Your Deceptive Mind: A Scientific Guide to Critical Thinking Skills

by Prof Steven Novella

Your Deceptive Mind A Scientific Guide to Critical Thinking Skills by Professor Steven Novella

260 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 26, 2024

Reviews

[dan gheorghita · Rating 5 out of 5]

EN: I was impressed overall by this book. Before reading it, I did not realise there was a psychological term for so many things we see and hear every day. It helped me understand better how easily the mind can be influenced and misled.

I learned a lot of new things and will likely come back to this book in the future. The examples were practical and easy to understand. I especially liked an idea from the conclusion, where the author said it is better to plant a seed of critical thinking than to directly challenge someone’s strong beliefs.

In a world where many people get their information from TikTok instead of books, I think this book is very useful. As an agnostic and someone who is generally sceptical, it made me think about things in a new way.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Your Deceptive Mind: A Scientific Guide to Critical Thinking Skills by Steven Novella offers a comprehensive exploration of the psychological, cognitive, and societal factors that influence our thinking and decision-making. In the information era, it is now even more important that we intentionally develop critical thinking skills, question what we know, and form opinions grounded in fact. Novella draws on extensive research to dissect cognitive biases, logical fallacies, and the appeal of pseudoscience, presenting these complex concepts that are better read than listened to. Unfortunately, I listened to this on Audible…and had to constantly ask Siri to ‘take a note.’

A key takeaway for me was the role skepticism should play in our thought process. Often, skepticism is met with defensiveness and only through open communication and trust can we accept someone’s skeptical approach. More often, we interpret skepticism as a personal attack instead of what it could be…a quest to better understand. Novella dives into cognitive science that leads to our use of mental shortcuts, or non-critical thinking. It is these shortcuts that can lead to errors in judgment, such as confirmation bias, the availability heuristic, and pattern-seeking tendencies to name only a few. Recognizing these biases is crucial for critical thinking. It occurred to me that we can train ourselves to be better skeptics…and that is an indispensable skill that can benefit us in business, gossip, news, politics, and likely even our personal lives.

The book’s breadth is impressive, covering everything from the scientific method to the psychology of belief and media literacy. While the content is dense, its clear explanations and practical examples make useful (if you can take a couple of notes on the side). If you are looking to hone the skill of being a skeptic in an age of overstimulation and information, I highly recommend.