Title: Think – Why You Should Question Everything

Author: Guy P. Harrison

Just before I packed for my trip to Europe I bought a few book. This was one of them.

The title straight-out told the reader the message it wishes to teach the reader of the book.

I will be honest, the book wishes to teach that we should become more skeptical about what we hear and read, rather than just relying on the information blindly. It gives many different examples of common beliefs (Yeti, Big Foot, Ghosts, etc.) for which no scientific evidence could be presented, but which are held to be true by many. It goes into depth for some where some contradictory evidence could be presented, however, the same core message remains throughout each chapter, that we should also question everything that we come across.

At some point it gives a lengthy list of biases and influences we are all exposed to, yet not know we are currently experiencing (ie. anchoring bias, confirmation bias, etc.). This is one I would definitely have anyone go through and understand, because these biases are deeply ingrained that we don’t even realize we have been infected.

However, because the chapters always come back and focus strongly on the core lesson, it does come across to be repetitive, and that goes through the whole book, which may have the reader lose interest.

Rating:

The lesson is very clear, and is well illustrated in all chapters. The book also gives a valuable list of biases which any skeptic should be aware of in their lives in order to identify situations where they may become fooled in. However, because the message is repeat in different case studies for the whole book, it became a little uninteresting. My final rating came to a 3.6/5.