Books › The unpersuadables
The unpersuadables
449 pages
A fascinating, empathetic dive into the minds of fringe believers that ultimately holds a mirror up to our own irrationalities.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like taking a bizarre, globe-trotting road trip with a deeply curious and wryly observant friend. It is an intellectually stimulating and occasionally unsettling experience that blends immersive gonzo journalism with sharp psychological insight. Instead of merely mocking those who hold extreme or demonstrably false beliefs, the narrative approaches them with a radical, almost disarming empathy. The prose is brisk and conversational, pulling you through encounters with creationists and conspiracy theorists while seamlessly weaving in neuroscience. Ultimately, the journey shifts from a fascinating voyeurism of the fringe into a humbling introspection, leaving you questioning the bedrock of your own convictions. It is a perfect fit for readers who crave psychological exploration served with a side of eccentric human encounters.
- Mood
- intellectually stimulating
- unsettling
- curious
- Tone
- inquisitive
- wry
- empathetic
- self-reflective
- skeptical
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- the illusion of rationality · power of self-deception · limits of logic · empathy for the fringe · neurological storytelling
- The writing
- Conversational and sharply observant, seamlessly blending immersive gonzo journalism with accessible psychological research.
- The arc
- Begins with baffled curiosity toward fringe extremists and gradually shifts into a humbling, uncomfortable recognition of the reader's own cognitive blind spots.
- Who it's for
- Curious skeptics and armchair psychologists who love exploring the weird corners of human cognition and fringe subcultures.
Content notes
- Holocaust denial
- antisemitism
- cult abuse mentions
- trauma
About the book
While excavating fossils in the tropics of Australia with a celebrity creationist, Will Storr asked himself a simple question. Why don't facts work? Why, that is, did the obviously intelligent man beside him sincerely believe in Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden and a six-thousand-year-old Earth, in spite of the evidence against them? It was the start of a journey that would lead Storr all over the world-from Texas to Warsaw to the Outer Hebrides-meeting an extraordinary cast of modern "heretics" whom he tries his best to understand. Storr tours Holocaust sites with famed denier David Irving and a band of neo-Nazis, experiences his own murder during "past life regression" hypnosis, discusses the looming One World Government an iconic climate skeptic, and investigates the tragic life and death of a woman who believed her parents were high priests in a baby-eating cult. Using a unique mix of highly personal memoir, investigative journalism, and the latest research from neuroscience and experimental psychology, Storr reveals how the stories we tell ourselves about the world invisibly shape our beliefs, and how the neurological "hero maker" inside us all can so easily lead to self-deception, toxic partisanship and science denial.
Description from Open Library.
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