How Minds Change cover art

How Minds Change

The New Science of Belief, Opinion and Persuasion

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

How Minds Change

By: David McRaney
Narrated by: David McRaney
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £14.14

Buy Now for £14.14

Season's Savings | £0.99/mo for 3 months

£5.99/mo after 3 months - terms apply. Cancel monthly
‘In a time when too many minds seem closed, this is a masterful analysis of what it takes to open them’ Adam Grant, author of the bestselling Think Again

‘Optimistic, illuminating and even inspiring’ Guardian

As the world is increasingly polarised, it feels impossible to change the mind of someone with a conflicting view. But this book shows that you could be one conversation away from changing someone’s mind about something, maybe a lot of things.

Self-delusion expert and psychology nerd David McRaney sets out to discover not just what it takes to influence others, but why we believe in the first place. Along the way he meets a former Westboro Baptist Church member who was deradicalised on Twitter, goes deep canvassing to see how quickly people will surrender their character-defining views, finds a 9/11 Truther who turns his back on it all, and reveals how, within a few years, half a country can go from opposing the ‘gay agenda’ to happily attending same-sex weddings.

Distilling the latest research in psychology and neuroscience, How Minds Change reveals how beliefs take hold, not over hundreds of years, but in less than a generation, in less than a decade, and sometimes in an instant.©2022 David McRaney (P)2022 Penguin Audio Career Success Decision-Making & Problem Solving Neuroscience & Neuropsychology Psychology Psychology & Mental Health
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
All stars
Most relevant
After following David for many years this is way up there a must read

that's a seriously good mind changing book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The science is explained well and clearly. But I lost the will to live in the 30 minute chapter about the people leaving the Westboro Church. We go through the whole story in such detail that the momentum of the book is lost. McRaney reads his own material well. There is also a slant in the book towards liberal values always being "right". I'm a liberal but it would have been good to hear how minds changed the other way.... How socialists came to see capitalism as a better outcome or something like that.

Interesting insights mixed with plodding case stud

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I think this book is very interesting, and it also gives you the tool to explore all this on my own if I would like to. Read by the author in his calm voice makes especially nice listening too.

Great read of a good book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is a great book well researched Scientific well intention well read. I started listening hoping that I would find some way to more easily change the minds of people that I felt were misguided. The problem I found is that the amount of effort required is considerable for each and every single person that you want to re-educate. Obviously it’s vain to think that your views are right and theirs are wrong but when looking at so many tightly wound conspiracy theorists, it feels like some harm to society is being done and countering that could be a good thing. Likewise, with politics, changing someone’s views is going to be a massive uphill battle. The techniques provided make total sense and you would have to practice them numerous times to feel comfortable with them.. Overall I think understanding how others think and how you can get them on your side is valuable in itself. My one Big takeaway is to focus heavily on what our common goals might be, such that I can get their agreement of this behind the scenes goal and consider how they have reached their own conclusion which impacts it and help them to consider solid Scientific thinking analysis evidence et cetera that they might start to see things a different way. However, you can see this is going to take a long time with every person you want to influence. So they had better be very worth it to you. Either you care about them greatly or they are strong influencers who can spread a different message if you can get it through to them. Be aware that however even if you turn one of these influencers they will almost immediately be rejected by the rest of their community, turned into pariahs, and ridiculed by the other people you hoped to get on board. so it’s worth understanding this on its own. I definitely recommend it.

Oh woe is me!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Brilliant book, excellently narrated by the author. David takes us through some real complex ideas and Social Science concepts but grounds it well with a mix of great storytelling and excellent and engaging subjects.

David lays out, in clear detail, how to change minds using clearly articulated techniques but also fully engages the reader on a key point. Why do you want to?

The concern about why really comes through when listening to stories elicited from his subjects, which are always presented with great empathy and compassion which strongly reinforces much of the messages in the book

Amazing, engaging and mind changing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews