Can reading a book make you more rational? Can it help us understand why there is so much irrationality in the world? Steven Pinker, author of Enlightenment Now, answers these questions in Rationality. In the 21st century, humanity is reaching new heights of scientific understanding--and at the same time appears to be losing its mind. How can a species that developed vaccines for Covid-19 in less than a year produce so much fake news, medical quackery, and conspiracy theorizing?
Pinker rejects the cynical cliché that humans are simply irrational--cavemen out of time saddled with biases, fallacies, and illusions. Instead, he explains that we think in ways that are sensible in the low-tech contexts in which we spend most of our lives, but fail to take advantage of the powerful tools of reasoning our best thinkers have discovered over the millennia: logic, critical thinking, probability, correlation and causation, and optimal ways to update beliefs and commit to choices individually and with others.
These tools are not a standard part of our educational curricula and have never been presented clearly and entertainingly in a single book--until now. Rationality also explores its opposite: how the rational pursuit of self-interest, sectarian solidarity, and uplifting mythology by individuals can add up to crippling irrationality in a society. Collective rationality depends on norms that are explicitly designed to promote objectivity and truth.
Rationality matters. It leads to better choices in our lives and in the public sphere, and is the ultimate driver of social justice and moral progress. Brimming with insight and humor, Rationality will enlighten, inspire, and empower.
Are you having trouble deciding whether or not to become a parent? Are you under pressure from family and friends? Unsettled by feelings of guilt or ambivalence? Unsure whether you will regret your decision in later years?
The Baby Decision offers a clear path to finding the answers to all of these questions.
Now you can get off the fence and get on with your life. Imagine your relief when you discover the right choice and break free from obsession. Picture yourself enjoying the pleasures of parenthood or the freedom and spontaneity of living childfree.
The Baby Decision is a powerful, unbiased guidebook by a professional coach/psychotherapist who has specialized in the topic for forty years.
With wisdom, depth, and humor, Merle will help you take this overwhelming decision and break it down into a digestible sequence of five steps.
During this discovery process you will:
- Dissolve fear and doubt.
- Use thirty visualization exercises and thought experiments to uncover your answer.
- Have deep talks with your partner, even if you disagree.
- Resist pressures from family and friends, and fully consider the rewards of the childfree choice.
- Learn the latest on one-child families, single, LGBTQI+ and older parents, fertility and adoption.
- Steal a few benefits from the opposite choice.
Merle Bombardieri, MSW, LICSW is a psychotherapist, coach, and workshop leader. Although she enjoyed raising her daughters, she has been a childfree advocate since 1978.
Discover your personal answer to the baby question.