Okay, couldn't resist sneaking this in here:-). Still, signed copies and audiobooks available at our store:-)

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Product Description

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.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1767165 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 220 pages

About the Author
In addition to promoting his Truth-Driven Thinking mission, Steve Gibson owns and operates a specialty multimedia company, along with his wife and Co-founder Julie Gibson. They created People Power Productions in 2001 with the goal of helping real people share and preserve their own special stories and treasured family media. Steve believes in being an active participant in ones community, and is involved in various organizations and service clubs, including continued service as Trustee on the local Board of Education. He is also an experienced pilot who holds Commercial and Flight Instructor Pilot Certificates, enjoys skiing, golf, and outdoor work. Steve and Julie have two children and reside in Michigan.

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Customer Reviews

So-so
Gibson's Truth-Driven Thinking is a so-so affair. I love his mission about getting people to value truth and the search for truth above ultimately irrelevant personal motivations for adopting beliefs, but unfortunately his book comes across more as a self-help book than a demonstration of critical thinking, and critical thinking it surely is. Gibson aims to create an original product by renaming critical thinking "truth-driven thinking," but I see no difference at all. He claims that the difference is that everyone thinks they are good critical thinkers and that good critical thinking is what led them to their current beliefs. It could just as easily be said however that most everyone believes they are truth-driven thinkers and that a good, honest search for truth is what led them to their beliefs. The difference therefore is somewhat empty. Further, for a book about the effects of emotion-driven thinking on belief formation, I was somewhat surprised that none of the relevant research on the topic is even referenced. Perhaps the author is unaware that there is already an entire field devoted to the topic. In fact, one of its main findings runs somewhat counter to Gibson's main claim. He claims that everyone is victim of emotion-driven thinking. Actual research on the topic reveals that this is not actually all that true. For example, one study gave subjects three indices of a hospital's performance, measured subjects' mood and affect, and also gave subjects a survey that measures "numeracy." The subjects were then asked to rate the hospitals on Likert scales. The researchers found that highly-numerate individuals used the information given to them to arrive at their mostly-accurate conclusions. For individuals who measured low on numeracy, however, what was the only thing that predicted how they evaluated the hospitals? You got it, the mood they were in at the time. Gibson's book would have benefited from an exploration of such research from the field of decision science. As is, his book is largely a collection of interviews with three famous people: James Randi, Dr. Glassner, and Dr. Moore. On the plus side, I was delighted to read Gibson's views, as he seems to take claims as they come, analyzing them independently of what people in certain political parties tend to say regarding them. For instance, he is skeptical regarding global warming (which everyone should be given the actual state of science on the matter). He is also skeptical of conservative's claims regarding the public school system. Such "band-wagon free" bipartisan analysis is all-too-infrequent. I would say that Gibson's Truth-Driven Thinking is an immensely enjoyable read, but it really doesn't give one very many critical-thinking tools in the end.

great book
this book really got me thinking. i love that James Randi is referenced.

Great, insightful book
At the very least this book will get you thinking. It is a refreshing approach to thinking about problems and questions that exist. The people that are interviewed in the book are not only insightful, but interesting as well. This is a must have!