Interview with Miriam Frankel, author of Are You Thinking Clearly?: 29 reasons you aren't, and what to do about it
Miriam Frankel, author of Are You Thinking Clearly?: 29 reasons you aren't, and what to do about it recommends some superb books! Before jumping into the interview, please check out Miriam's book:
Review from Book Depository:
Do emotions really cloud your thinking? Are habits holding you back? Is AI manipulating your mind? Does IQ help you think better?
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Are You Thinking Clearly?: 29 reasons you aren't, and what to do about it
Every one of our thoughts, actions, moods and decisions is shaped by a whole array of factors, most of which we don't pay any attention to. From culture, time and language to genetics, technology and the microorganisms living inside us - even our own unconscious routines and habits - it's clear that we aren't always in the driving seat.
The good news is that by better understanding the external and internal forces at work, we can minimise their impact on our lives. Drawing on rigorous interdisciplinary research, leading science journalists Miriam Frankel and Matt Warren bring us extraordinary stories and studies that open our eyes to the inner workings of the mind, challenge our thought processes and improve our decision-making. Most of all, Are You Thinking Clearly? is a rallying cry to know yourself, think broadly, think boldly - and to listen.
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Book Depository €18.90
Waterstones £20.00
Wordery $16.20
Q. Do you have a favourite smart thinking book (and why that book)?
A book that made a huge impression on me when I read it 10 years ago was Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine. Whether we mean to or not, many of us assume that our biological sex hugely impacts – if not determines – how we think and behave. There is, after all, plenty of research from psychology, neuroscience and evolutionary biology to back up this view. But as Fine shows, the scientific methodology behind many of these studies is often questionable and sometimes downright dodgy. It is actually very difficult to prove the existence of innate biological differences between men's and women's minds. That's because all human brains are incredibly malleable. The culture we live in and the experiences we have ultimately help shape our psychology and cognition.
Review from Book Depository:
Gender inequalities are increasingly defended by citing hard-wired differences between the male and female brain. That's why, we're told, there are so few women in science, so few men in the laundry room - different brains are just suited to different things.
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I'd also like to recommend the book You are not meant to be happy – so stop trying by psychiatrist Rafa Euba. Beautifully written, clever and compassionate, the book draws on scientific evidence as well as art and history to show why humans simply aren't wired to be ecstatically happy all the time – and how it can sometimes harm us to chase the impossible.
Delusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference
With sparkling wit and humour, Cordelia Fine attacks this 'neurosexism', revealing the mind's remarkable plasticity, the substantial influence of culture on identity, and the malleability of what we consider to be 'hardwired' difference.
This modern classic shows the surprising extent to which boys and girls, men and women are made - not born.
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Easons €12.31
Book Depository €8.76
Waterstones £10.99
Wordery $10.61
Q. What's the most recent smart thinking book you've read (and how would you rate it)?
The most recent book I read was the Intelligence Trap by David Robson. I found it absolutely fascinating – a real must read. Many socieities fethishise intelligence, but as this rigorously researched and entertaining book shows, being clever doesn't necessarily help you think well. Being good at spotting elegant patterns can in fact blind you to alternative views and opposing arguments that are more robust. As Robson explains, traditionally 'smart' people can actually be worse at challenging their own views and recognising their own biases.
Review from Book Depository:
How was a brilliant physics professor tricked into carrying 2kg of cocaine across the Argentinian border? Why do doctors misdiagnose 10 to 15% of their patients? Why do Nobel Prize winners spread fake news?
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The Intelligence Trap: Why Smart People Make Dumb Mistakes
We assume that smarter people are less prone to error. But greater education and expertise can often amplify our mistakes while rendering us blind to our biases. This is the 'intelligence trap'.
Drawing on the latest behavioural science and historical examples from Socrates to Benjamin Franklin, David Robson demonstrates how to apply our intelligence more wisely; identify bias and enhance our 'rationality quotient'; read and regulate our emotions; fine-tune our intuition; navigate ambiguity and uncertainty; and think more flexibly about seemingly intractable problems.
The twenty-first century presents us with complex problems that demand a wiser way of thinking. Whether you are a NASA scientist or a school student, The Intelligence Trap offers a new cognitive toolkit to realise your full potential.
Buy On:
Easons €11.20
Book Depository €8.70
Waterstones £9.99
Wordery $9.54
Q. Do you have a favourite childhood book?
It would have to be The Wind on the Moon by Eric Linklater. It's a very strange, whimsical tale of two sisters. As their dad heads out to war, he warns them that there's a wind on the moon which may blow straight into their hearts and make them extremely naughty, which is exactly what subsequently happens. At one point, they drink a magic potion that turns them into kangaroos and end up getting locked in a zoo. But they are clever and cunning, eventually getting out and setting off on an epic rescue mission to Bombardy to save their dad from the horrific, peppermint creams-loving tyrant Count Hulagu Bloot.
Review From Book Depository:
When the wind on the moon blew straight into Dinah and Dorinda's hearts it meant that they couldn't help but behave badly for a whole year. Transformed into kangaroos,they terrorise the sleepy town of Midmeddlecum with glee. But what they didn't count on was being locked in a zoo. Things get even stickier for the mischievous sisters when they learn their father has been imprisoned in a dungeon by Count Hulagu Bloot, the tyrant of Bombardy. Their poor father! Can they rescue him in time?
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The Wind on the Moon
Includes exclusive material: In the Backstory you can find out what life was like when this book was written and meet some more naughty children!
Vintage Children's Classics is a twenty-first century classics list aimed at 8-12 year olds and the adults in their lives. Discover timeless favourites from The Jungle Book and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to modern classics such as The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
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Book Depository €10.45
Waterstones £9.99
Wordery $10.34
Q. Do you prefer reading on paper, Kindle or listening to an audiobook?
I only ever really read on paper; I find screens very tiring. And while it may sound cheesy, I like the experience of holding and, yes, smelling an actual, physical book. I also struggle to concentrate when listening to audiobooks, particularly if they're in English, which is not my native language. For fiction, I'd definitely avoid audiobooks as they get in the way of imagining what the characters sound like.
Q. Do you have a favourite bookshop (and why that shop)?
Foyles on Charing Cross Road in London - they have pretty much everything.
Many thanks to Miriam for recommending some superb books! Please don't forget to check out Miriam's book Are You Thinking Clearly?: 29 reasons you aren't, and what to do about it.
Daryl
Image Copyrights: Hodder & Stoughton General Division (Are You Thinking Clearly), Icon Books (Delusions of Gender), Hodder & Stoughton (The Intelligence Trap), Vintage Publishing (The Wind On The Moon).
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