How to Think

A Survival Guide for a World at Odds

By: Alan Jacobs

Narrated by: P. J. Ochlan

How to Think is a contrarian treatise on why we're not as good at thinking as we assume - but how recovering this lost art can rescue our inner lives from the chaos of modern life.

As a celebrated cultural critic and a writer for national publications like The Atlantic and Harper's, Alan Jacobs has spent his adult life belonging to communities that often clash in America's culture wars. And in his years of confronting the big issues that divide us - political, social, religious - Jacobs has learned that many of our fiercest disputes occur not because we're doomed to be divided but because the people involved simply aren't thinking.

Most of us don't want to think, Jacobs writes. Thinking is trouble. Thinking can force us out of familiar, comforting habits, and it can complicate our relationships with like-minded friends. Finally, thinking is slow, and that's a problem when our habits of consuming information (mostly online) leave us lost in the spin cycle of social media, partisan bickering, and confirmation bias.

In this smart, endlessly entertaining book, Jacobs diagnoses the many forces that act on us to prevent thinking - forces that have only worsened in the age of Twitter, "alternative facts", and information overload - and he also dispels the many myths we hold about what it means to think well. (For example: It's impossible to "think for yourself".)

Drawing on sources as far-flung as novelist Marilynne Robinson, basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain, British philosopher John Stuart Mill, and Christian theologian C. S. Lewis, Jacobs digs into the nuts and bolts of the cognitive process, offering hope that each of us can reclaim our mental lives from the impediments that plague us all. Because if we can learn to think together, maybe we can learn to live together, too.

©2017 Alan Jacobs (P)2017 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Witty, engaging, and ultimately hopeful, Jacobs's guide is sorely needed in a society where partisanship too often trumps the pursuit of knowledge." ( Publishers Weekly)

"Just when it feels like we've all lost our minds, here comes Alan Jacobs's How to Think, a book infused with the thoughtfulness, generosity, and humor of a lifelong teacher. Do what I did: Sign off social media, find a cozy spot to read, and get your mind back again. A mindful book for our mindless times." (Austin Kleon, best-selling author of Steal Like an Artist

)

"I disagree passionately with Alan Jacobs about a number of very important things, but this indispensable book shows me how to take him by the hand while we argue, rather than the throat. In troublingly stupid times, it offers a toolbox for the restoration of nuance, self-knowledge and cognitive generosity." (Francis Spufford, author of Golden Hill and Unapologetic)

Required Reading for Humans

This book will shock you into seeing that you are not as fair minded or as free thinking as you believe. The thinking check list at the end is priceless!

Fantastic perspective

The author is humble and helpful and very knowledgeable. Good, practical tools. I highly recommend it.

A bit heady, but it's still a good listen

This book, as the title suggests, does make you think about how you think. Overall it is a great listen. I think a second listening session will help to really digest the content.

Somehow expected a far longer book

Beggining was good and then it went into a downfall. The ideas were solid but facts, arguments and examples were just bad - mostly from American culture and history. This book barely scratches the surface.

Very intellectual.

This book really get you to think, this Has to be one of my top 10 books . I would recommend this book to people who are very opinionated .. it makes you think .. even if you don’t agree

Droning Good Advice

The robotic droning pace of this reading caused me to have a difficult time retaining my attention. I listen to audio books while driving down long stretches of desolate western US highways. I found myself distracted by windmills, fence posts, and whether the grass in the median had been mowed. It was difficult to force myself to listen to this one.

The advice in the book is good, but nothing revolutionary. It did not change my life in any way, but reinforced some ideas I have already incorporated. For people who want a more open mind, this could be revolutionary.

I won't say I will not recommend this book to anyone, but it would be a selected individual, and I would encourage the print over the audio version.

Short but Gold

This book discussed important topics and did it well. I found that the author analysed my thinking method accurately and showed me its flaws and where should I improve. Good things will happen if more people appreciate what this book preaches.

Essential Social Advise

Contains thought provoking material relating to how people think, how we process ideas, and the framework surrounding ideas. I recommend it.

Depends

For me there really wasn't anything new here. I took nothing new away from it. That said, the lost art of thinking is a dying art indeed and so if we could just get most folks to read this, the world would be a better place.

Print Version Might Be Better

Great content and discussion.

I think the print version might be better for this type of book. the author frequently quotes others, both in full and with in-line phrases. It's sometimes difficult tell when those full quotes end and the author resumes, and also when he is using snippets.