What's Your Bias? - Lee De-Wit ***

We have seen plenty of books on the psychology of decision making and how psychology can give us insights into the way that we misinterpret information or get things wrong, such as Richard Nisbett's Mindware, but this is the first that I have come across that explicitly addresses the psychology of the way we vote.

This is, perhaps, the ideal time to come out with such a book, as there have been so many surprise results in the last few years from the last two British general elections to Brexit and Trump. And there is some interesting material in this slim volume (I got through it on a longish train journey). It's very pleasing also, that Lee De-Wit gives us a good balance between UK and US examples.

Perhaps the most surprising result covered is the discover that the biggest predictor of how we will vote is how open we are to new experiences rather than, say, class or wealth. We also see how traditional party support has changed over time. Other aspects will be more familiar if you've read any popular psychology, such as the impact of confirmation bias. And there's also good coverage of the way social media and targeted internet advertising are changing the playing field.

Although this is an approachable, easy-to-read book, I went away from it a little disappointed, as it seemed just too lightweight - I felt like I was left wanting a lot more. More of the science, more insights and implications. It was a bit like reading a study (with lots of provisos) that gave you the basic facts, but didn't provide much in the way of discussion and conclusions. Even when dealing with social media, for example, we heard a lot about its existence and what was done with out, but little about its measurable impact on voters.

I would still very much recommend reading this book if you are at all interested in politics or what has been happening recently, particularly in light of the changes in social media. But I wish there had been a bit more to it.

Hardback:

Kindle:

Using these links earns us commission at no cost to you

Review by Brian Clegg

Comments

The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire - Henry Gee ****

In his last book, Henry Gee impressed with his A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth - this time he zooms in on one very specific aspect of life on Earth - humans - and gives us not just a history, but a prediction of the future - our extinction. The book starts with an entertaining prologue, to an extent bemoaning our obsession with dinosaurs, a story that leads, inexorably towards extinction. This is a fate, Gee points out, that will occur for every species, including our own. We then cover three potential stages of the rise and fall of humanity (the book's title is purposely modelled on Gibbon) - Rise, Fall and Escape. Gee's speciality is palaeontology and in the first section he takes us back to explore as much as we can know from the extremely patchy fossil record of the origins of the human family, the genus Homo and the eventual dominance of Homo sapiens , pushing out any remaining members of other closely related species. As we move onto the Fall section, Gee gives ...

Pagans (SF) - James Alistair Henry *****

There's a fascinating sub-genre of science fiction known as alternate history. The idea is that at some point in the past, history diverged from reality, resulting in a different present. Perhaps the most acclaimed of these books is Kingsley Amis's The Alteration , set in a modern England where there had not been a reformation - but James Alistair Henry arguably does even better by giving us a present where Britain is a third world country, still divided between Celts in the west and Saxons in the East. Neither the Normans nor Christianity have any significant impact. In itself this is a clever idea, but what makes it absolutely excellent is mixing in a police procedural murder mystery, where the investigation is being undertaken by a Celtic DI, Drustan, who has to work in London alongside Aedith, a Saxon reeve of equivalent rank, who also happens to be daughter of the Earl of Mercia. While you could argue about a few historical aspects, it's effectively done and has a plot...

Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Science Fact: Keith Cooper ****

There's something appealing (for a reader like me) about a book that brings together science fiction and science fact. I had assumed that the 'Amazing Worlds' part of the title suggested a general overview of the interaction between the two, but Keith Cooper is being literal. This is an examination of exoplanets (planets that orbit a different star to the Sun) as pictured in science fiction and in our best current science, bearing in mind this is a field that is still in the early phases of development. It becomes obvious early on that Cooper, who is a science journalist in his day job, knows his stuff on the fiction side as well as the current science. Of course he brings in the well-known TV and movie tropes (we get a huge amount on Star Trek ), not to mention the likes of Dune, but his coverage of written science fiction goes into much wider picture. He also has consulted some well-known contemporary SF writers such as Alastair Reynolds and Paul McAuley, not just scient...

Search This Blog