Why We're Wrong About Nearly Everything

A Theory of Human Misunderstanding

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By Bobby Duffy

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This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around November 26, 2019. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.

A leading social researcher explains why humans so consistently misunderstand the outside world

How often are women harassed? What percentage of the population are immigrants? How bad is unemployment? These questions are important, but most of us get the answers wrong. Research shows that people often wildly misunderstand the state of the world, regardless of age, sex, or education. And though the internet brings us unprecedented access to information, there’s little evidence we’re any better informed because of it.

We may blame cognitive bias or fake news, but neither tells the complete story. In Why We’re Wrong About Nearly Everything, Bobby Duffy draws on his research into public perception across more than forty countries, offering a sweeping account of the stubborn problem of human delusion: how society breeds it, why it will never go away, and what our misperceptions say about what we really believe.

We won’t always know the facts, but they still matter. Why We’re Wrong About Nearly Everything is mandatory reading for anyone interested making humankind a little bit smarter.

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On Sale
Nov 26, 2019
Page Count
304 pages
Publisher
Basic Books
ISBN-13
9781541618091

Bobby Duffy

About the Author

Bobby Duffy, one of the UK's most respected social researchers, is professor of public policy and director of the Policy Institute at King's College London. Duffy previously directed public affairs and global research at Ipsos MORI and the Ipsos Social Research Institute, which, among other initiatives, ran the world's largest study of public perception. He is the author of The Perils of Perception, which sold over 30,000 copies in the UK, and which we published as Why We're Wrong About Nearly Everything in the US. His research has been covered by the Washington Post, Economist, Financial Times, Quartz, NBC, BBC, and elsewhere. He lives in London.

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