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How To Think
A Guide for the Perplexed
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Check link for latest rating. ( 4,460 ratings, 680 reviews)
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Format: Paperback / softback
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See moreThe world is telling you what to think. Here's how to resist.
The world is telling you what to think. Here's how to resist.
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
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Description
How to Think is a contrarian treatise on why we're not as good at thinking as we assume—but how recovering this lost art can rescue our inner lives from the chaos of modern life.
Most of us don't want to think, writes the American essayist Alan Jacobs. Thinking is trouble. It can force us out of familiar, comforting habits, and it can complicate our relationships with like-minded friends. Finally, thinking is slow, and that's a problem when our habits of consuming information (mostly online) leave us lost in the echo chamber of social media, where speed and factionalism trump accuracy and nuance.
In this clever, witty book, Jacobs diagnoses the many forces that prevent thought—forces that have only worsened in the age of Twitter, such as 'alternative facts', and information overload. He also dispels the many myths we hold about what it means to think well. (For example: it's impossible to 'think for yourself'.)
Drawing on sources as far-flung as the novelist Marilynne Robinson, the basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain, the British philosopher John Stuart Mill, and the Christian theologian C.S. Lewis, Jacobs digs into the nuts and bolts of the cognitive process, offering hope that each of us can reclaim our mental lives from the whirlpool of what now passes for public debate.
After all, if we can learn to think together, perhaps we can learn to live together.
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
How to Think by Alan Jacobs is praised for being witty, engaging, and optimistic, making it a valuable guide in today's polarized society. Publishers Weekly highlights its need for encouraging the pursuit of knowledge amidst partisanship. Robin Sloan compares the book to a steady journey through turbulent times, appreciating Jacobs' thoughtful style and insightful guidance.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781781259573
Publisher: Profile Books Ltd
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 04 October 2018
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Profile Books Ltd
Edition: Main
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 18.0mm
Width: 126.0mm
Height: 194.0mm
Weight: 120g
Pages: 160
About the Author
Alan Jacobs is the Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Baylor University. He has written extensively for the Atlantic, WSJ, the New Atlantis, and Harper's and is the author of several books, including a well-received biography of C. S. Lewis and a book on the pleasures of reading. Find him on twitter @ayjay and visit his website at http://blog.ayjay.org/
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