Why do employers judge candidates on the first impression they make, even though they know it's wrong and often misleading?
Why do people smoke, drink to excess, and eat things they know are bad for them?
How do normally intelligent people wind up believing fake news stories?
To find out, let's take a trip back in time to Victorian England.
A famous story from the Victorian days is that women had to wear corsets. It's debated how commonplace corsets actually were, but they squeezed a woman's body like a snake - making the waist look smaller.
Corsets worked - but they were so tight, they caused internal damage to women. They also caused a woman's lower back to atrophy.
In fact, corsets were so restricting that women often fainted wearing them!
But here's the kicker...
Fainting from wearing a corset was actually considered to be a good thing! It was thought to be a sign of good breeding.
Or so the story goes.
Historians debate how often corsets were actually used. But they're a testament to the power of a cognitive fallacy.
Poor reasoning, inability to tell facts from fiction and flawed decision-making cause these kinds of fallacies.
They're the reason most people never live up to their potential.
Even the smartest people in the world are prone to unconscious bias. A Nature.com study in 2015 ("First results from psychology's largest reproducibility test") examined over 100 psychology studies to see if they could be reproduced.
Only around a third of the studies could be replicated! Researchers found a full two-thirds of the studies had been skewed by errors or unconscious biases. They couldn't be trusted.
It's not that most people are stupid; they just don't know how to see biases and fallacies.
That's why we wrote this book. Inside, you'll find:The false beliefs that led to Aztec human sacrifice, and how they're STILL common todayThe ultra common fallacy you've probably already been exposed to in your DARE classThe easy-to-follow five basics steps of critical thinking. Apply them and you'll make every decision with confidence!Rats spread pestilence and plague - but in India, a "Temple of Rats" was constructed because of this false beliefHow to make yourself "dumb" because smarter people are HARDER to teach!Why you should be skeptical of anyone quoting an authority figureHistoric Islamic banking projects, and what they can teach you about false logicWhy the supersonic Concorde jet flew so long - even though it was a MASSIVE money loser!...and much, much more!
Conquer Logical Fallacies explains the major cognitive biases and fallacies people encounter.
It goes over arguments and how to tell facts from fiction.
You might be thinking "Do I really need this?"
If you want to build stronger arguments, make more confident decisions, and spot logical errors - then yes.
If you have to work with a wide range of other people or analyze information, you'll find this book INVALUABLE.
And you might be stunned by how many false biases you're already carrying around. They bleed into your professional and personal life.
Do you want to have confidence in your decisions?