The Intelligence Trap

We assume that smarter people are less prone to error. But education and expertise can sometimes make our mistakes worse and our blind spots bigger. Why did genius Steve Jobs make errors of judgement? Why do doctors misdiagnose 10-15% of their patients? Why do Nobel Prize winners spread fake news? This is the intelligence trap.

Drawing on the latest behavioural science and great brains from Socrates to Benjamin Franklin, David Robson demonstrates how to apply our intelligence more wisely. He shows how we can identify bias, read and regulate our emotions, fine-tune our intuition, navigate ambiguity and uncertainty and think more flexibly.

Whether you are a NASA scientist or a school student, The Intelligence Trap offers a new toolkit to realise your full potential.

“Brilliant . The Intelligence Trap combines mesmerising storytelling with groundbreaking new research about why having a high IQ can backfire. Essential reading for anyone who wants to think more clearly.”

A fascinating and enjoyable investigation of what intelligence is and isn't, by one of the most exciting new voices in science writing. This thought-provoking and brilliantly researched guide to achieving true wisdomshows us how to be smarter - and how to protect ourselves from the cleverest fools. - Gaia Vince, prize-winning author of Adventures in the Anthropocene

I loved The Intelligence Trap. As fun to read as it is fascinating, it celebrates the power of humility and curiosity. Everyone, especially intelligent people, should read this brilliant and important book. - Anna Rosling-Ronnlund

Brilliant. The Intelligence Trap combines mesmerising storytelling with groundbreaking new research about why having a high IQ can backfire. Essential reading for anyone who wants to think more clearly. - Rolf Dobelli, author of the million-copy-selling Art of Thinking Clearly

The Intelligence Trap is ceaselessly fascinating and brilliantly written by one of our most consistently superb science writers. Its counter-intuitive argument, that intelligence is no inoculation against wrongness, explains so much about the fractious and baffling times in which we live. - Will Storr, author of SELFIE

Deftly digs into why smart people can do so many dumb things and leads us deep into the world of our own mental booby trap.

We need to find new and better ways to teach critical thinking and measure good judgement. Reading David Robson's book would be a good place to start. - Wall Street Journal

An elegant survey of current thinking about thinking, and how best to do it without pride, prejudice, or arrogance. - Mail on Sunday

A startling, provocative and potently useful book. - Sunday Times

David Robson is an award-winning science journalist. He was a features editor at New Scientist for five years before joining BBC Future as a senior journalist, where he specialised in psychology, neuroscience and medicine. He regularly features on the radio discussing scientific issues, and his writing has also appeared in the Guardian, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Atlantic and the Washington Post.

How was a brilliant physics professor tricked into carrying 2kg of cocaine across the Argentinian border? Why do doctors misdiagnose 10 to 15% of their patients? Why do Nobel Prize winners spread fake news? We assume that smarter people are less prone to error. But greater education and expertise can often amplify our mistakes while rendering us blind to our biases. This is the 'intelligence trap'. Drawing on the latest behavioural science and historical examples from Socrates to Benjamin Franklin, David Robson demonstrates how to apply our intelligence more wisely; identify bias and enhance our 'rationality quotient'; read and regulate our emotions; fine-tune our intuition; navigate ambiguity and uncertainty; and think more flexibly about seemingly intractable problems.The twenty-first century presents us with complex problems that demand a wiser way of thinking. Whether you are a NASA scientist or a school student, The Intelligence Trap offers a new cognitive toolkit to realise your full potential.

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