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The Irrational Ape

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The Irrational Ape

By: David Robert Grimes
Narrated by: David Robert Grimes
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About this listen

THE IRISH TIMES TOP FIVE BESTSELLER

'A beautifully reasoned book about our own unreasonableness' Robin Ince

In 1983, the reasoning of one unsung Russian narrowly averted nuclear war, proving that critical thinking can save the world. Today, facing unprecedented tides of disinformation, we’re frequently misled, to our detriment. The Irrational Ape explores the reasons why we get things so wrong, illustrated with incredible stories from the comical to the catastrophic.

With a cast including murderous popes, conspiracy theorists, snake-oil salesmen, dubious celebrities and superstitious pigeons, The Irrational Ape delves into how reasoning errors, skewed perceptions and even our own psychology render us so susceptible to falsehood – and how we can improve our reasoning to ensure we avoid being taken in.

©2019 David Robert Grimes (P)2019 Simon & Schuster UK Science Social Psychology & Interactions Thought-Provoking
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Critic reviews

'From anti-vaxxers to Dunning-Kruger, from homeopathy and astrology to “false balance” (what I call the BBC Fallacy), from misused statistics to nuclear brinkmanship, our irrationality could be our undoing. A book exposing the irrational ape and teaching us to mend our ways might so easily have become all preachy and teachy. Instead, such is David Robert Grimes’s storytelling skill, his book is an unstoppable page-turner. If our leaders were forced to read this book, the world would be a safer place' (Richard Dawkins)
'Grimes’s book addresses an all-too-urgent contemporary political question: how do we protect our societies and ourselves from charlatans and fools?...It brings a fresh perspective, and has been painstakingly researched. This spirited cocktail of data leavened with anecdotes is served up in Grimes’s trademark provocative, combative style...a highly creditable debut from a skilled communicator.' (John Gibbons)

What listeners say about The Irrational Ape

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Profile Image for Anonymous User

Best thing I have read/listened to this year (2021

such an important read at a crazy time in modern history when disinformation and conspiracy theories abound. I had lost my way a little in terms of not know true from false or misleading and David's book reignited my passion for science and the verifiable whilst also allowing me to forgive myself for going down a rabbit whole or two. David makes a huge subject matter fairly easily digestible. A very worthwhile read indeed.

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Profile Image for Freneticmonk

A good book but...

I liked it really but there were a few sections where the author’s bias came through loud and clear. I would have thought that an author of a book about rational thought would try to eliminate as much emotive context as possible.

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6 people found this helpful

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Profile Image for S. Macken

Thought provoking and needed.

While this book may never be read by those who most need to read it, those that are so wound up in their ideological beliefs that they define their sense of self by those ideologies, it is an invaluable exploration of why we think the way we do and how to counter the flaws in our thinking. It, and other books that promote reason and critical thinking, should be prescribed reading in schools but, unfortunately, the book burners amongst us would happily add it to their bonfires at the first available opportunity for promoting rational thought that questions their ideologies, and prevent these books from appearing on school curricula.

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Profile Image for Phil

Brilliantly informative.

Well read by the man himself. :-)

Well laid out and great examples given to demonstrate the fallacies described.

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Profile Image for Herniol

A panaceum for troubled times.

What a great read!

This book will give you the tools to distinguish bs from facts.

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Prescribed reading!

Needed in the world of dis and mid information
I enjoyed the stories and analysis
I will question what I read and check my facts
And apply the analytical thinking suggested

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Profile Image for guy blackwood

lacking clarity, but full of content

over dense, muddled, but full of interesting thought provoking stuff, maybe needed more editing.

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Should form part of the school curriculum

Essential reading required for everybody. Everybody should be made to question their beliefs and thoughts.
This book is excellently well put together and thought out.

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Profile Image for Phillip

Outstanding from beginning to end !!!

I loved this book, one of the best I have ever listening to in this category. Amazingly written and narrated by Mr David Robert Grimes, thank you so much for writing this book and giving us hope!! I'm going to purchase some paperbacks to give to a few of my friends !!!

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Profile Image for AS

A decent read

Good contents, but sometimes hard to follow. Not because of the contents, but because of the (un-needed) philosophical approach at times.

Failed to understand everytime the "so what" of certain parts.

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