Don't Get Fooled Again: The Sceptics Guide to Life

Richard Wilson

ISBN 10: 1848310145 / ISBN 13: 9781848310148

Published by Icon Books, Cambridge, UK, 2008

About this Item

This is a book about expensive delusions, and how to avoid them. It looks at the myriad ways in which we can deceive ourselves, and be deceived by others.

Seller Inventory # 016697

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Don't Get Fooled Again: The Sceptics Guide to Life
• Publisher: Icon Books, Cambridge, UK
• Publication Date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1848310145
• ISBN 13: 9781848310148
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine

About this title

Synopsis

Why is it that, time and again, intelligent, educated people end up falling for ideas that turn out on closer examination to be nonsense? We live in a supposedly rational age, yet crazy notions seem increasingly mainstream. New Age peddlers claim to cure Aids with vitamin tablets. Media gatekeepers stoke panic and regurgitate corporate press releases in the name of 'balance'. Wild-eyed men in sandwich boards blame it all on the CIA.Even the word 'sceptic' has been appropriated by cranks and conspiracy theorists bent on rewriting history and debunking sound science. But while it may be easier than ever for nonsense to spread, it's never been simpler to fight back. "Don't Get Fooled Again" offers practical tools for cutting through the claptrap and unravelling the spin - tackling propaganda, the psychology of deception, pseudo-news, bogus science, the weird cult of 'Aids reappraisal', numerous conspiracy theories (including the one about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq), and much more. Richard Wilson's book is user-friendly, enjoyable, shot through with polemic - and argues forcefully for a positive solution.

About the Author

Richard Wilson read Philosophy at University College London. His first book, Titanic Express, recounts his search for the truth about the death of his sister Charlotte, who was killed in Burundi in 2000. He now works for a human rights organisation and lives in London with his wife, Heleen.