Nov Dec**_SI new design masters 9/27/12 10:57 AM Page 56 verses” and the possible origin of our uni- Not So Smart Thinking verse from them. However, this does not imply that one DANIEL GRASSAM is getting Something from Noth ing. As Krauss himself notes (182), theories of You Are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends quantum gravity may not contain any- on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and thing corresponding in a straightforward 46 Other Ways You’re Deluding Yourself. way to our current concepts of Nothing By David McRaney. and Something. This leaves one unable Gotham Books, New York, 2011. ISBN 978-1592406593. to come to any scientific conclusions 320 pp. Hardcover, $22.50. about questions involving these concepts. At this point, the science of Nothing is overwhelmed by so much ambiguity and speculation that I am not sure how much advantage it has over theology. It is remarkably enjoyable to read a book and find it full of insightful truths, f you’re looking for a collection of problems. Certain Australian beetles especially when it is spiced with pro - cognitive blunders, mental over- are attracted to beer bottles for the vocative authorial contentions. I am im - Isights, and errors of judgment that same reason that some women are at- pressed at Krauss’s strong commitment is brief, accessible, and enjoyable to tracted to wealthy octogenarians: su- to evidence over prejudice. He always read, David McRaney’s You Are Not So pernormal releasers (stimuli). One of tells the reader how much evidence sup- Smart might be the book you seek. If the delusions from the book’s subtitle, ports the ideas he is presenting. you are looking for a book that can help His discussion of the anthropic prin- you understand why other people keep ciple is excellent, and it includes the rarely making these mistakes that are so obvi- McRaney’s goal is that emphasized point that in order for it to ous and cleverly avoided, then You Are as you read the book, be a genuine explanation one needs to Not So Smart is the book you need. In “You will start to see know the underlying probability distri- forty-eight short chapters (some very bution (176). I loved his quotation from short, at just three pages), McRaney yourself in a new way. Richard Feynman, rejecting the idea that outlines as many different ways that You will soon realize that science is a search for ultimate laws of you are fooled by your own mind. you are not so smart, physics (177); I think it shows that Feyn- McRaney’s goal is that as you read the and thanks to a plethora man understood that science is not in the book, “You will start to see yourself in business of answering the “big questions.” a new way. You will soon realize that of cognitive biases, faulty To quote Krauss himself, “what is really you are not so smart, and thanks to a heuristics, and common useful is not pondering this question but plethora of cognitive biases, faulty fallacies of thought, rather participating in the exciting voyage heuristics, and common fallacies of you are probably deluding thought, you are probably deluding of discovery . .” (178). In other words, yourself minute by minute.” after all the promises of scientific answers yourself minute by minute.” to the big questions, the whole question The first chapter, “Priming,” out- of Something from Nothing turns out to lines how much our desires and be a nice authorial device for motivating thoughts are affected by everything our memory, is discussed in Chapter a wide-ranging explanatory tour through that surrounds us. The following chap- 32, “The Misin for mation Effect.” In modern cosmology. And there’s no ques- ter discusses confabulation and de - just eight pages McRaney covers false tion that Krauss is one of the master tour scribes our personal narratives as memories, the social contagion of memory, and the impact of language guides, with the rare gift of bringing un- “Based on a True Story.” In chapter on memory. He even includes, as he derstanding of science to audiences far after chapter McRaney corrects the does in a number of chapters, a little beyond the ivory tower of academic re- misconception we have about being in experiment that you can try yourself to search. n control of our feelings and desires. (Chapter 47 is specifically called “The demonstrate what he is discussing, Mark Alford is chairman of the Physics Department Illusion of Control.”) And it is not just making the book interactive as well as at Washington University in St. Louis. we humans that suffer from these informative. 56 Volume 36 Issue 6 | Skeptical Inquirer Nov Dec**_SI new design masters 9/27/12 10:57 AM Page 57 REVIEWS] A Book of Stories that Each chapter starts with a brief de - scription of the faulty thinking fol- Happened to a Friend ... lowed by what science has to say. An example from Chapter 12 on apophe- BENJAMIN RADFORD nia: “The Misconception: Some coin- cidences are so miraculous, they must Encyclopedia of Urban Legends: Updated and Expanded have meaning. The Truth: Coin - Edition. By Jan Harold Brunvand. ABC-CLIO, Santa Bar- cidences are a routine part of life, even bara, 2012. ISBN: 978-1-59884-720-8. 782 pp., $173. the seemingly miraculous ones. Any meaning applied to them comes from your mind.” McRaney summarizes the entire chapter in just a few sentences. If you wanted the ultra-condensed ver- sion of the book you could just read the two opening sentences to every chap- ter, but if you did you would miss out ith his new Encyclopedia of Brunvand is author of many books on McRaney’s relaxed and conversa- Urban Legends: Updated and on urban legends that are (or should be) tional style. Not one to avoid the occa- WExpanded Edition, Jan Brun - familiar to skeptics, including The Baby sional curse word, McRaney takes the vand—the professor emeritus of Eng - Train, The Choking Doberman, and The contents of psychology journals and lish at the University of Utah widely Vanishing Hitchhiker. Brunvand’s other turns them into what could be an en- considered to be the world’s foremost books provide much more detail, his- tertaining conversation over drinks. expert on urban legends—updates and tory, and variations of the legends, but De spite the casual tone, the book is greatly expands his previous magnum for a comprehensive single source, this complete with references to those psy- opus of folklore. encyclopedia (which runs nearly 800 chology journals and other source ma- pages over two volumes) is the best of terial. Don’t look for an index though. its kind. The entries are generally short, McRaney, a journalist and self-de - ranging from a paragraph to a few scribed psychology nerd, does a thor- pages, and give a concise narrative of the legend and some analysis. Each ough and entertaining job of taking This book is more than what can be complex subjects and en- entry provides references, and many of capsulating them into a few easy-to-read just a collection of urban them are cross-referenced with other pages. He covers everything from the legends—it also includes entries, Brunvand’s books, other books more commonly known straw man fal- interesting entries on on urban legends, folklore journals, and even the occasional Snopes.com page. lacy and confirmation bias, to the lesser important folkloric known embodied cognition and self This book is more than just a collec- handicapping. The book is full of so concepts and topics such tion of urban legends—it also includes many different examples of mental as Memorates (“a first-per- interesting entries on important folkloric shortcomings that it is likely there are son account of a personal concepts and topics such as Memorates (“a first-person account of a personal ex- some that you have not heard of before. experience with the super- If, after finishing the book, you find you perience with the supernatural”), Bogus want more, you can visit the website at natural”), Bogus Warnings, Warnings, the Satanic Panic, and my fa- www.youarenotsosmart.com. Like a the Satanic Panic, vorite, the Body Parts Legends. Folklore, sushi train of cognitive edibles, You Are and my favorite, because it is amorphous and constantly changing, is notoriously difficult to Not So Smart delivers nearly fifty differ- the Body Parts Legends. ent reasons why you are not as awesome quantify and categorize (for example, the as you think you are. But don’t despair; story of the Vanishing Hitchhiker is everyone else is just as bad. n clearly an urban legend—but is a for- warded email warning about a mall Daniel Grassam writes from his home in Auck- rapist? Or what about a true news story land, New Zealand. Email: daniel about a woman who microwaved her @simonpure.co.nz. dog?). To help with this, Brunvand offers Skeptical Inquirer | November/December 2012 57.