WHY WE THINK WHAT WE THINK: THE UNEXPECTED ORIGINS OF OUR DEEPEST BELIEFS

Book ID/图书代码： 06495023C00004

English Summary/英文概要： ‘We think of our opinions as rational, where in fact they are almost arbitrary - deeply embedded in our biology and psychology. Why do we disagree? Because it’s the secret of our evolutionary success.’

We are very excited to share the clever and insightful proposal for Opinionated by Turi Munthe.

This will be a book which explores why we think what we think, a question which has always obsessed Turi, a journalist and tech entrepreneur. In order to answer this question in a meaningful way, Turi sourced funding to build the website Parlia, which aimed to be the Wikipedia of opinions - a resource we could all consult and contribute to, in the hope of understanding all sides of any controversial debate and perhaps sympathise more with those whose opinions we disagree with. For various reasons, it didn’t work, but the site’s thousands of users did provide Turi with a wealth of data about who they are and what they think, which unexpectedly revealed a great deal about how we come to form our opinions in the first place.

We tend to think that our judgements are the result of a rational process; based on our experience of the world, our extensive reading and education. And of course that’s true, to some extent. But it turns out there is a lot more to it. There are a vast range of external factors that have an influence also - from our genetic make-up, the culture around us, our physical appearance and even the geology of the land where we live - which can make people more or less likely to believe certain things. Even our preferred type of peanut butter (right wing voters choose smooth) or how we eat an ice cream can, it turns out, give a pretty good idea of some of our most cherished beliefs.

In the Vendee in France, the map of voters on the left and right coincides exactly with a map of the area’s geology, and those in the granitic north tend conservative while those in the limestone south are more socialist. The very land our ancestors grew up on can have a role to play in what we think today. In the same way, many of our beliefs are inherited from our parents, and still others may come as part of a package with the personality traits we are born with. Some of us even adopt beliefs which make no sense at all because they give us an identity, and a sense of belonging to a specific group.

Chinese Summary/中文概要： 「我們認為我們的觀點是理性的，實際上它們幾乎是武斷的——深深植根於我們的生理和心理。 我們為什麼不同意？ 因為這正是我們演化之所以成功的秘訣。」

這將是一本探討我們為什麼會這樣想的書，這個問題一直困擾著記者和科技企業家 Turi。 為了以有意義的方式回答這個問題，Turi 籌集資金建立了 Parlia 網站，該網站旨在成為「意見的維基百科」 - 我們都可以參考和貢獻的資源，以期了解任何有爭議辯論的所有方面，或許能使我們更同理那些我們不同意其觀點的人。 由於各種原因，它沒有成功，但該網站的數千名用戶確實為 Turi 提供了有關他們是誰以及他們想法的大量數據，這出乎意料地以第一手的資料揭示了我們如何形成我們的觀點。

我們傾向於認為我們的判斷是理性過程的結果； 基於我們對世界的經驗，我們廣泛的閱讀和教育。 當然，在某種程度上這是真的。 但事實證明還有更多因素。 還有大量的外部因素也會產生影響——從我們的基因構成、我們周圍的文化、我們的外貌，甚至我們居住的土地的地質情況——這些都會使人們或多或少地相信他們所確定的事情。 事實證明，即使是我們最喜歡的花生醬類型（右翼選民傾向選擇光滑的）或我們吃冰淇淋的方式也能很好地了解我們最珍視的一些信念。

在法國的旺代，左右選民的地圖與該地區的地質圖完全吻合，花崗岩北部的選民傾向於保守，而石灰岩南部的選民則更加社會主義。 我們祖先成長的土地可以在我們今天的想法中發揮作用。 同樣，我們的許多信念都是從我們的父母那裡繼承而來的，還有一些信念可能是我們與生俱來的人格特質的一部分。 我們中的一些人甚至接受了毫無意義的信仰，因為它們給了我們一種身份，以及一種對特定群體的歸屬感。

最後，本書提出了理性辯論的理由，最重要的是「對話」。 一旦我們意識到我們自己最根深蒂固的一些觀點可能是我們無法控制的環境中某些事物的結果，那麼也許我們會更傾向於傾聽並更認真地考慮那些我們強烈反對的觀點，而非不同意並立即駁回。 Turi認為這與我們的想法無關，而與我們是誰有關。 當今世界從未像現在這樣迫切需要這種認識。(Zoe)

Awards/获奖情况：Praise for WHY WE THINK WHAT WE THINK:

‘Fascinating, incredibly valuable and accessible – Munthe knits together the wide and deep influences on our perceptions into a compelling view of why we see the world and each other the way we do’ Bobby Duffy, author of THE PERILS OF PERCEPTION

‘If you think of yourself as a rational and thoughtful individual, who has spent time, care and energy weighing up the evidence, brace yourself. This book will peel the scales from your eyes. Entertaining as well as erudite, Munthe is the perfect guide to the murky underworld where our beliefs take shape.’ Jackie Higgins, author of SENTIENT

‘In this lively and indispensable exploration of the origins of our opinions and the nature of our beliefs, Munthe reveals that engaging our differences is essential to human flourishing. A powerful defence of reasoned, civil disagreement’ Robert B. Talisse, Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University

About the Author/作者介绍： Turi Munthe 是一名記者和媒體企業家。 此前，他曾為《經濟學人》、《衛報》、《TLS》和《旁觀者》等雜誌撰稿，並出現在 BBC、CNN、半島電視台和 NBC 上。 在後者中，他創立了世界上最大的攝影記者網絡 Demotix，後來賣給了比爾蓋茲的 Corbis 以及 Parlia。 他是 Index on Censorhip 和義大利最大的媒體公司 GEDI 的董事會成員，也是 La Stampa 的出版商。 他的母語是法語和意大利語，並且能說流利的西班牙語。除了來自他的網站 Parlia 的數據外，Turi還與行為經濟學家、臨床心理學家、藝術家和民意測驗專家等各自領域的專家進行了交談，並挖掘了來自世界各地的最新研究成果。 他的寫作風格通俗易懂且引人入勝，這本書一定會引發生動而發人深省的對話。

Turi Munthe is a journalist and media entrepreneur. In the former role he has written for the Economist, the Guardian, the TLS and the Spectator, inter alia, and appeared on the BBC, CNN, al-Jazeera and NBC. In the latter he founded Demotix, the world’s largest network of photojournalists, later sold to Bill Gates’s Corbis, as well as Parlia. He is on the board of Index on Censorhip and Italy’s largest media company GEDI, publisher of La Stampa. He is a French and Italian native speaker, and speaks Spanish fluently.

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Rights Status/版权销售情况：Simplified Chinese/简体中文：AVAILABLE

Complex/Traditional Chinese/繁体中文：AVAILABLE

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