Stop Being Reasonable: six stories of how we really change our minds

　　如果，你不是那個你認為自己是的那種人怎麼辦？
　　如果，你根本不了解那些身邊最親近的人怎麼辦？
　　如果，你原本如此深信不疑的事物被證實是錯誤的怎麼辦？

　　一個發現她丈夫埋藏了可怕秘密的女人、一個決定離開扶養他長大的邪教組織的男人、到一個英國真人秀參賽者，因模仿適合電視節目的角色長達一個月，往後再也無法回到從前的自我……書中的受訪者，都因為不同的緣由，徹底地改變了曾認為無庸置疑的信念──他們，再也不是原來的他們了。但究竟，是什麼改變了他們的想法？事實與理性，就足以說明、造就這一切嗎？隱約地我們心底明白，當人放下一個信念轉向另一，那之間的空白，好像並不是由多少個完美的論證、證據充分的事實所填補，而還有著些其他的東西…

　　目前在普林斯頓大學，曾任教於雪梨大學，身兼哲學家與記者的作家Eleanor Gordon-Smith，收集了兩年的訪談，寫下六個清晰、引人入勝的報導故事，讓哲學和現實生活在此相遇。敘述人類理性的侷限，更深入探究「說服」是怎麼一回事──想真正改變人的心意與對事物的想法，遠比我們想像的複雜！牽涉的絕不僅是思考實證，更有情感、文化、價值觀等種種要素的門檻。因此我們遇見有人即便知道有再多的證據推翻了自己的想法，卻仍然不肯接受；我們也發現，在這個立場日益壁壘對立的當代，當我們希望針對公眾事物「理性討論」，最後卻經常沒有實現我們期盼的結果，甚或不及那些煽動的謬誤危詞。

　　回應著這個分裂的世界，但捨去高談闊論，這些充滿啟發且深富洞察力的故事將觸動我們心弦。文筆輕鬆而不乏幽默，深入淺出地引燃思考，讓我們思考自己是如何與所相信的看法共處，重新理解說服的運作原理，也提供關鍵的工具教會我們如何改變他人的想法。最後我們將發現，不論要真正體認什麼才是對的，或者以我們所知的說服他人──所謂理性與合事理地應對行事，關涉的絕不僅指我們的腦，還將包含我們的心。（文/博客來編譯）

　　What if you aren’t who you think you are?
　　What if you don’t really know the people closest to you?
　　And what if your most deeply-held beliefs turn out to be … wrong?

　　In Stop Being Reasonable, philosopher and journalist Eleanor Gordon-Smith tells six lucid, gripping stories that show the limits of human reason.

　　From the woman who realised her husband harboured a terrible secret, to the man who left the cult he had been raised in since birth, and the British reality TV contestant who, having impersonated someone else for a month, discovered he could no longer return to his former identity, all of the people interviewed radically altered their beliefs about the things that matter most.

　　What made them change course? How should their reversals affect how we think about our own beliefs? And in an increasingly divided world, what do they teach us about how we might change the minds of others?

　　Inspiring, perceptive, and often moving, Stop Being Reasonable explores the place where philosophy and real life meet. Ultimately, it argues that when it comes to finding out what’s true or convincing others about what we know, being rational might involve our hearts as well as our minds.

Review

　　'I knew how piercingly smart Eleanor Gordon-Smith is, and what a curious and resolute interviewer. But I was unprepared for how entertainingly she writes! I read this with pleasure.' --Ira Glass

　　'A frank and thoughtful new voice ... this is an assured and companionable guide through the wilderness of contemporary ethics.' --Shahidha Bari

　　'This is a funny, sharp-edged and deeply serious book about a mainstream myth: that we all know what rationality demands. A pleasure to read.' --Amia Srinivasan

Author

　　Eleanor Gordon-Smith is a writer and radio broadcaster working at the intersection of academic ethics and the chaos of human life. Currently at Princeton University, she has produced The Philosopher's Zone on Australia's Radio National, appeared as the 'Clinical Ethicist' on 702 Sydney radio, and lectured on ethics, from political contract theory to the philosophy of sex, at the University of Sydney. Her work has appeared on NPR's This American Life, and in the Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, and Meanjin.