Listen and read

Step into an infinite world of stories

  • Listen and read as much as you want
  • Over 400 000+ titles
  • Bestsellers in 10+ Indian languages
  • Exclusive titles + Storytel Originals
  • Easy to cancel anytime
Subscribe now
Details page - Device banner - 894x1036
Cover for The Irrational Ape: Why Flawed Logic Puts us all at Risk and How Critical Thinking Can Save the World

The Irrational Ape: Why Flawed Logic Puts us all at Risk and How Critical Thinking Can Save the World

10 Ratings

4.2

Duration
14H 4min
Language
English
Format
Category

Non-Fiction

THE IRISH TIMES TOP FIVE BESTSELLER

'A beautifully reasoned book about our own unreasonableness' Robin Ince

In 1983, the reasoning of one unsung Russian narrowly averted nuclear war, proving that critical thinking can save the world. Today, facing unprecedented tides of disinformation, we’re frequently misled, to our detriment. The Irrational Ape explores the reasons why we get things so wrong, illustrated with incredible stories from the comical to the catastrophic. With a cast including murderous popes, conspiracy theorists, snake-oil salesmen, dubious celebrities and superstitious pigeons, The Irrational Ape delves into how reasoning errors, skewed perceptions and even our own psychology render us so susceptible to falsehood – and how we can improve our reasoning to ensure we avoid being taken in.

© 2019 Simon & Schuster Audio UK (Audiobook): 9781471186868

Release date

Audiobook: 26 September 2019

Others also enjoyed ...

  1. Luck
    Luck David Flusfeder
  2. Sleeping Beauties: The Mystery of Dormant Innovations in Nature and Culture
    Sleeping Beauties: The Mystery of Dormant Innovations in Nature and Culture Andreas Wagner
  3. Radical Technologies: The Design of Everyday Life
    Radical Technologies: The Design of Everyday Life Adam Greenfield
  4. The Coming Good Society: Why New Realities Demand New Rights
    The Coming Good Society: Why New Realities Demand New Rights William F. Schulz
  5. Saved by Science: The Hope and Promise of Synthetic Biology
    Saved by Science: The Hope and Promise of Synthetic Biology Mark J. Poznansky, PhD
  6. The Super Age: Decoding Our Demographic Destiny
    The Super Age: Decoding Our Demographic Destiny Bradley Schurman
  7. The Body Builders: Inside the Science of the Engineered Human
    The Body Builders: Inside the Science of the Engineered Human Adam Piore
  8. On Rumours: How Falsehoods Spread, Why We Believe Them, What Can Be Done
    On Rumours: How Falsehoods Spread, Why We Believe Them, What Can Be Done Cass R. Sunstein
  9. Averting Catastrophe: Decision Theory for COVID-19, Climate Change, and Potential Disasters of All Kinds
    Averting Catastrophe: Decision Theory for COVID-19, Climate Change, and Potential Disasters of All Kinds Cass R. Sunstein
  10. Doing the Right Thing: Ethics in Science
    Doing the Right Thing: Ethics in Science Scientific American
  11. The Hot Hand: The Mystery and Science of Winning Streaks
    The Hot Hand: The Mystery and Science of Winning Streaks Ben Cohen
  12. Profit over Privacy: How Surveillance Advertising Conquered the Internet
    Profit over Privacy: How Surveillance Advertising Conquered the Internet Matthew Crain
  13. Infinite Progress: How the Internet and Technology Will End Ignorance, Disease, Poverty, Hunger, and War
    Infinite Progress: How the Internet and Technology Will End Ignorance, Disease, Poverty, Hunger, and War Byron Reese
  14. Cyber Privacy: Who Has Your Data and Why You Should Care
    Cyber Privacy: Who Has Your Data and Why You Should Care April Falcon Doss
  15. The Price of Immortality: The Race to Live Forever
    The Price of Immortality: The Race to Live Forever Peter Ward
  16. Lightening Often Strikes Twice: The 50 Biggest Misconceptions in Science
    Lightening Often Strikes Twice: The 50 Biggest Misconceptions in Science Brian Clegg
  17. Wealth Supremacy: How the Extractive Economy and the Biased Rules of Capitalism Drive Today's Crises
    Wealth Supremacy: How the Extractive Economy and the Biased Rules of Capitalism Drive Today's Crises Marjorie Kelly
  18. Force: What It Means to Push and Pull, Slip and Grip, Start and Stop
    Force: What It Means to Push and Pull, Slip and Grip, Start and Stop Henry Petroski
  19. Simply Electrifying: The Technology that Transformed the World, from Benjamin Franklin to Elon Musk
    Simply Electrifying: The Technology that Transformed the World, from Benjamin Franklin to Elon Musk Craig R. Roach
  20. The Primacy of Doubt: From Quantum Physics to Climate Change, How the Science of Uncertainty Can Help Us Understand Our Chaotic World
    The Primacy of Doubt: From Quantum Physics to Climate Change, How the Science of Uncertainty Can Help Us Understand Our Chaotic World Tim Palmer
  21. The Delusions Of Crowds: Why People Go Mad in Groups
    The Delusions Of Crowds: Why People Go Mad in Groups William J. Bernstein
  22. The Biggest Number in the World: A Journey to the Edge of Mathematics
    The Biggest Number in the World: A Journey to the Edge of Mathematics David Darling
  23. Future Minds: The Rise of Intelligence, from the Big Bang to the End of the Universe
    Future Minds: The Rise of Intelligence, from the Big Bang to the End of the Universe Richard Yonck
  24. Driven: The Race to Create the Autonomous Car
    Driven: The Race to Create the Autonomous Car Alex Davies
  25. Fact or Fiction: Science Tackles 58 Popular Myths
    Fact or Fiction: Science Tackles 58 Popular Myths Scientific American
  26. Games for Your Mind: The History and Future of Logic Puzzles
    Games for Your Mind: The History and Future of Logic Puzzles Jason Rosenhouse
  27. fMRI
    fMRI Peter A. Bandettini
  28. Liars and Outliers: Enabling the Trust that Society Needs to Thrive
    Liars and Outliers: Enabling the Trust that Society Needs to Thrive Bruce Schneier
  29. A Vulnerable System: The History of Information Security in the Computer Age
    A Vulnerable System: The History of Information Security in the Computer Age Andrew J. Stewart
  30. Broken Brains
    Broken Brains Ian Mitchell BSc, DPhil
  31. Block by Block: The Historical and Theoretical Foundations of Thermodynamics
    Block by Block: The Historical and Theoretical Foundations of Thermodynamics Robert T. Hanlon
  32. The Artificial Intelligence Contagion: Can Democracy Withstand the Imminent Transformation of Work, Wealth, and the Social Order?
    The Artificial Intelligence Contagion: Can Democracy Withstand the Imminent Transformation of Work, Wealth, and the Social Order? David Barnhizer
  33. Cogs and Monsters: What Economics Is, and What It Should Be
    Cogs and Monsters: What Economics Is, and What It Should Be Diane Coyle
  34. The Things We Make: The Unknown History of Invention from Cathedrals to Soda Cans
    The Things We Make: The Unknown History of Invention from Cathedrals to Soda Cans Bill Hammack
  35. Return to Reason: The Science of Thought
    Return to Reason: The Science of Thought Scientific American
  36. The Accidental Mind: How Brain Evolution Has Given Us Love, Memory, Dreams, and God
    The Accidental Mind: How Brain Evolution Has Given Us Love, Memory, Dreams, and God David J. Linden
  37. Moore's Law: The Life of Gordon Moore, Silicon Valley's Quiet Revolutionary
    Moore's Law: The Life of Gordon Moore, Silicon Valley's Quiet Revolutionary Rachel Jones
  38. Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea
    Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea Charles Seife
  39. The Little Book of Data: Understanding the Powerful Analytics that Fuel AI, Make or Break Careers, and Could Just End Up Saving the World
    The Little Book of Data: Understanding the Powerful Analytics that Fuel AI, Make or Break Careers, and Could Just End Up Saving the World Justin Evans
  40. Martin Gardner: The Magic and Mystery of Numbers
    Martin Gardner: The Magic and Mystery of Numbers Scientific American
  41. The Future of Energy
    The Future of Energy Scientific American
  42. Neuroplasticity
    Neuroplasticity Moheb Costandi
  43. How to Lose the Information War: Russia, Fake News, and the Future of Conflict
    How to Lose the Information War: Russia, Fake News, and the Future of Conflict Nina Jankowicz
  44. Ten Short Lessons in Space Travel
    Ten Short Lessons in Space Travel Paul Parsons
  45. Scienceblind: Why Our Intuitive Theories About the World Are So Often Wrong
    Scienceblind: Why Our Intuitive Theories About the World Are So Often Wrong Andrew Shtulman
  46. Invisible Trillions: How Financial Secrecy Is Imperiling Capitalism and Democracyand the Way to Renew Our Broken System
    Invisible Trillions: How Financial Secrecy Is Imperiling Capitalism and Democracyand the Way to Renew Our Broken System Raymond W. Baker
  47. Stories, Dice, and Rocks That Think: How Humans Learned to See the Future–and Shape It
    Stories, Dice, and Rocks That Think: How Humans Learned to See the Future–and Shape It Byron Reese
  48. Measurement
    Measurement Paul Lockhart
  49. The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth
    The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth Jonathan Rauch
  50. Designing the Urban Future: Smart Cities
    Designing the Urban Future: Smart Cities Scientific American
  51. The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2023
    The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2023 Carl Zimmer
  52. Tech Panic: Why We Shouldn't Fear Facebook and the Future
    Tech Panic: Why We Shouldn't Fear Facebook and the Future Robby Soave
  53. What's Gotten Into You: The Story of Your Body's Atoms, from the Big Bang Through Last Night's Dinner
    What's Gotten Into You: The Story of Your Body's Atoms, from the Big Bang Through Last Night's Dinner Dan Levitt
  54. The Four Realms of Existence: A New Theory of Being Human
    The Four Realms of Existence: A New Theory of Being Human Joseph E. LeDoux
  55. Mapping Humanity: How Modern Genetics Is Changing Criminal Justice, Personalized Medicine, and Our Identities
    Mapping Humanity: How Modern Genetics Is Changing Criminal Justice, Personalized Medicine, and Our Identities Joshua Z. Rappoport, PhD
  56. Manipulation: What It Is, Why It's Bad, What to Do About It
    Manipulation: What It Is, Why It's Bad, What to Do About It Cass R. Sunstein
  57. Climate Change: Planet under Pressure
    Climate Change: Planet under Pressure Scientific American
  58. Ten Short Lessons in Time Travel
    Ten Short Lessons in Time Travel Brian Clegg
  59. Progressive Capitalism: How to Make Tech Work for All of Us
    Progressive Capitalism: How to Make Tech Work for All of Us Ro Khanna
  60. Law and Leviathan: Redeeming the Administrative State
    Law and Leviathan: Redeeming the Administrative State Adrian Vermeule
  61. Birds, Sex and Beauty: The Extraordinary Implications of Charles Darwin's Strangest Idea
    Birds, Sex and Beauty: The Extraordinary Implications of Charles Darwin's Strangest Idea Matt Ridley
  62. The Uses of Delusion: Why It's Not Always Rational to Be Rational
    The Uses of Delusion: Why It's Not Always Rational to Be Rational Stuart Vyse
  63. Machines of Loving Grace: The Quest for Common Ground Between Humans and Robots
    Machines of Loving Grace: The Quest for Common Ground Between Humans and Robots John Markoff
  64. 2084 and the AI Revolution, Updated and Expanded Edition: How Artificial Intelligence Informs Our Future
    2084 and the AI Revolution, Updated and Expanded Edition: How Artificial Intelligence Informs Our Future John C. Lennox
  65. Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories
    Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories Rob Brotherton
  66. Why Nudge?: The Politics of Libertarian Paternalism
    Why Nudge?: The Politics of Libertarian Paternalism Cass R. Sunstein
  67. Genetic Engineering: Progress and Controversy
    Genetic Engineering: Progress and Controversy Scientific American
  68. AI and Machine Learning for Coders: A Programmer's Guide to Artificial Intelligence
    AI and Machine Learning for Coders: A Programmer's Guide to Artificial Intelligence Laurence Moroney
  69. The Future of Humankind: Why We Should be Optimistic
    The Future of Humankind: Why We Should be Optimistic John Hands
  70. Schneier on Security
    Schneier on Security Bruce Schneier
  71. Human Nature and Conduct: An Introduction to Social Psychology
    Human Nature and Conduct: An Introduction to Social Psychology John Dewey
  72. Electrify: An Optimists Playbook for Our Clean Energy Future
    Electrify: An Optimists Playbook for Our Clean Energy Future Saul Griffith
  73. Present Future: Business, Science, and the Deep Tech Revolution
    Present Future: Business, Science, and the Deep Tech Revolution Guy Perelmuter
  74. Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work
    Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work Nick Srnicek
  75. The Rational Animal: How Evolution Made Us Smarter Than We Think
    The Rational Animal: How Evolution Made Us Smarter Than We Think Douglas T. Kenrick, PhD
  76. Exoplanets: Worlds without End
    Exoplanets: Worlds without End Scientific American
  77. Shocks, Crises, and False Alarms: How to Assess True Macroeconomic Risk
    Shocks, Crises, and False Alarms: How to Assess True Macroeconomic Risk Paul Swartz
  78. Speechless: Controlling Words, Controlling Minds
    Speechless: Controlling Words, Controlling Minds Michael Knowles
  79. Overcomplicated: Technology at the Limits of Comprehension
    Overcomplicated: Technology at the Limits of Comprehension Samuel Arbesman
  80. Grandstanding: The Use and Abuse of Moral Talk
    Grandstanding: The Use and Abuse of Moral Talk Justin Tosi
  81. What’s the Matter with Delaware?: How the First State Has Favored the Rich, Powerful, and Criminal—and How It Costs Us All
    What’s the Matter with Delaware?: How the First State Has Favored the Rich, Powerful, and Criminal—and How It Costs Us All Hal Weitzman
  82. Coders at Work: Reflections on the Craft of Programming
    Coders at Work: Reflections on the Craft of Programming Peter Seibel
  83. Climate Change and Extreme Weather
    Climate Change and Extreme Weather Scientific American
  84. Affirmative Action Around the World: An Empirical Study
    Affirmative Action Around the World: An Empirical Study Thomas Sowell
  85. Wise Animals: How Technology Has Made Us What We Are
    Wise Animals: How Technology Has Made Us What We Are Tom Chatfield
  86. The Clock Mirage: Our Myth of Measured Time
    The Clock Mirage: Our Myth of Measured Time Joseph Mazur
  87. Inflation: What It Is, Why It's Bad, and How to Fix It
    Inflation: What It Is, Why It's Bad, and How to Fix It Steve Forbes
  88. Carbon Capture
    Carbon Capture Howard J. Herzog
  89. When Bad Thinking Happens to Good People: How Philosophy Can Save Us from Ourselves
    When Bad Thinking Happens to Good People: How Philosophy Can Save Us from Ourselves Steven Nadler
  90. Robot Rules: Regulating Artificial Intelligence
    Robot Rules: Regulating Artificial Intelligence Jacob Turner
  91. Distilled: A Natural History of Spirits
    Distilled: A Natural History of Spirits Rob DeSalle
  92. Analogia: The Emergence of Technology Beyond Programmable Control
    Analogia: The Emergence of Technology Beyond Programmable Control George Dyson
  93. Big Data: How the Information Revolution Is Transforming Our Lives
    Big Data: How the Information Revolution Is Transforming Our Lives Brian Clegg
  94. Out of Our Minds: What We Think and How We Came to Think It
    Out of Our Minds: What We Think and How We Came to Think It Felipe Fernandez-Armesto