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The Intelligence Trap

On sale

7th March 2019

Price: £20

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Selected: Hardcover / ISBN-13: 9781473669833

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‘A startling, provocative and potently useful book’ Sunday Times

What blinkered Einstein and Edison? Why did Steve Jobs and NASA make lethal errors of judgement? How might environmental disaster and social inequality be averted?

It is time for us to learn a new way of thinking.

The twenty-first century presents complex problems that require a wiser way of reasoning, one that recognises our current limitations, tolerates ambiguity and uncertainty, balances multiple perspectives, and bridges diverse areas of expertise.

Whatever our age and experience, whether a NASA scientist or a school student, we will benefit from wielding our minds with insight, precision, social sensitivity and humility.

In an exhilarating journey through current research, drawing on insight from Socrates to Benjamin Franklin and some of the world’s most successful industries, award-winning science journalist David Robson shows how to build a cognitive toolkit to help us all maximise our full potential.

Reviews

Gaia Vince, prize-winning author of Adventures in the Anthropocene
A fascinating and enjoyable investigation of what intelligence is and isn't, by one of the most exciting new voices in science writing. This thought-provoking and brilliantly researched guide to achieving true wisdom shows us how to be smarter - and how to protect ourselves from the cleverest fools.
Rolf Dobelli, author of the million-copy-selling Art of Thinking Clearly
Brilliant. The Intelligence Trap combines mesmerising storytelling with groundbreaking new research about why having a high IQ can backfire. Essential reading for anyone who wants to think more clearly.
Anna Rosling-Ronnlund
I loved The Intelligence Trap. As fun to read as it is fascinating, it celebrates the power of humility and curiosity. Everyone, especially intelligent people, should read this brilliant and important book.
Will Storr, author of SELFIE
The Intelligence Trap is ceaselessly fascinating and brilliantly written by one of our most consistently superb science writers. Its counter-intuitive argument, that intelligence is no inoculation against wrongness, explains so much about the fractious and baffling times in which we live.