Neuroscientist Daniel Levitin delves into how the brain processes big fat fibs – but leaves some stones unturned
Politics has always required lies, but it’s hard to think of a democratic leader who has lied so brazenly and so constantly as Donald Trump. The burning question is whether his supporters think his blatant fibs are true or don’t much care whether they are or not.
While neuroscientist Daniel Levitin was writing this book, “post-truth” and “fake news” were not yet common currency. Does that make it extraordinarily timely, or redundant? Probably neither. As a lucid guide to critical thinking about statistics, information and assertion, it’s profoundly welcome. If anyone thinks it is the antidote to our age of unreason, they are deluded.
It’s strange to find little discussion of the cognitive factors that confound our analysis of the facts
Related: Trump’s personality will help us learn how our minds work | Deborah Orr
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