Self delusion makes you human, but you can do something about it. Delusion, that is. You’re stuck with the human thing.

That’s the tagline for my new book, “You Are Now Less Dumb,” which you can find in bookstores everywhere right now, and it’s an attempt to explain that my second book is very different from my first.

When I was doing interviews for my first book, I kept getting asked variations of the same question: “How can we stop being so deluded?” My answer was almost always that you couldn’t, that you were stuck with these cognitive biases, logical fallacies, and weird heuristics. I wanted to describe not prescribe. But, after a while, that approach started to bother me, so when I started writing the new book I tried writing something new – advice.

Sure, you can’t remove these things from your brain. Sure, everyone shares similar flawed perceptions and biased cognitions. But that doesn’t mean you are powerless to their influences. It just means you shouldn’t pretend like they don’t exist. Once you stop doing that, you can easily rearrange your life in all sorts of ways to avoid stumbling over your own brain. In my new book, you’ll not only learn about 17 new forms of self delusion, but you’ll see how to keep them from making a mess of things in your life, your job, and the institutions and communities you care about.

Early on I write, “You are not so smart, but there are some concrete, counterintuitive, and fascinating ways to become less dumb.” After that, I take you on a fun, bizarre, flabbergasting ride through the most twisted up and difficult to notice parts of your mind. It’s pretty badass, and I think you’ll love it.

Thank you so, so much for all the support and interest. I love writing these posts and recording these podcasts, and I especially love creating these books. Drop me a line when you’re done with the new book and let me know what you think.

GET THE BOOK

Amazon – IndieBound –  B&N – BAM – iTunes – Google – Audible

GET A FREE SIGNED BOOKPLATE

Send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Signed Bookplate | P.O. Box 15792 | Hattiesburg, MS 39404…and you’ll get a signed bookplate back in the mail.

GET YOUR E-BOOK SIGNED 

If you have an e-book you would like signed, go to this link.

READ AN EXCERPT 

Head to Big Think to read a portion of the chapter on: The Common Belief Fallacy

WATCH THE TRAILER