Name: Mark Phillips's review of How Minds Change by David McRaney
Item: How Minds Change
Rating: 5
Author: Mark Phillips

David McRaney

In this lively journey through human psychology, bestselling author and creator of the You Are Not So Smart podcast David McRaney investigates how minds change—and how to change minds. What made a prominent conspiracy-theorist YouTuber finally see that 9/11 was not a hoax? How do voter opinions shift from neutral to resolute? Can widespread social change only take place when a generation dies out? From one of our greatest thinkers on reasoning, HOW MINDS CHANGE is a book about the science, and the experience, of transformation. When self-delusion expert and psychology nerd David McRaney began a book about how to change someone’s mind in one conversation, he never expected to change his own. But then a diehard 9/11 Truther’s conversion blew up his theories—inspiring him to ask not just how to persuade, but why we believe, from the eye of the beholder. Delving into the latest research of psychologists and neuroscientists, HOW MINDS CHANGE explores the limits of reasoning, the power of groupthink, and the effects of deep canvassing. Told with McRaney’s trademark sense of humor, compassion, and scientific curiosity, it’s an eye-opening journey among cult members, conspiracy theorists, and political activists, from Westboro Baptist Church picketers to LGBTQ campaigners in California—that ultimately challenges us to question our own motives and beliefs. In an age of dangerous conspiratorial thinking, can we rise to the occasion with empathy? An expansive, big-hearted journalistic narrative, HOW MINDS CHANGE reaches surprising and thought-provoking conclusions, to demonstrate the rare but transformative circumstances under which minds can change.

The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion

How Minds Change

Genesis (@whisperingchapters)

How does an entire nation go from obsessive witch hunts to sewing witch costumes for their children? How did Australia go from being a nation of gun lovers to campaigning around the world for stricter gun control? How are climate scientists tackling the conspiracy theorists after years of stubborn denial? Contrary to what most people think, we are all willing to trade our beliefs for better ones under the right conditions. We are used to thinking of progress as a long arc, taking place over generations. But if you know how, change can be accelerated more rapidly than ever thought possible. The latest research reveals that changing people's beliefs isn’t random, but that there are psychological forces at work that can line up to cause a surge, a quickening. And any person can understand, harness, and put to work those forces to change minds for the better – even their own.

Mark Phillips

Riley

Luis Cascante

In this lively journey through human psychology, bestselling author and creator of the You Are Not So Smart podcast David McRaney investigates how minds change--and how to change minds. What made a prominent conspiracy-theorist YouTuber finally see that 9/11 was not a hoax? How do voter opinions shift from neutral to resolute? Can widespread social change only take place when a generation dies out? From one of our greatest thinkers on reasoning, HOW MINDS CHANGE is a book about the science, and the experience, of transformation. When self-delusion expert and psychology nerd David McRaney began a book about how to change someone's mind in one conversation, he never expected to change his own. But then a diehard 9/11 Truther's conversion blew up his theories--inspiring him to ask not just how to persuade, but why we believe, from the eye of the beholder. Delving into the latest research of psychologists and neuroscientists, HOW MINDS CHANGE explores the limits of reasoning, the power of groupthink, and the effects of deep canvassing. Told with McRaney's trademark sense of humor, compassion, and scientific curiosity, it's an eye-opening journey among cult members, conspiracy theorists, and political activists, from Westboro Baptist Church picketers to LGBTQ campaigners in California--that ultimately challenges us to question our own motives and beliefs. In an age of dangerous conspiratorial thinking, can we rise to the occasion with empathy? An expansive, big-hearted journalistic narrative, HOW MINDS CHANGE reaches surprising and thought-provoking conclusions, to demonstrate the rare but transformative circumstances under which minds can change.

Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &
How Minds Change by David McRaney

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Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &How Minds Change by David McRaney

Reviews

Join the club

Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &
How Minds Change by David McRaney