Quick Reads: “The Rational Animal” by Douglas T. Kenrick and Vladas Griskevicius

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December is make-or-break for Mother Jones’ fundraising, and in "No Cute Headlines or Manipulative BS," we hope that giving it to you as matte-of-fact as we can will work to raise the $350,000 we need to raise this month. Donations make up 74 percent of our budget this year, and all online gifts will be matched and go twice as far until we hit our goal.

The Rational Animal

By Douglas T. Kenrick and Vladas Griskevicius

BASIC BOOKS

The science of irrationality is getting pretty sophisticated. Not only have researchers identified human foibles from loss aversion to hindsight bias, now they’re poised to explain why we’re so weird. We “are born to be biased,” write coauthors Douglas T. Kenrick and Vladas Griskevicius, “and for good reason.” The Rational Animal is a fun romp through the comedy of human errors. Again and again, the authors find, evolutionary urges and hardwired brains explain behaviors rational economists cannot. Humans just don’t make sense, it seems, unless you expect them not to.