Book Review: Think Again by Adam Grant

When I saw this book was touted as "A must read" by Bill and Melinda Gates on the front cover, I should have known better. Despite being a book about open-minded critical thinking, the author immediately begins uncritically parroting progressive mainstream talking points. This really did cast a shadow on the rest of the book for me. It put me on the defensive about being propagandized. He could have used non-political examples throughout the book, but he just couldn't help himself.

I listened to the audio book version, and the author reads it himself in his best valley girl voice. It was very grating on my nerves. To add to the misery, in chapter 5 he adds sound bytes from an 8 year old debate prodigy, which was also painful. Periodically he would bleep out profanity which I thought was dumb.

By the time I got to chapter 6, I knew I was in trouble. The title was:

Bad Blood on the Diamond: Diminishing Prejudice by Destabilizing Stereotypes.

Uh oh, here I am stereotyping this guy. To be completely honest, the delivery did not inspire me to think critically, or open my mind. He did mention the story of Daryl Davis, the musician who convinced hundreds of KKK members to leave and denounce that organization. I'm not sure if there is an equivalent person who will convince me not to be annoyed by a person's narration. I guess I'll take the L on that one.

Avoid the audiobook version if you dislike scratching chalkboards. Avoid the book altogether if don't like books tinged with political opinions, after all, you're only thinking critically if you think like he does. I wish I could remember what podcast recommended this to me... Maybe I'd 'Think Again'.

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