The Biased Mind: How Evolution Shaped our Psychology Including Anecdotes and Tips for Making Sound Decisions

Jérôme Boutang · Michel De Lara

Sep 2015 · Springer

About this ebook

Using a wealth of anecdotes, data from academic literature, and original research, this very accessible little book highlights how we all struggle to cope with the maelstrom of choices, influences and experiences that come our way. The authors have slogged through piles of dry research papers to provide many wonderful nuggets of information and surprising insights. For example: Why is an upside-down red triangle such a powerful warning sign on the road? What is the best kind of alibi? What makes the number 7 so special? Why is it better to whisper words of love into the left ear? Will that recent marriage last? Why is it that the French eat snails but not slugs? The reader will discover the amazing tools and shortcuts that millennia of evolution have built into our brains. And this knowledge is power! Knowing more about how the human mind connects the dots helps us understand why decision-making is so tricky. With insights from evolutionary psychology, we become better equipped to understand ourselves and others and to interact and communicate more effectively.

About the author

Michel De Lara is an internationally renowned scholar in the mathematics of risk and decision for sustainable management. After having graduated from École Polytechnique, in Paris, he developed his career at École des Ponts ParisTech, in France. He has broad interests that encompass ecology, psychology and economics and has published several books with Springer.

Jérôme Boutang is Executive Director of the Center on Atmospheric Pollution and Greenhouse Gases (CITEPA), in Paris, France. With a background in Agronomy and Economics, as well as 25 years of successful international consulting and industry marketing, he has long been confronted with risk perceptions regarding food and environmental issues.