Why we're wrong about nearly everything : a theory of human misunderstanding

A leading social researcher explains why humans so consistently misunderstand the outside world How often are women harassed? What percentage of the population are immigrants? How bad is unemployment? These questions are important, but most of us get the answers wrong. Research shows that people often wildly misunderstand the state of the world, regardless of age, sex, or education. And though the internet brings us unprecedented access to information, there's little evidence we're any better informed because of it. We may blame cognitive bias or fake news, but neither tells the complete story. In Why We're Wrong About Nearly Everything, Bobby Duffy draws on his research into public perception across more than forty countries, offering a sweeping account of the stubborn problem of human delusion: how society breeds it, why it will never go away, and what our misperceptions say about what we really believe. We won't always know the facts, but they still matter. Why We're Wrong About Nearly Everything is mandatory reading for anyone interested making humankind a little bit smarter. "Smartphones shorten our attention spans and Twitter devalues critical thought. Fake news runs rampant on Facebook, clouding our perceptions. The internet has made us dumb, right? In fact, people don't need the internet to get things wrong. Bobby Duffy, a leading public policy researcher, ran a study of how people's beliefs match reality. It was the largest of its kind, spanning a decade and more than 40 countries. He found that we have no idea what we're talking about when it comes to our most important social issues: American women are sexually harassed at nearly twice the rate American men think, the English overestimate Great Britain's immigrant population by 54 percent, Mexicans believe unemployement rates are 10 times higher than they are in reality. Our delusions hold regardless of race, age, sex, or education-and, on many issues, occur at roughly the same rates as they have for decades. In other words, we have always misunderstood how the world actually works, and those misunderstandings shape the cultures and policies we live by" -- Front jacket flap