May Contain Lies : How Stories, Statistics, and Studies Exploit Our Biases?nd What We Can Do about It

Adam Grant? ? New Idea Books to Start Spring?Next Big Idea Club's Must-Read Books for May 2024 How our biases cause us to fall for misinformation?nd how to combat it. Our lives are minefields of misinformation. It ripples through our social media feeds, our daily headlines, and the pronouncements of politicians, executives, and authors. Stories, statistics, and studies are everywhere, allowing people to find evidence to support whatever position they want. Many of these sources are flawed, yet by playing on our emotions and preying on our biases, they can gain widespread acceptance, warp our views, and distort our decisions. In this eye-opening book, renowned economist Alex Edmans teaches us how to separate fact from fiction. Using colorful examples?rom a wellness guru? tragic but fabricated backstory to the blunders that led to the Deepwater Horizon disaster to the diet that ensnared millions yet hastened its founder? death?dmans highlights the biases that cause us to mistake statements for facts, facts for data, data for evidence, and evidence for proof. Armed with the knowledge of what to guard against, he then provides a practical guide to combat this tide of misinformation. Going beyond simply checking the facts and explaining individual statistics, Edmans explores the relationships between statistics?he science of cause and effect?ltimately training us to think smarter, sharper, and more critically. May Contain Lies is an essential read for anyone who wants to make better sense of the world and better decisions.

Author: Alex Edmans

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Publication Date: May 14, 2024

Number of Pages: 335 pages

Language: English

Binding: Hardcover

ISBN-10: 0520405854

ISBN-13: 9780520405851