Trap of Personal Investing.; The "Stock Picker" Delusion; Chapter 18; Doctors' Hypocrisy - Between Non-Lying Deception and Straight-Out Lies; Chapter 19; Advertising - The Art and Science of Industrial-Scale Lying; The Science of Advertising (Psychology, Sociology and Neurology); The Impact of Scientific Advertising; Chapter 20; Social Media - The World's Greatest Mind Theft; Social Media - The Numbers; Social Media Platforms - The World's Largest Intelligence-Gathering Outfits; Facebook; Instagram; X (Formerly Twitter); The Big Knowledge "Pile"; The Psychology of Social Media; The Sociology of Social Media; The Neurology of Social Media; What's in It for Social Media Companies?; The Impact of Social Media; Postscript; Appendix A - Extended (Though Not Definitive) List of Cognitive Biases; References; Index; Blank Page.
Notes:: Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.
ISBN:: 9798895301883
OCLC:: 1492957048

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The March of Nonsense.

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