Scan barcode
inquiry_from_an_anti_library's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Is This An Overview?
Using rational reasoning skills, humans have been able to achieve material and scientific progress. Rationality is composed of cognitive tools that people use to understand a situation, to find potential solutions to a problem. Rationality is often found in groups, as each individual reciprocates in finding each other’s fallacies. Reason can reason about reason, which enables people to disagree and find alternative solutions. There are situations in which people can find rational reasons to behave irrationally, situations in which there is strategic value in ignorance. People use reasoning skills when they argue, persuade, evaluate, accept, or reject an argument instead of threatening and coercing each other.
Various social and institutional systems used force to shape others’ beliefs rather than use persuasion. The acceptable methods of forcing beliefs on others have changed, but even institutions that are meant to evaluate ideas, find ways to suppress divergent views. The problem of using force, is that force can leave the opposition with no alternative other than to reciprocate with force. Relative power can shift to the opposition who will reciprocate the lack of willingness to be heard on merits.
Caveats?
The book expresses rationality through various methods such as formal logic, game theory, and probability. Although the decision theory and mathematics are provided in an introductory form, a reader who has not yet learned the ideas might need to apply more effort to understand them such as by researching for more details and applications. The way some parts are written can contradict values in other parts, such as highlighting individual failures of rationality even though the group process of finding rationality is understood, and sharing causes to biases but providing various examples that enable the biases to occur.
itsmejennigee's review against another edition
Word for word stats and logic math classes, not much application
peterwainaina's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
mollyrmcdonough's review against another edition
3.0
I’m a big fan of Steven Pinker, but I found this book a little disappointing. One of the reasons Pinker’s previous books are so excellent is because he takes textbook material and writes it in a narrative way, fusion facts and implications together. Rationality tried to do that, but it fell short. A majority of this book reads like a textbook, whereas the last two chapters of the book are more true to Pinker’s style.
tedhekman's review against another edition
4.0
I appreciated this book! Pinker is a little more technical here than I perceived him in "Enlightenment Now", the other book of his that I've read. I appreciated the detail, and would need to re-read this a few times to really retain it enough to use conversationally. That being said, while reading this you really are giving yourself time to refine how you think about the world, how your brain processes information it receives, and checking in on yourself and your ability to be honest with that information. It felt like a bit of a check-up from the neck-up.
badmc's review against another edition
This is boring, dry, and full of Pinker's bias presented as facts. No nuance, no perspective, and some prepositions that don't make much sense.
wooknight's review against another edition
4.0
On the importance of infusing rationality into life and the prevalence of irrationality in all spheres of life . Just like his other works , extremely readable and hard to apply