
You Are Not So Smart
David McRaney
Recently I have read some very interesting self help books and thoroughly enjoyed them. For me they are like secret self assessment tools. You can analyze your own shortcomings as well as strong points without anyone knowing it. Because hey we all like to tell ourselves that we are intelligent human beings. Take this book for example when you read the title it challenges you to give it a read and you pick it up to prove it wrong.
There are forty nine small chapters in the book and the opening statement of each one of them is so interesting and catchy that you would want to read on. The writer gives us a Misconception that we have about ourselves about our way of thinking and then the truth. For example:
THE MISCONCEPTION: Memories are played back like recordings.
THE TRUTH: Memories construct new information each time from whatever is currently available, which makes them highly permeable to influence from the present.
OR
THE MISCONCEPTION: You can predict how well you would perform in any situation.
THE TRUTH: you are generally pretty bad at estimating your competence and the difficulty of complex tasks.
Here you would think no it’s not a Misconception but as you read on the writer proves his point through research references and real life examples until you reluctantly say ahhh I see the point, or, well actually you know he might be right about this. You won’t be embarrassed accepting you are wrong because nobody knows about it . On many occasions while reading I would actually laugh at myself and about my illusions.
The chapters are small not more than 2 pages, this makes it an easy read. There is a lot of research and experiment references proving his points . Plenty of real life examples to make it relatable. At first you might feel it’s a tough book because of the psychology terms used but I urge you to carry on. This is a book everyone must read as a great self assessment tool. Thoroughly enjoyed You Are Not So Smart and totally recommended.
Previous Review by Sidra Javed is غار