Thread by @drg1985

Look what just arrived! Really strange sensation to be holding your own book, but here we are! "The Irrational Ape" is out Sept 5th, on why we get everything from medicine to politics wrong - & how we can fall stop ourselves falling victims to fools, liars, & charlatans..

Is it terribly self-indulgent to tell you a little about it? Because I really want to, but don't want to spam people. But figure if you follow me, you're probably familiar with elements of my oeuvre, but this is a little different..

I'll try to distill it - for years, I've been fascinated by how we get things wrong. Despite having powerful inferential brains, we frequently make mistakes that cost us dearly. In an age where misinformation abounds, we've never been more at mercy of dangerous falsehoods..

..there's so many avenues for error. We can be misled by the veneer of illusory logic, bamboozled by rhetoric, & lied to by numbers. Our own psychological biases can skew our reasoning completely, & the media we consume both online & off shapes our perception markedly..

..in "The Irrational Ape", I've delved into all these aspects, with real bizarre stories from throughout history from the comical to the catastrophic. The book has murderous popes, snake-oil salesmen, esoteric cults, superstitious pigeons, fraudulent psychics, cold war politics..

.. satanic panic, unethical doctors, vaccine cranks, courtroom drama, religious fantatics, conspiracy theorists, and a few narrowly averted cases of Armageddon. And in each story, a exploration of what went wrong. Things like this..

Most importantly, I try give a schema we can all use to avoid becoming victims to nonsense & disinformation, & show how we can all use critical thinking to improve not only our own lives, but the world itself. This is so urgent now, when falsehoods perpetuate without bound

Anyway, I really hope you enjoy it. It's out September 5th, & pre-order details in the tweet below. It's also on audiobook narrated by muggins here, & I've done an interview with @audibleuk you can see soon!

https://twitter.com/drg1985/status/1136902784899567616?s=19

There's also so many people I have to thank, but maybe I should save that for a little later, as it could be a long thread. But right off the bat, @robinince has been a complete gentleman & I am deeply grateful to him for both the support & lovely quote.

Actually, I think I should at least briefly thank some of the people to whom I owe a lot - @SLSingh encouraged me to write, & put me in touch with my wonderful agent @Walsh_e_Patrick - I also need to thank my editor @IanPlayfair & also @John_S_Ash for their invaluable input..

..I also need thank @RichardDawkins who gave his valuable time to check my facts on Darwin, and for his excellent insights. I also am indebted to @DrRobertOConnor @gorskon @susmitchellSBP @TheresaNewIdea @ciarakellydoc @MrMMarsh & @donalb5 among others..

..in no particular order, I also wanted to thank @ronanmcmanus @zenbuffy @PadraigMcL @daniela_oaks @chriscfrench @dbasanta @SCienceSophs @LeonieHilliard @deevybee @eosull @One_Angry_Chef & @david_colquhoun for their support

..My family also played a big role in getting this over finish line - but especially, I want to focus on the people to whom the book is dedicated; @Mathild_HpsyC @MrDannyMurray & @laura_jbrennan - without their support, affection, & encouragement this book wouldn't exist.

..as many of you know, @laura_jbrennan was a courageous & brilliant campaigner for the HPV vaccine. She passed away in March, so there's something a little bittersweet about all this. Without her, I'd never have finished the book - her story is in it, her influence on every page.

Anyway, I'll stop babbling. There's loads of people I've missed thanking due to my own thoughtlessness but I'll do a proper thread on it in the near future - please forgive me if I skipped a name here. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy.