Buy new:
$9.99
FREE delivery: Friday, Dec 8 on orders over $35.00 shipped by Amazon.
Ships from: Amazon.com
Sold by: Amazon.com
List Price: $19.00 Details

The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more
Save: $9.01 (47%)
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
Return this item for free
  • Free returns are available for the shipping address you chose. You can return the item for any reason in new and unused condition: no shipping charges
  • Learn more about free returns.
FREE delivery Friday, December 8 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
In Stock
$$9.99 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$9.99
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime
FREE delivery Wednesday, December 13 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Used: Good | Details
Sold by Martistore
Condition: Used: Good
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Other Sellers on Amazon
Added
$9.94
& FREE Shipping
Sold by: SKMG
Sold by: SKMG
(431 ratings)
92% positive over last 12 months
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Shipping rates and Return policy
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

You Are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, an d 46 Other Ways You're Deluding Yourself Paperback – November 6, 2012

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 2,707 ratings

Price
New from Used from
Kindle
Paperback
$9.99
$9.94 $1.38
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$9.99","priceAmount":9.99,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"9","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"99","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"epeazZj9lZjc4OGgXg62uql2YCbmlzIq5z0GCQHkJHk3ss1n%2Fcbn6iQta%2Bz5%2FE7T4zd7YM98K4mrfHrADkwnuxRvMLwjZSQJVTaAs0Ip%2BiDZEPeJ3XcLffw1u%2BPLDF0K%2BkHDy0q4ejHz6ihYEyq21w%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$7.55","priceAmount":7.55,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"7","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"55","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"epeazZj9lZjc4OGgXg62uql2YCbmlzIqxaKh%2F8UBTrnWce40GvApJRt4OkqIpTjq4Ke2CgWsxOU3DBAWwC6%2F4ah5PgoApleO%2Bygo5xSn27%2FJ2MrO6j3uW0XDTDnobe4QnUGrEi6qRJt%2FabaROEUs8SCajUvnB2iXHam4Y%2FFLe8zRI31ygei7IcbTDOthmIbF","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons


Save on audiobooks.
Hundreds of titles up to 80% off. Listen now

Frequently bought together

$9.99
Get it as soon as Friday, Dec 8
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
$13.54
Get it as soon as Friday, Dec 8
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
$18.39
Get it as soon as Friday, Dec 8
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Details
Added to Cart
Choose items to buy together.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Every chapter is a welcome reminder that you are not so smart-yet you're never made to feel dumb. You Are Not So Smart is a dose of psychology research served in tasty anecdotes that will make you better understand both yourself and the rest of us. It turns out we're much more irrational than most of us think, so give yourself every advantage you can and read this book." — Alexis Ohanian, Co-Founder of Reddit.com

"You Are Not So Smart is the go-to blog for understanding why we all do silly things." —
Lifehacker.com

"You'd think from the title that it might be curmudgeonly; in fact,
You Are Not So Smart is quite big-hearted." — Jason Kottke, Kottke.org

"In an Idiocracy dominated by cable TV bobbleheads, government propagandists, and corporate spinmeisters, many of us know that mass ignorance is a huge problem. Now, thanks to David McRaney's mind-blowing book, we can finally see the scientific roots of that problem. Anybody still self-aware enough to wonder why society now worships willful stupidity should read this book." -David Sirota, author of
Back to Our Future: How the 1980s Explain the World We Live In Now

About the Author

A two-time winner of the William Randolph Hearst Award, journalist David McRaney writes the blog youarenotsosmart.com. A self-described psychology nerd, he lives in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Avery; Reprint edition (November 6, 2012)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1592407366
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1592407361
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.8 x 7.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 2,707 ratings

Important information

To report an issue with this product, click here.

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

David McRaney is a science journalist fascinated with brains, minds, and culture.

He created the podcast You Are Not So Smart based on his 2009 internationally bestselling book of the same name and its followup, You Are Now Less Dumb.

Before that, he cut his teeth as a newspaper reporter covering Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast and in the Pine Belt region of the Deep South. Later, he covered things like who tests rockets for NASA, what it is like to run a halfway home for homeless people who are HIV-positive, and how a family sent their kids to college by making and selling knives.

Since then, he has been an editor, photographer, voiceover artist, television host, journalism teacher, lecturer, and tornado survivor.

Most recently, after finishing his latest book, How Minds Change, he wrote, produced, and recorded a six-hour audio documentary exploring the history of the idea and the word: genius.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
2,707 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2014
15 people found this helpful
Report
Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2011
464 people found this helpful
Report
Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2020
3 people found this helpful
Report

Top reviews from other countries

Nick Michelioudakis
5.0 out of 5 stars A Review - for Educators
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 14, 2016
Customer image
Nick Michelioudakis
5.0 out of 5 stars A Review - for Educators
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 14, 2016
McRaney is living proof that the best popularisers of scientific theory are not necessarily researchers themselves. His book is one of the best I have ever read! In 48 bite-size chapters he has managed to elucidate 48 important findings from the fields of Psychology.
‘Priming’ comes first – naturally! The idea is that subtle cues in the environment can affect the way we behave. In a fantastic study (p. 11), some subjects had to work with words related to ‘politeness’ – others with ones relating to ‘rudeness’. Later they were asked to see a researcher who was ‘busy’ talking to someone; the former interrupted him after 8.7 min, the latter after only 5.4! (Moral: The school environment and decoration should be full of cues relating to diligence and cooperation; priming does work! [Check out: YouTube: Psychology and ELT – Priming])
‘Procrastination’: In another experiment (p. 45) subjects were asked to choose movies that they would have to watch at some point in the future; most chose at least some serious ones. In another condition however, subjects had to choose movies to watch that very evening; guess what – they went for films of the ‘Legally Blonde’ type... (Moral: We tend to put off doing the things we have to do. To ensure students do not do this, get them to commit well in advance!)
‘The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy’: In a study that all educators should read (p. 234), some teachers were told that certain kids in their class had performed outstandingly in IQ tests (of course this was a lie – the children had been chosen at random). Sure enough, these kids did exceptionally well at H/W, as the teachers lavished more attention to them. (Moral: Expectations often bring about their own fulfilment; alas, this does not only work for students we think are geniuses...)
Now here is a little gem which can make a huge difference in Classroom Management. In another study subjects were asked whether they would donate some time to a cancer drive. One group were simply asked; they did agree but actually only 4% of them turned up. Another group however were asked to volunteer and then asked again if they thought they would show up – almost all of them did! (Moral: When you ask your students to do something, just ask them an additional Q: ‘Do you think you are going to do it?’)
Usefulness aside, the book opens a huge window into our brain and the way it works... You are guaranteed many ‘a-ha!’ moments and not a few chuckles... You will recognise yourself when reading about the ‘Self-serving bias’ and you will recognise 98% of bloggers when reading about ‘The Dunning-Kruger Effect’! (ooops! I didn’t say that! :-) )
Images in this review
Customer image
Customer image
3 people found this helpful
Report
Lark
5.0 out of 5 stars A great book for anyone interested in exploring awareness
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 13, 2016
One person found this helpful
Report
GEOPUBLIC
4.0 out of 5 stars About time...
Reviewed in Canada on February 11, 2012
Rachael
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 15, 2013
13 people found this helpful
Report
Digvijoy Sen
5.0 out of 5 stars It's an Eye Opener that reveals our inherent biases in thinking about the world around us.
Reviewed in India on January 7, 2022
2 people found this helpful
Report