Wrong, David H. Freedman
Wrong, David H. Freedman
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Wrong
Why Experts (Scientists, Finance Wizards, Doctors, Relationship Gurus, Celebrity CEOs, High-Powered Consultants, Health Officials and More) Keep Failing Us---and How to Know When Not to Trust Them

Author: David H. Freedman

Narrator: George K. Wilson

Unabridged: 10 hr 35 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/16/2010


Synopsis

Our investmeents are devastated, obesity is epidemic, blue-chip companies circle the drain, and popular medications turn out to be ineffective and even dangerous. What happened? Didn't we listen to the scientists, economists, and other experts who promised us that if we followed their advice all would be well?

Actually, those experts are a big reason we're in this mess. Their expert counsel usually turns out to be wrong—often wildly so. Wrong reveals the dangerously distorted ways experts come up with their advice and why the most heavily flawed conclusions end up getting the most attention—all the more so in the online era. But there's hope: Wrong spells out the means by which every individual and organization can do a better job of unearthing the crucial bits of right within a vast avalanche of misleading pronouncements.

About David H. Freedman

David H. Freedman is a business and science journalist who has written for the Atlantic Monthly, Newsweek, and Wired, among other publications. He is the author of Brainmakers, Corps Business, and At Large, and coauthor, with Eric Abrahamson, of A Perfect Mess.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Cathy on September 28, 2011

I gave this title three stars because, in my opinion, it fulfilled only half of its promise: Why experts keep failing us -- and how to know when not to trust them. It did a great job explaining why experts keep failing us, but when it comes to figuring out when not to trust them...well, the author d......more

Goodreads review by Ned on May 25, 2020

The one expert who is never wrong God. His transcendent word is never wrong and His universal moral laws are never wrong. Freedman's book only highlights the importance of having a biblical epistemology. In the beginning was Logos and the Logos was with God and the Logos was/is God. Human foundations......more

Goodreads review by Ross on May 24, 2014

The title and chapter-length subtitle are enough to give you an idea of what this book is about. It's a treatise on how so-called experts can disagree with one another and give out advise that is less than advisable. David H. Freedman trots out examples of fraud, laziness, greed, pride, funding, poo......more

Goodreads review by Karen on September 19, 2023

Good read, enough areas to skim. Published in 2010. I wonder how author feels about whole issues relating to Covid shots and treatments. P. 114 …the beliefs of researchers are shaped by all of the vanities, vested interests, hunches, experiences, politics careerism, grantsmanship tactics, competing ca......more

Goodreads review by Mardel on January 15, 2011

I picked up Wrong: Why Experts Keep Failing Us and How to Know When not to Trust Them by David Freedman on a whim. The book really offered very little that was new or particularly enlightening; it was more useful as a reminder of how even well-meaning and well-constructed research can go wrong as we......more