You Are Not So Smart by David McRaney

Expectations.  You know how we aren't supposed to have those?  I thought I'd sworn them off.  I hate that bummed out feeling when things don't go the way you wanted, or assumed, they would go.

TLC Book Tours told me about this book, "You Are Not So Smart" - with the cover advertising:
Why you have too many friends on Facebook
Why Your Memory is Mostly Fiction
and
46 Other Ways You're Deluding Yourself

Don't ask me why, but I thought it would be a giggle.  I "expected" a lighthearted look at human behavior.  We are creatures of habit, quite delusional at times, and capable of escalating drama to insane levels.  Some comedians make a living by entertaining us with stories that show ignorance and we laugh ourselves silly - it is great fun!

So here was the expectation (bad on me) and the fact is this book was written by a self-described psychology nerd (from the back flap on the book, I am not making this up).  The author did copious amounts of research on studies, all of which aim to prove the title - you are not so smart.  I give  him kudos on that.  He made his point.  He does well showing the negative aspects and endless delusions of our thinking and behavior.


I'm sure everyone could find themselves in this book because McRaney was quite thorough in his research.  The fallacies and biases to our thinking alone were half of the book.  It comes as no surprise to know how twisted up our thinking can be.  It would have been better (in MY opinion) if it was either handled in less serious manner or if we were told how to cure ourselves of the delusions.   But then, part of this was my expectation haunting me.  I wanted this read to be fun!   The book as a whole was like a manual of defining all the broken things, expounding on brokenness and moving on to another broken thing, all based on scientific research.  No fixes.  No suggestions.

This approach left me wanting.  If I can't laugh about how dumb we are, then perhaps offering solutions to our ignorance would be nice.

What you ARE given (repeatedly) is the admonition  that: you are not so smart.  Good to know?  Keeps one humble? Derails your self-confidence?  Plants negativity deeper?  Not sure this is necessary.  Seems to me people are all too capable of bashing themselves to bits without any assistance.  I think more people would benefit from a way to increase their self-confidence.  Universally there can be an obvious disconnect between what we KNOW and what we DO.  While learning how to navigate through life, I would like to believe that people really do learn things, especially from their mistakes.  Perhaps citing so many studies done with college students is a bit of a disconnect for seniors who do not think like college students?   

Ayn Rand's philosophy was that the masses are ignorant.  You can see proof of that, handled humorously on Jay Leno's "Jay-Walking" adventures where he asks random people on the street questions that everyone "should" know the answers to - and they don't - to see there is a large, ignorant bunch of random people walking the earth.   The questions Jay asks deal with facts, history, recognizing (or not) famous people, vocabulary, geography and so on.  Cures for this ignorance would be more reading and schooling and paying attention to current events.  But maybe a lot of people don't care about knowing "stuff"?  One can only wonder.

This  speaks to factual knowledge .  The studies McRaney used to make his point that you are not so smart oddly looked only at stupidity and  not brilliance.  He might just be guilty of the same confirmation bias he wrote about.  Look hard  enough and you can find confirmation of your beliefs.  If one is hell bent on proving a point, however cynical and negative that point might be, well you can find "studies" to prove just about anything.

The chapter on Groupthink started off with the statement "When a group of people come together to make a decision, every demon in the psychological bestiary will be summoned."  This I love!  Yep.  Sounds like our Congress and Senate to me! 

My reaction to this book could be more generational dissonance and disappointment in the lack of A.  Humor and B. Remedies.  Other things made this less than a pleasurable read, like the negatively expressed feelings on synchronicity in this book,  implying anyone buying in to it is not so smart.  Really?  If it does no harm and if people find joy in this, isn't it rather a slam on their joy?  I'm sorry but I don't see the point of making people feel dumb for having fun with this.

There is so much beauty in the world and in people.  Our brains are limitless in what we can do with them.  I thrive on learning the possibilities.  It was tedious reading for me, spending time picking apart and analyzing to death our every thought for an entire book.  Unless, of course, you are trying to help people with guidance on how to improve.  If you do happen to pass any of the quizes in the book, well, you will have to applaud yourself because you get a "you are not so smart." from McRaney regardless.  Rather alienating?  What's the point of that?

If you are a psychology student, or a researcher of vocabulary to define thinking/behavior, there may we a wealth of help in this book.  Other than that, I just don't know.   It has been hard for me to find positives in what I consider to be a very negative approach.  We humans don't come in perfect packages of brilliant proportions - that's a given.  I am as flawed and deluded as anyone.  I'm happy, love my life and all the people  and opportunities/possibilities in it!   If this is totally delusional and irrational, then sign me up for more of it!

I guess I judged this book by it's cover - expecting humor - and I was wrong.  Bad on me.  Maybe I'm not so smart?