Nicholas Epley is the John T. Keller Professor of Behavioral Science at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He has written for The New York Times, and over 50 articles in two dozen journals in his field. He was named a “professor to watch” by the Financial Times, is the winner of the Theoretical Innovation Prize from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, and was awarded the Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology from the American Psychological Association. He lives in Chicago.
“Animals and humans think, but only humans can understand what
others are thinking. Without this ability, cooperative society is
unimaginable. It’s a sixth sense, akin to mind reading, writes
Epley in this clever psychology primer....Epley ably explores many
entertaining and entirely convincing mistakes, so readers will have
a thoroughly satisfying experience.” —Kirkus Reviews
“This book isn’t pop psychology but popularly written, genuine
behavioral psychology, based on the findings of carefully
constructed experiments. Its subject is the so-called sixth sense,
by which humans descry what others feel, think, and know, and which
we variously call intuition, sympathy, and mind reading. The
experiments Epley describes verify its reality and, more important,
that it isn’t nearly as reliable as we assume; indeed, it’s only
modestly better than chance at rightly ascertaining particulars
(e.g., opinions, preferences, details), even those of spouses,
family members, and bosom friends….Useful!” —Booklist
“'Mindwise' is good reading for negotiators, the makers of public
policy, heck, for anyone who interacts with other people, and that
should be all of us. Mr. Epley is a genial, informative host in
this tour of some of the most interesting findings in the social
psychology of understanding one another, which he calls
"mind-reading." His examples are drawn from the headlines as well
as the peer-reviewed literature, and he keeps things going at a
quick pace without dumbing-down the science.” —David J. Levitin,
The Wall Street Journal
“Psychologist Nicholas Epley’s Mind-wise provides a guide to
understanding the minds of others. His engrossing book outlines the
strategies that we use: projecting from our own minds, using
stereotypes, and inferring from others’ actions.…Epley is a lucid
and magnetic host, and his book...is crammed with evidence-based
research.” —Leyla Sanai, The Independent
“Nuanced, authoritative and accessible.” —Nature
“Since Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping
Point and Freakonomics there has been a vast output
of books on behavioural science. Many have been quite
poor—formulaic books supporting obvious conclusions at unnecessary
length. Mindwise stands out from the crowd. It is surprising,
intelligent, and convincing. It continues to make worthwhile points
in every chapter (after about chapter two most books of this kind
are repeating themselves) and the author tells you things you don't
know without straining for effect. You emerge from reading it
understanding both yourself and others better, which is not a bad
dividend from reading fewer than 200 pages.” —Daniel Finkelstein,
The Times
“What to expect of a book with such a title? In this
neuroscience-obsessed age, the best guess would be an enthusiastic
account, illuminated with dramatic, if misleading, colour images of
the brain regions that light up when people placed inside an MRI
scanner are asked to think about their social relations. Or, by
contrast, philosophical reflections on free will, the intentional
stance and theories of mind. Refreshingly, however, Mindwise is
free of such neuro- or philosophical ruminations; it takes for
granted that we and our fellow humans have minds, and can exercise
free will. Nicholas Epley, a professor of behavioural science at
the Chicago Booth business school, by and large takes the internal
workings of our brains for granted, and focuses instead on the
common – and sometimes uncommon – sense of how we understand our
own thoughts and actions, and, above all, read the thoughts and
intentions of others.” —Steven Rose, The Guardian
“This is a fascinating exploration of what scientists have learned
about our ability to understand the most complicated puzzle on the
planet—other people—and the surprising mistakes we so routinely
make.” —Podacademy.org
“Immensely readable….not only clear but enjoyable as well….a
fascinating look at how people understand one another, the
obstacles to that understanding, and the ways in which they can
hone their natural mind-reading ability. Though it may not be the
kind of mind-reading found in science fiction, Mindwise gives
readers the tools to get one step closer to better grasping the
minds around them.” —Amanda Wicks, Washington Independent Review of
Books
“Epley’s account suggests that unless you genuinely value the
perspective of others, and not just those that conform to your own,
you are not going to understand them. Really effective smart
thinking is not, therefore, just a means to an end: it has to be
rooted in what we see as ends in themselves, the values by which we
live.” —Julian Baggini, Financial Times
“One of the smartest and most entertaining books I have read in
years. At a time when there are dozens of popular social
science books to choose from, Epley's masterpiece stands out as the
cream of the crop.” —Steven D. Levitt, coauthor
of Freakonomics
“Mindwise is a brilliant and beautiful exploration of the mystery
of other minds—and how we fail to solve it. Insightful and
important, Mindwise is one of the best books of this or any other
decade.” —Daniel Gilbert, New York Times bestselling author of
Stumbling on Happiness
“What is it like to be someone else? How can we get into other
people’s heads? These questions have challenged the greatest
thinkers in Western philosophy, and they obsess every one of us as
we try to deal with our family, lovers, friends, enemies,
colleagues, and allies. In Mindwise, the distinguished social
psychologist Nicholas Epley offers a lively and fascinating tour of
the latest science on how we figure out (and all too often fail to
figure out) what everyone else is thinking.” —Steven Pinker,
Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author
of How the Mind Works and The Stuff of Thought
“‘Know thyself,’ commanded the Oracle at Delphi. Mindwise shows us
why that’s so hard to do, yet so vital as the starting point for
understanding others. Epley writes with scientific authority,
grace, and deep humanity. You’ll come away from this book
understanding the African concept of Ubuntu: A person is a person
through other people.” —Jonathan Haidt, NYU Stern School of
Business, author of The Righteous Mind
“Why are we often so terribly bad at figuring out what other people
are thinking? Nicholas Epley is one of the smartest and
most creative social psychologists alive, and in his
extraordinary new book, he explores the powers and the limits
of our capacity for ‘mindreading.’ Epley is a clear and engaging
writer, and Mindwise is replete with fascinating insights into
human nature.” —Paul Bloom, Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor of
Psychology, Yale University, author of Just Babies
“Too much of life's misery comes from misunderstanding what others
are thinking, and from assuming that those we love must know what
is (obviously!) on our mind. Mindwise is a highly enjoyable
and informative book by one of psychology's rising stars that will
make you spend less time in pointless arguments and more time
in rewarding relationships. Gaining some wisdom about the minds of
others will be painless and priceless.” —Richard H. Thaler, Ralph
and Dorothy Keller Distinguished Service Professor
of Economics and Behavioral Science, Booth School
of Business, University of Chicago
“Epley delivers the good news that we all have a sixth sense, an
ability to read minds. The bad news is that we are not very good at
it…Epley draws on a wealth of empirical social psychological
research to help make sense of how humans understand and
misunderstand one another.” Science (2014 Summer Reading Selection)
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