Nicholas Epley

Mindwise by Nicholas Epley is a clear, thorough, accessible book about how we try to "read" others' minds - that is, find out what other people actually think. It's a well-written and useful addition to the many books out there about cognition, and actually adds something new to the conversation.

Basically, Epley says, we human beings just don't know as much as we think we do. We can guess how others think, but some things we just can't know, and some of the mistakes we make about the way other people think cause real damage, as recent events in the news have been making clear.

Human beings, he says, are surprisingly bad at knowing what is going through other people's minds. We treat people like things (or like children, or like animals), and treat things like people (that is, assume that things have a mind of their own). We rely on egocentric assumptions and stereotypes. We think that people's actions match what's going on their minds. Much of the time, we don't even know what we ourselves are thinking, and must mind-read ourselves.

Epley gives many convincing examples, stories, and summaries of research to back up his assertions, and many of them are powerful. He is a professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago, but he doesn't let academic writing infect his prose too much. He does a good job of treading the line between mass-market popular science and scholarly discourse, generally staying well on the side of readability while providing sound evidence. There are end-notes, but even they are often interesting to read, and you get the feeling that Epley could have written a book twice as long as this one and kept his reader's interest.

The author finishes by saying that we should not be guessing or assuming we know what people think. Instead, we need to actually find out what they think by asking them and listening to them. It's a common-sense conclusion that makes even more sense if you have read the book. After reading it, I have been tempted a few times in conversations about politics to hand people a piece of paper with the title of the book and the suggestion that they get it. You will be glad to know I have restrained myself so far.
… (mais)

I love this book. I regret not having read this sooner but it is amazing. The author here argues that as humans we carry an additional “six sense” (Spoiler alert: it’s not seeing dead people); but basically the ability to perceive the minds of others. Our survival depends largely on how others perceive us. The problem, however, is that our minds are filled by our own beliefs and biases that usually distort how we see the world and how we understand others. This is explained throughout the book as Epley relies on research and experiments in psychology to explain how we tend to misunderstand what others think. It explains, for example, how we tend to anthropomorphize–put a mind to a mindless thing or object (think tamagotchi)–and dehumanization–see a mindful thing as mindless–which leads to stereotypes. Fascinating topic and I intend to reread this book again in the near future.… (mais)

I love this book. I regret not having read this sooner but it is amazing. The author here argues that as humans we carry an additional “six sense” (Spoiler alert: it’s not seeing dead people); but basically the ability to perceive the minds of others. Our survival depends largely on how others perceive us. The problem, however, is that our minds are filled by our own beliefs and biases that usually distort how we see the world and how we understand others. This is explained throughout the book as Epley relies on research and experiments in psychology to explain how we tend to misunderstand what others think. It explains, for example, how we tend to anthropomorphize–put a mind to a mindless thing or object (think tamagotchi)–and dehumanization–see a mindful thing as mindless–which leads to stereotypes. Fascinating topic and I intend to reread this book again in the near future.… (mais)