Not born yesterday The science of who we trust and what we believe

For years, social psychologists and cognitive scientists have published journal articles and textbooks purporting to demonstrate that people are not very good judges of other people or of information they receive from others. The author of this fine new book, a noted cognitive scientist, author of many studies examining how we interpret the arguments of others, and coauthor, with D. Sperber, of The Enigma of Reason (2017), strongly begs to differ. In fact, Mercier (Jean Nicod Institute, Paris) argues that almost everything we think we know about how susceptible to influence people are is wrong. Contrary to popular belief, and drawing on his theory of "open vigilance," Mercier contends that evolution and socialization have equipped us with a powerful set of cognitive and affective capabilities we routinely use to keep ourselves from being swindled. In extremely readable prose and drawing on a wealth of empirical findings, everyday examples, and his own quite clever reasoning, Mercier contends that we are actually well equipped to examine such important factors as who is trying to influence us, whether the substance of their attempt to influence actually fits with what we already know, and whether (among other things) it is supported by good reasons. This is an important text on reasoning and human nature. Summing Up: Essential. All readers. --Randolph R. Cornelius, Vassar College