Nobody's Fool

"From phishing scams to pyramid schemes, our world is filled with people who want to fool us. In Nobody's Fool, psychologists Simons and Chabris break down the science behind deception to pull back the curtain on how we can all avoid being scammed-or even scam the scammers in return. Simons and Chabris identify ten specific features of our psychology that make us vulnerable to being tricked, from our innate tendency to treat all new information-not to mention anything that seems familiar or consistent!-as though it were true, to our failure to consider the important information that we're not receiving, to our tendency to be wary of randomness when in fact it's a sign of authenticity. They explain why all of us are fooled some of the time - whether it's by magicians, marketers, psychics, conspiracy theories, Internet bots, con artists, fraudulent scientists, or even ourselves. Weaving together entertaining stories with scientific research, Simons and Chabris show how Bernie Madoff pulled off his Ponzi scheme; why as much as half the art in leading museums is fake; why every piece of satire reaches people who take it seriously; and the one simple trick to better negotiation that we're all ignoring (yes, it's a genuine tip). They investigate everything from John Podesta giving his emails to Russian hackers to Andre Agassi's ability to read Boris Becker's mind-not to mention, how to tell if someone is lying about inventing cold fusion (even if you know nothing about physics), or if they are forging art (even if you can't tell Monet from Manet). Simons and Chabris put those principles to work, providing concrete ways that readers can build up their resistance to deception and revealing the crucial questions we should ask even before something starts to look suspicious"--

Daniel Simons is a professor in the department of psychology at the University of Illinois, where he directs the Visual Cognition Laboratory. He lives in Champaign, Illinois.
Christopher Chabris is a cognitive scientist who has taught at Union College and Harvard University. He lives in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.