{"product_id":"not-born-yesterday-the-science-of-who-we-trust-and-what-we-believe","title":"Not Born Yesterday: The Science of Who We Trust and What We Believe","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhy people are not as gullible as we think\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eNot Born Yesterday\u003c\/i\u003e explains how we decide who we can trust and what we should believe--and argues that we're pretty good at making these decisions. In this lively and provocative book, Hugo Mercier demonstrates how virtually all attempts at mass persuasion--whether by religious leaders, politicians, or advertisers--fail miserably. Drawing on recent findings from political science and other fields ranging from history to anthropology, Mercier shows that the narrative of widespread gullibility, in which a credulous public is easily misled by demagogues and charlatans, is simply wrong. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhy is mass persuasion so difficult? Mercier uses the latest findings from experimental psychology to show how each of us is endowed with sophisticated cognitive mechanisms of open vigilance. Computing a variety of cues, these mechanisms enable us to be on guard against harmful beliefs, while being open enough to change our minds when presented with the right evidence. Even failures--when we accept false confessions, spread wild rumors, or fall for quack medicine--are better explained as bugs in otherwise well-functioning cognitive mechanisms than as symptoms of general gullibility. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eNot Born Yesterday\u003c\/i\u003e shows how we filter the flow of information that surrounds us, argues that we do it well, and explains how we can do it better still.\r","brand":"Hugo Mercier","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44452381032684,"sku":"9780691208923","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":44452381065452,"sku":"9780691178707","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/1791\/3068\/files\/9780691208923.jpg?v=1724410236","url":"https:\/\/allstora.com\/products\/not-born-yesterday-the-science-of-who-we-trust-and-what-we-believe","provider":"Allstora","version":"1.0","type":"link"}