Nobody's Fool is a fascinating and informative look at the multitude of scams, which exponentially increase year on year and will continue to do so, and the art of deception. We, as humans, have an innate tendency toward "truth bias" - we believe what other people say unless they give us a reason not to, and this is what catches out those who fall for a plethora of deceptions. How did Bernie Madoff get away with a $65 billion Ponzi scheme for 15 years? How did Diederik Stapel publish 58 fake social psychology studies? Is it possible for an amateur to cheat their way to a grandmaster title in chess? And why does anyone still answer emails from a “Nigerian prince?”

Fraud, cheating, and scams of various kinds often seem obvious in retrospect, yet people fall for the same kinds of tricks over and over. This book discusses the psychology of how we get taken in, including some cognitive habits that render us vulnerable to deception, as well as several hooks fraudsters use to attract our interest and trust. It includes plenty of analysis and a plethora of examples drawn from cases in a variety of fields, as well as lessons for how to spot and avoid deception—and how to apply insights from psychological science to everyday life. This is a riveting, enlightening and lucid book full of anecdotal evidence and case studies from two of the brightest minds in cognitive science. Highly recommended.

Simons and Chabris are skilled at walking the reader through the mechanics of deception, revealing the playbooks. Fall for the trick on the page, rather than in your next encounter. A fundamental contribution in reprioritizing critical thinking skills.