This book is 260 pages long, but cut out the notes and index and you've got 210 pages of actual content. It's a light, breezy read: Hallinan writes in that style of modern nonfiction where he's essentially taken what would be a really good long-form essay and stretched it out a bit to make it into a book, putting together lots of examples in an accessible style. Which isn't a bad thing; I'm just saying this isn't a very deep or complicated book. I read it on the bus in one round trip, which means it took me something like 90-105 minutes to read the whole thing at most.

Hallinan covers a number of facets of self-deception: our belief in placebos in medicine, outbreaks of mass hysteria not based in facts, prejudice in observations of sports events, Stephen Jay Gould's refutation of nineteenth-century physiognomy (and contemporary refutation of Gould), people who think Romney deserved credit for the death of bin Laden, superstitions of baseball players, people who have unprotected sex because they think it can't happen to them. The best parts of the book are when Hallinan shows the positive effects of self-deception, how it confers advantages. Which isn't always the case (mass hysteria probably has few benefits, right?), but those forms of self-deception that convince us we have control over our own lives do some good for our emotional health and for our prospects of future success.

Some good anecdotes, not that hard of a read. I wouldn't rush out to buy this book, but if you have two hours, it's probably worth your time.

In "Kidding Ourselves" Joe Hallinan presents an interesting survey on the role self deception plays in several cognitive environments. The role, the want, or maybe the need, for self deception is really highlighted in a way that other books have not addressed. The assumptions we make about the world and how this feeds into how we interact with everything else is a very fertile subject. Hallinan is pressing into an interesting area with his book, and I like the general concept. There is so much about our every day life that is dependent on each and every one of us fooling ourselves that I greatly appreciated reading various concrete examples where self-deception played a critical role.

Many examples have at their center the role expectation plays in perception. Whether it is the radiologist missing the giant gorilla in the x-ray, the phony knee surgery, or peoples opinions about marginal tax rates. To be sure there an assortment of heuristics biases, and social norms working, or not working, in many of the scenarios presented. But the unifying way these distortions seem to be failing is because of a mis-calibration of expectation.

What is most interesting is where this lag in expectation works out in our favor. And these are consistently the most interesting in my reading. The soldiers who are shot and didn't need anesthetic because they saw the event as saving their life. Or how, above a certain threshold, attitude about life is a strongly correlated with good health as the wealthiest individuals with, presumably, access to the highest standard of care.

What would have been interesting is some additional synthesis about what is different about the situations where deception was detrimental and where it was helpful. Asking whether the same systems are involved and figuring out if we could figure out in advance whether any deception going on might be helpful or not. All in an enjoyable read with a variety of interesting examples covering both helpful and negative instances of self-deception. But more synthesis of why these particular cases cause self-deception would have been appreciated. ( )

An amazing book, and quick read, on how we deceive ourselves AND all the good and bad that comes along with it. Well written with clear examples and just plain fun to read. I particularly enjoyed reflecting on the examples given and thinking, "That's me!" or Is that me?!?!?!"

You will enjoy it. ( )

This is a slim book that breezes over many examples from behavioral economics. The main theme is that the brain is complicated and self-deception helps guide us.

It's a short, breezy book that is easy to read and digest. (Perhaps too easy and breezy for my tastes.) The author never spends more than a few pages an any one case of self-deception.

The book does not try to get you to understand the science or the how and why of the way humans act. The book waits until the conclusion to bring it all together and state the main thesis that deceiving ourselves is an inherent human trait. It's not always negative or foolish. It can be incredibly useful."Stick-to-it-ness has benefits it helps lead to optimism, which leads to perseverance, which leads to success - not always, of course, but often enough." ( )

Interesting and enlightening, this book talks about the various ways we deceive ourselves in our day-to-day life. The author's snappy writing and clear description of experiments and research made me speed through this book in just two days. The topics he addressed were the following:
1. The placebo effect works.
2. In herd mentality, an individual unthinkingly tends to follow what others do.
3. Death can be an effect of hopelessness.
4. We see what we expect to see.
5. If we believe it, it's true for us.
6. A sense of control correlates to better health.
7. Superstition breeds confidence which leads to better outcomes.
8. Power dulls our sensitivity to others.
9. The more successful we are, the less we believe we'll be caught cheating.
10.We believe we are risk averse.
11. Optimism pays off - even if a bit deluded

I liked reading about all issues addressed in the book, but those about power left me feeling a bit sad. It seems that most people in positions of power have attributes I don't like. It seems ironic that I just finished reading Walter Isaacson's book "Steve Jobs". That CEO really was a good example of what Joseph T. Hallinan has to say about the personality of those in power.

I really enjoyed this book. I hope you do, too. ( )