Being Wrong

Adventures in the Margin of Error

By: Kathryn Schulz

Narrated by: Mia Barron

“Both wise and clever, full of fun and surprise about a topic so central to our lives that we almost never even think about it.”
—Bill McKibben, author of Earth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet

In the tradition of The Wisdom of Crowds and Predictably Irrational comes Being Wrong, an illuminating exploration of what it means to be in error, and why homo sapiens tend to tacitly assume (or loudly insist) that they are right about most everything. Kathryn Schulz, editor of Grist magazine, argues that error is the fundamental human condition and should be celebrated as such. Guiding the reader through the history and psychology of error, from Socrates to Alan Greenspan, Being Wrong will change the way you perceive screw-ups, both of the mammoth and daily variety, forever.

Interesting but too long and too abstract

The book is an interesting treatment of a subject that doesn't get enough attention. Schulz's research skills and erudition are formidable -- a quotable nugget can be found on almost every page. But the book drags in places, and the last couple of chapters were tough going. Schulz is best when she's telling stories, such as the incredible tale of the Millerite doomsday cult in 19th century America.

Another problem with the book is that it's too abstract and philosophical to be of much practical use. (To be fair, Schulz admits up front that she did not set out to write a self-help book on how to avoid error). Overall, I would recommend two other books over "Being Wrong". Check out, "Wrong: Why Experts Keep Failing Us--and How to Know When not to Trust Them", by David Friedman; and "Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts" by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson. Either of these (or both!) would be a better choice over Schulz's book.

Everyone in the world should read this book

I liked everything about this book. It was informative, entertaining, and most of all useful in improving my understanding of myself and my fellow humans. Everyone needs to read this book, If that happened I think the world would be a better place. The narrator was excellent. I’m grateful to Audible’s algorithms because this book popped up as a suggestion. Seriously, if you stumble upon this book as I did and are weighing whether or not to select it, don’t hesitate, just get it! You won’t regret it.

A really great exploration of discovering error

The book is an interesting exploration of the mechanism of error, the extensive relationship we have with error and what it can mean to spend time to learn about general error and personal error.

To err is human. To resist this is also human.

Great adventures in the margin of error. Highly recommended. impressive integration of philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, literature, history, politics, art and science of how we err and its gains and losses.

Anyone who doesn't like this book is, well...wrong

I'd argue that people who downgrade this book just don't really want or need to know that much about the subject. I usually do fiction because I usually find this kind of thing boring but I had just told someone about Moonwalking with Einstein and he said I'd like this. He was right. It is thorough and well read and is very good at being what it is. I only do 5 stars for books I want to hear again right away.