Out Behind the Barn

Truth-Driven Thinking is a straightforward, readable examination of human emotion and its impact on everyday life. Emotion impacts healthcare choices, investments, careers, businesses, and virtually every corner of public policy, because it largely defines the nature of public dialogue. Indeed as the old saying goes, conventional wisdom can be more conventional than wise. Gibson guides us on a compelling journey through case studies and examples of our human tendencies toward emotion-driven thinking, ranging from simple beliefs in Santa Claus and psychic nonsense, to fears of crime waves and vaccine risks unfounded in science and reason. Beyond the entertaining anecdotes, Gibson illustrates the larger point that only by acting upon true facts, as opposed to untrue conventional wisdom, can we maximize goodness and minimize devastating unintended consequences.