How Minds Change

The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion

Audiobook

English language

Published June 21, 2022 by Books on Tape.

ISBN:
978-0-593-45733-7
Copied ISBN!
OCLC Number:
1331544264
4 stars (2 reviews)

A brain-bending investigation of why some people never change their minds—and others do in an instant—by the bestselling author of You Are Not So Smart

What made a prominent conspiracy-theorist YouTuber finally see that 9/11 was not a hoax? How do voter opinions shift from neutral to resolute? Can widespread social change only take place when a generation dies out? From one of our greatest thinkers on reasoning, HOW MINDS CHANGE is a book about the science, and the experience, of transformation.

When self-delusion expert and psychology nerd David McRaney began a book about how to change someone’s mind in one conversation, he never expected to change his own. But then a diehard 9/11 Truther’s conversion blew up his theories—inspiring him to ask not just how to persuade, but why we believe, from the eye of the beholder. Delving into the latest research of psychologists and neuroscientists, HOW MINDS CHANGE …

8 editions

Interesting ideas

4 stars

McRaney explores the psychology of persuasion, intrigued by the work of the Los Angeles LGBT Center and their Deep Canvassing technique. The other method that he covers is Street Epistemology, which isn't specifically supposed to change minds. Just make people look hard at their reasons, which if those reasons are bad maybe they'll consider changing them on their own.

The rest of the chapters explores psychological concepts around persuasion and the final chapter is one on social change and networks of human contact. That last chapter is frustrating because McRaney presents it as if the change that spreads through human social thought is inevitably positive in the long run (LGBTQ people are so accepted! Anti-vax people that really opposed covid vaccines are mostly getting vaccinated in Britain now!) The book was published in 2022, so the current backlash against trans people hadn't reached the heights it has, but we've been …

Enjoyable and insightful

4 stars

I didn't start with high expectations for this book but was pleasantly surprised. It was very insightful and clearly written - a mix of interesting conversations, humane stories and individual journeys, as well as some social science, psychology and neuroscience theory and research. I really enjoyed reading it. Now I need to give McRaney's podcast a second chance.