This book is a series of interviews and essays on stupidity, by a variety of authors, Some I really enjoyed (eg the interview with Daniel Kahneman) and I expected the book to be in that kind of vein - eg explanations of his and Tversky's work, the Dunning-Kruger effect etc. I'm afraid I've marked this book down massively for the essays which try to "categorise" levels of stupidity and use words like retarded. I couldn't recommend it on that basis.

Somehow, inexplicably, it feels as though intelligent people are becoming more intelligent and those who we would deem as dumb are becoming dumber, which is often dependent on what you dedicate your time to doing. But the truth is everyone is capable of lapses in judgement and I'm sure everyone, at some point, has made a major fool out of themselves. That may be just my perception of it but it certainly seems to match reality. This is a collection of engaging, fascinating and accessible essays from a variety of psychologist academics and educators which discuss anecdotes and statistics related to the scientific study of stupidity.

Using a potent mix of psychology and philosophy it is not only thought-provoking but entertaining and sometimes amusing too. Written in a fluid, conversational style it is easy to become immersed in what these experts are espousing. It also explores our unconscious biases and how they affect the way we think and the difficulty in stopping them guiding our thoughts even when we recognise and acknowledge they are there. The book is comprised of interviews, essays, articles and Q & As, all with a view to understanding stupidity. It covers the topic from so many interesting angles and the fact that each chapter is written by a different author allows readers to dip in and out at their leisure.

It's a lighthearted, fun and enjoyable way to learn more about this issue and discusses intelligent people who lack the important skill of critical thinking and fall for really stupid ideas to critique of cynicism and collective stupidity to we stubborn creatures not wanting to admit, or failing to recognise, our own stupidity. An absorbing, intelligent and eye-opening book from start to finish which is perfect for the layperson. Many thanks to Macmillan for an ARC.

I was disappointed with this book, I just couldn’t engage with it, so I’m afraid I gave up.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

This book comprises a number of essays discussing different aspects of "stupidity" from the points of view of a variety of experts. Being translated from French, it suffers slightly from a somewhat stilted, less natural, use of language. Nevertheless, I found it very thought-provoking - we all display symptoms of stupidity on a daily basis. It certainly made me think about myself and my approach to life and the people with whom I come into contact.

Enjoyable.

It feels as though this book is needed more than ever in this age of tribalism, polarization and shouting at people on social media. This book does a good job at outlining the underlying biases that affect our thinking, and how hard it is to spot our own unconscious biases even when we know about them. The bit that it doesn't cover (which is what I was really hoping for!) is how do you change people's minds if it's not with evidence? Maybe a follow up is needed!

Loved this book. There are some really big name authors featured in this book alongside Jean-Francois including Daniel Kahneman (Thinking fast and slow), and I enjoyed reading interviews and articles by a wide range of psychologists, educators and authors. I do have a confession, however: I struggled to read it all in one sitting, I’m more of a fiction reader, but the great thing about this book is that each chapter or ‘article’ is standalone. Each chapter is written by a different author each time - so I could keep revisiting it and starting on a new chapter. As a scientist, I found some parts were more focussed on discussing ‘life experience’ than peer reviewed research, but this just contributed to making the book a light hearted and funny read.

“Stupidity can not be reduced to a lack of intelligence” - Yves Alexandre Thalmann

This was wonderful. Exactly what I needed. Such an interesting read. Couldn't have loved it more. Well done.

Such a timely book although as depressing as it is fascinating. It should be required reading for all policy makers.

We see so much stupidity around at the moment, mostly via social media. Of course, personally we never do or believe anything stupid, do we?!

This book is a collection of essays from many psychologists (mainly French) and it's a relatively easy read - not a dry academic book - instead it's an often amusing, and thought inspiring book that will help you understand why people believe and do stupid things, and will also open your eyes to the fact that you (yes, YOU!) also believe and do stupid things.

My main criticism is because it is a series of essays from different psychologists, themes and explanations do tend to repeat. This can be useful - a good way to remember something is to have it repeated - but also it can make parts of the book repetitive.

Given today's world of the internet and social media and how many times we read something that makes us shake our heads in utter disbelief that people could really believe such rubbish or espouse weird 'cures' and 'ideas' that are just outright dangerous and misguided, it is easy to think people are getting dumber and more stupid at an alarming rate. Or is it that society has always been full of stupid people but they are more visible now and the internet gives them a collective voice they didn't previously have?

This book is a collection of essays from mostly French psychologists that looks at all types of 'stupidity', from intelligent people who lack critical thinking skills and believe dumb things, to 'group' stupidity or pack mentality, to just plain stubborn ignorance and even why we fail to recognise our own personal stupidity. Not surprisingly, Donald Trump is mentioned in many of them...

This is an easy book to read for the general reader like myself. There is no difficult language or medical terminology to wade through and can be dipped in and out of. Not every essay held my interest all the way through and some were a little too caustic in their criticism, but overall I found them to be engaging, clever, and they gave me a totally new perspective and things to think about on the whole idea of stupidity!