How Minds Change: The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-07-11 06:51:35
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：David McRaney
- ISBN：0593190297
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
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。
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。
Reviews
Wesley McCraw
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How Minds Change is an improvement over the author's earlier work， which was already entertaining and educational。 I found parts of this very moving。 A vital work。 How Minds Change is an improvement over the author's earlier work， which was already entertaining and educational。 I found parts of this very moving。 A vital work。 。。。more
Jok
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A tonic of optimism for those who despair over the hardened ideological battle lines in America。
Ian Lea
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It's interesting and thought provoking， and makes a lot of sense but as a book I found it somewhat lacking。 Not really sure why but a bit disappointing overall。 It's interesting and thought provoking， and makes a lot of sense but as a book I found it somewhat lacking。 Not really sure why but a bit disappointing overall。 。。。more
Kara
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Intriguing book about how our minds work and what it takes to convince us to change our minds。 It helps explain how we go into fight or flight mode when people challenge our beliefs and why facts aren’t persuasive in changing our minds。 It uses the example of the blue/gold dress to showcase our each of our minds perceives reality differently and we need to go deep to understand the why and how of people’s beliefs to open their minds to other ideas
Lisa Lajmo
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This is a definite re-read in my future。 This book was engaging， informative， and introspective。 This book is fascinating。 In one chapter it dives into “the dress” debate of black/blue vs。 gold/white and how your mind interprets images based on the information you already have stored。 There is a bit of neuroscience and psychology mentioned in the book which I really enjoyed and appreciated。 It goes into the theory of how your “truth” is based on the constructs you know。 If you don’t know what yo This is a definite re-read in my future。 This book was engaging， informative， and introspective。 This book is fascinating。 In one chapter it dives into “the dress” debate of black/blue vs。 gold/white and how your mind interprets images based on the information you already have stored。 There is a bit of neuroscience and psychology mentioned in the book which I really enjoyed and appreciated。 It goes into the theory of how your “truth” is based on the constructs you know。 If you don’t know what you don’t know then your “truth” will be different from someone who knows more。 It is a simple theory but when you think of current events like COVID- it shows how some people are convinced their “truth” is right even though the are missing half the construct that makes a universal truth。 There are so many “take aways” from this book that if I were to highlight them， I’m afraid the majority of the book would be highlighted！ One part in particular that I re-read multiple times was the idea of the effective tipping point。 “Effective tipping point- the upper limit for assimilation。 The point to which people cannot continue to assimilate ideas to make it fit their construct。 Until we reach that point， incongruence make us feel more certain; not less。”The “The Truth is Tribal” chapter is just depressing。 To learn there is no minimum characteristic for people to make groups of “us” and “them” is a prime reason why we have the division in our country。 “We are willing to sacrifice the greater good if it means we can shift balance in our group’s favor。”Overall， a 5/5！！！ 。。。more
B。 Serum
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When it comes to debate and arguing， it would appear most of use are using a mallet to drive a screw into a piece of hardwood。 And then when it doesn't work， we proclaim that it cannot be done — never knowing we were using the wrong tool。This book gives us the screwdriver。 And I daresay it's an electric screwdriver with a full battery。At a time in which our societies are tearing at the seams with deadlocked， polarized， tribalized and increasingly angry adversaries， it provides hope。 Because the When it comes to debate and arguing， it would appear most of use are using a mallet to drive a screw into a piece of hardwood。 And then when it doesn't work， we proclaim that it cannot be done — never knowing we were using the wrong tool。This book gives us the screwdriver。 And I daresay it's an electric screwdriver with a full battery。At a time in which our societies are tearing at the seams with deadlocked， polarized， tribalized and increasingly angry adversaries， it provides hope。 Because the methods in this book don't utilize the rhetorical tricks that exploit our cognitive biases （such as those detailed in this author's previous books） — but on the radically counter-intuitive method of "having a compassionate discussion" rather than the "attacks and facts" bloodsport so common across talk shows and social media。 Mind you， the "discussion" it prescribes is a very deliberately-structured implementation of the Socratic Method， field-tested and refined by multiple organizations working independently from one-another。 The manner in which these methods are presented to the reader， bolstered with an array of wonky， in-the-weeds psychological concepts reads as a sort of "grand unification theory" of attitude change。 And while time will tell how durable 2022's social science will remain in the coming years and decades， this volume is as compelling as anything else I've read on the subject。But though it is packed with social science research， that academic content is mercifully complemented with an accessible plain-spoken narrative that keeps it engaging for the general audience， with each chapter organically leading to the next as well as any prose fiction。Forgive the hyperbole， but in a time in which political divisiveness is careening in an increasingly incendiary direction， this book is essential reading for us all。 。。。more
Shawn Adamsson
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My mind changed as I was listening and it felt wonderful。 My faith has been shaken in a lot of ways this year but David’s book has done more to restore my faith in the possibility of civil conversation than anything else I’ve read in years。 I listened to this in audiobook format but will be purchasing a physical copy as well， it’s just filled with science-backed advice。
Cari
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I read both of McRaney's previous books and enjoyed the journeys they took through typical cognitive fallacies。 It is good to occasionally flip one's thinking upside down， and McRaney does this in a deep and intuitive way in this book。 McRaney wanted to find out how people with strong convictions flipped over into a new way of thinking。 He examines Deep Canvassing and Social Epistomology， two different ways of talking with and listening to people so they can understand others' perspectives。 He t I read both of McRaney's previous books and enjoyed the journeys they took through typical cognitive fallacies。 It is good to occasionally flip one's thinking upside down， and McRaney does this in a deep and intuitive way in this book。 McRaney wanted to find out how people with strong convictions flipped over into a new way of thinking。 He examines Deep Canvassing and Social Epistomology， two different ways of talking with and listening to people so they can understand others' perspectives。 He talks to people like Megan Phelps-Roper， who left the Westboro Baptist Church （and has her own book， UNFOLLOW）。 He also talks with Charlie Veitch， a 9/11 conspiracy theorist who changed his mind after being on a television show that connected him with the victims' families。 I liked the idea of a "tipping point" - people may invite a few new ideas in， then slowly add more until they are fully on the new side and want to know everything about it。 I think many of us can relate to this， even if it's just about something innocuous like discovering a hobby or a new author to read。 This book leans left， so if you're a die-hard conservative， it may not resonate with you。 But who knows。。。 something might change your mind。 。。。more
Chris Boutté
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David McRaney did it once again， and I’d be shocked if this wasn’t one of the top books of 2022。 David was kind enough to send me an early copy of the book， and I was obsessed with it。 I read a ton of books about how minds change， why people get stuck in their beliefs and the thinking errors that lead people to resist new information。 With that said， this book was completely unique on so many different levels。 Not only did David have a ton of great interviews with people I’d never heard of befor David McRaney did it once again， and I’d be shocked if this wasn’t one of the top books of 2022。 David was kind enough to send me an early copy of the book， and I was obsessed with it。 I read a ton of books about how minds change， why people get stuck in their beliefs and the thinking errors that lead people to resist new information。 With that said， this book was completely unique on so many different levels。 Not only did David have a ton of great interviews with people I’d never heard of before like street epistemologists， but he also discussed a bunch of psychological studies I was unfamiliar with。 Aside from diving into the psychology of how we change minds， he also had a really in-depth chapter on neuroscience and why we see thinks differently than others， and how some of this research may help decrease polarization。 I don’t want to spoil any of the details of this book， but if you want to learn how to have better conversations and the proven methods for talking with difficult people， you need this book as soon as it launches。 。。。more
Chris Merck
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