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Title details for Being Wrong by Kathryn Schulz - Wait list

Being Wrong

by Kathryn Schulz
Mia Barron
Audiobook (Includes supplementary content)
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"Both wise and clever, full of fun and surprise about a topic so central to our lives that we almost never even think about it."
—Bill McKibben, author of Earth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet

In the tradition of The Wisdom of Crowds and Predictably Irrational comes Being Wrong, an illuminating exploration of what it means to be in error, and why homo sapiens tend to tacitly assume (or loudly insist) that they are right about most everything. Kathryn Schulz, editor of Grist magazine, argues that error is the fundamental human condition and should be celebrated as such. Guiding the reader through the history and psychology of error, from Socrates to Alan Greenspan, Being Wrong will change the way you perceive screw-ups, both of the mammoth and daily variety, forever.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    June 8, 2010

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780062012401
      • File size: 411865 KB
      • Duration: 14:18:03

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      No one likes to admit they're wrong, but we are wrong often enough that it's worth thinking about. In this book about "wrongology," author Kathryn Schulz examines what it means to be wrong about something--to have an erroneous opinion, then to recognize it and change. It's worth considering why we are wrong and how we develop incorrect opinions because they reveal a lot about ourselves. While the book can become a bit technical, narrator Mia Barron's congenial reading keeps the material interesting. Playfully narrating the many examples, Barron makes this an enjoyable listen about an unexpected subject. K.M. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from March 22, 2010
      In the spirit of Blink
      and Predictably Irrational
      (but with a large helping of erudition), journalist Schulz casts a fresh and irreverent eye upon the profound meanings behind our most ordinary behaviors—in this instance, how we make mistakes, how we behave when we find we have been wrong, and how our errors change us. “t is ultimately wrongness, not rightness, that can teach us who we are,” she asserts. Schulz writes with such lucidity and wit that her philosophical enquiry becomes a page-turner. She deftly incorporates Wittgenstein, Descartes, and Freud, along with an array of contemporary social scientists and even a spin with Shakespeare and Keats. There's heavy stuff here, but no heavy-handedness. Being wrong encompasses the cataclysmic (economic collapse) and the commonplace (leaving a “laptop in front of the window before the storm”). Being wrong may lead to fun (playing with and understanding optical illusions) or futility (the Millerite expectation of the Rapture in 1844). Being wrong can be transformative, and Schultz writes, “I encourage us to see error as a gift in itself, a rich and irreplaceable source of humor, art, illumination, individuality, and change”—an apt description of her engrossing study.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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