Are You Thinking Clearly?: 29 reasons you aren't, and what to do about it

by Matt Warren, Miriam Frankel

'An endlessly fascinating tour of the many different factors influencing our decision-making and reasoning' David Robson, author of The Expectation Effect

'An eye-opening and engaging richness of information that gives us a detailed insight into the strengths and weaknesses of human behaviour' Melissa Hogenboom, author of The Motherhood Complex

Do emotions really cloud your thinking? Are habits holding you back? Is AI manipulating your mind? Does IQ help you think better?

Every one of our thoughts, actions, moods and decisions is shaped by a whole array of factors, most of which we don't pay any attention to. From culture, time and language to genetics, technology and the microorganisms living inside us - even our own unconscious routines and habits - it's clear that we aren't always in the driving seat.

The good news is that by better understanding the external and internal forces at work, we can minimise their impact on our lives. Drawing on rigorous interdisciplinary research, leading science journalists Miriam Frankel and Matt Warren bring us extraordinary stories and studies that open our eyes to the inner workings of the mind, challenge our thought processes and improve our decision-making. Most of all, Are You Thinking Clearly? is a rallying cry to know yourself, think broadly, think boldly - and to listen.

'Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand why their beliefs, mistakes, emotions and intuitions are the way they are' Richard Gray, BBC Future

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology, Personal Development, Self Help

363 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 11, 2022

Reviews

[katie eu · Rating 4 out of 5]

behavioural science with a psychology twist. I’ve studied most of these phenomenons before but it’s always so interesting to see how other authors describe rationality and behaviour!

[Ela]

This book just wasn’t for me.

It felt like a chapter would repeat the same thing a few times, and even the things talked about in one chapter seemed to be repeated in several other ones.

While the questions sounded interesting, the way they were answered in the chapter was long, a bit boring and repetitive.

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would like to like this book more. The concepts are good, and as an entry into this sort of psychological subject it is interesting, but unfortunately I think it's trying to do too much - each chapter is short, only scratching the surface of deeply fascinating subject matter. For a completely new person this would be a good starting point, but for me it was simply too high-level to be worthwhile.

[Andry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe because I had already read the masterpiece "thinking, fast and slow" by Daniel Kahneman (which is referred also here) I didn't found in this book something new or more interesting or even explained in a different point of view. But perhaps as a first reading, it can inspire to explore further the topic of human thinking

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

i mean... I kinda only read the parts i was interested in, but that's already like 80% of the book sooo... it counts.