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9781250829467

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Singal's analysis is . . . a quick fix for readers who want to be more enlightened and thoughtful consumers of psychological science. It is also a bracing reminder that social realms in which there are Big Problems--such as crime, education and poverty--are beyond the reach of fads and quick fixes, no matter how seductive. --Sally Satel, The Wall Street Journal Singal has a skeptic's keen eye for spotting shoddy claims, while remaining balanced in his assessments, and a knack for explaining complex statistical and methodological issues. --Aaron Kheriaty, First Things Engaging and persuasive . . . [Singal] wisely counsels us to resist the appeal of the monocausal explanation, the oversimplified narrative. --Michael M. Rosen, National Review Jesse Singal is America's best social science journalist. In this book he shows that addressing social problems is hard, there is no quick fix, and we psychologists will have to be more careful in our work and restrained in our claims. Singal focuses on social psychology, but this book is a great read for anyone who wants to understand and ameliorate social problems. --Jonathan Haidt, professor at New York University--Stern School of Business, author of The Righteous Mind, and coauthor of The Coddling of the American Mind Meticulously investigated yet accessible . . . [Singal] takes the reader on a fascinating march through years of pop-psychology, revealing layer after layer of issues with concepts we've come to know -- some of which are still quite popular. --Pamela B. Paresky, Psychology Today An overdue and very well-executed look at how many of the problems in social psychology run deeper than just the replication crisis. [The Quick Fix] covers topics of self-help books, posing and power, superpredators, bias tests, and much more. --Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution The Quick Fix is a great read, well-written in a lively style and aimed at general audiences . . . Even as a psychologist familiar with the replication crisis there are some deep dives here into a lot of important areas. --Christopher J. Ferguson, Psychology Today In order to explain the allure of fad psychology, Singal . . . presents this well-researched book that explains how half-baked behavioral science spreads . . . Readers can approach this book a chapter at a time, and overall, they will see Singal's big picture of how ideas about self-esteem, bias tests, positive psychology, and other fads put limitations on everyone's ability to dig deeper into these matters. This book will appeal to readers who want to understand the complexity of psychological issues. --Jennifer Adams, Booklist Jesse Singal is one of the smartest, fairest, and most skeptical writers around. He is somehow able to delve into complex matters, give every side its due, and still render judgment. And--most amazing of all--he's an awful lot of fun to read. --Jonathan Chait, columnist at New York magazine and author of Audacity and The Big Con Combining dry humor with forensic research, The Quick Fix is an absorbing account of how media-friendly but largely spurious self-help ideas came to dominate our thinking about society's most complex problems. Yet it left me feeling unexpectedly inspired: once you've been disabused of the notion that changing the world might be simple, you're better equipped for the messy, reality-based challenge of actually making a difference. --Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals

Singal's analysis is . . . a quick fix for readers who want to be more enlightened and thoughtful consumers of psychological science. It is also a bracing reminder that social realms in which there are Big Problems--such as crime, education and poverty--are beyond the reach of fads and quick fixes, no matter how seductive. --Sally Satel, The Wall Street Journal Singal has a skeptic's keen eye for spotting shoddy claims, while remaining balanced in his assessments, and a knack for explaining complex statistical and methodological issues. --Aaron Kheriaty, First Things Engaging and persuasive . . . [Singal] wisely counsels us to resist the appeal of the monocausal explanation, the oversimplified narrative. --Michael M. Rosen, National Review Jesse Singal is America's best social science journalist. In this book he shows that addressing social problems is hard, there is no quick fix, and we psychologists will have to be more careful in our work and restrained in our claims. Singal focuses on social psychology, but this book is a great read for anyone who wants to understand and ameliorate social problems. --Jonathan Haidt, professor at New York University--Stern School of Business, author of The Righteous Mind, and coauthor of The Coddling of the American Mind Meticulously investigated yet accessible . . . [Singal] takes the reader on a fascinating march through years of pop-psychology, revealing layer after layer of issues with concepts we've come to know -- some of which are still quite popular. --Pamela B. Paresky, Psychology Today An overdue and very well-executed look at how many of the problems in social psychology run deeper than just the replication crisis. [The Quick Fix] covers topics of self-help books, posing and power, superpredators, bias tests, and much more. --Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution The Quick Fix is a great read, well-written in a lively style and aimed at general audiences . . . Even as a psychologist familiar with the replication crisis there are some deep dives here into a lot of important areas. --Christopher J. Ferguson, Psychology Today In order to explain the allure of fad psychology, Singal . . . presents this well-researched book that explains how half-baked behavioral science spreads . . . Readers can approach this book a chapter at a time, and overall, they will see Singal's big picture of how ideas about self-esteem, bias tests, positive psychology, and other fads put limitations on everyone's ability to dig deeper into these matters. This book will appeal to readers who want to understand the complexity of psychological issues. --Jennifer Adams, Booklist Jesse Singal is one of the smartest, fairest, and most skeptical writers around. He is somehow able to delve into complex matters, give every side its due, and still render judgment. And--most amazing of all--he's an awful lot of fun to read. --Jonathan Chait, columnist at New York magazine and author of Audacity and The Big Con Combining dry humor with forensic research, The Quick Fix is an absorbing account of how media-friendly but largely spurious self-help ideas came to dominate our thinking about society's most complex problems. Yet it left me feeling unexpectedly inspired: once you've been disabused of the notion that changing the world might be simple, you're better equipped for the messy, reality-based challenge of actually making a difference. --Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals

""Singal's analysis is . . . a quick fix for readers who want to be more enlightened and thoughtful consumers of psychological science. It is also a bracing reminder that social realms in which there are Big Problems--such as crime, education and poverty--are beyond the reach of fads and quick fixes, no matter how seductive."" --Sally Satel, The Wall Street Journal ""Singal has a skeptic's keen eye for spotting shoddy claims, while remaining balanced in his assessments, and a knack for explaining complex statistical and methodological issues."" --Aaron Kheriaty, First Things ""Engaging and persuasive . . . [Singal] wisely counsels us to resist the appeal of the monocausal explanation, the oversimplified narrative."" --Michael M. Rosen, National Review ""Jesse Singal is America's best social science journalist. In this book he shows that addressing social problems is hard, there is no quick fix, and we psychologists will have to be more careful in our work and restrained in our claims. Singal focuses on social psychology, but this book is a great read for anyone who wants to understand and ameliorate social problems."" --Jonathan Haidt, professor at New York University--Stern School of Business, author of The Righteous Mind, and coauthor of The Coddling of the American Mind ""Meticulously investigated yet accessible . . . [Singal] takes the reader on a fascinating march through years of pop-psychology, revealing layer after layer of issues with concepts we've come to know -- some of which are still quite popular."" --Pamela B. Paresky, Psychology Today ""An overdue and very well-executed look at how many of the problems in social psychology run deeper than just the replication crisis. [The Quick Fix] covers topics of self-help books, posing and power, superpredators, bias tests, and much more."" --Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution ""The Quick Fix is a great read, well-written in a lively style and aimed at general audiences . . . Even as a psychologist familiar with the replication crisis there are some deep dives here into a lot of important areas."" --Christopher J. Ferguson, Psychology Today ""In order to explain the allure of fad psychology, Singal . . . presents this well-researched book that explains how half-baked behavioral science spreads . . . Readers can approach this book a chapter at a time, and overall, they will see Singal's big picture of how ideas about self-esteem, bias tests, positive psychology, and other fads put limitations on everyone's ability to dig deeper into these matters. This book will appeal to readers who want to understand the complexity of psychological issues."" --Jennifer Adams, Booklist ""Jesse Singal is one of the smartest, fairest, and most skeptical writers around. He is somehow able to delve into complex matters, give every side its due, and still render judgment. And--most amazing of all--he's an awful lot of fun to read."" --Jonathan Chait, columnist at New York magazine and author of Audacity and The Big Con ""Combining dry humor with forensic research, The Quick Fix is an absorbing account of how media-friendly but largely spurious self-help ideas came to dominate our thinking about society's most complex problems. Yet it left me feeling unexpectedly inspired: once you've been disabused of the notion that changing the world might be simple, you're better equipped for the messy, reality-based challenge of actually making a difference."" --Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals

Author Information

Jesse Singal is a contributing writer at New York and the former editor of the magazine's Science of Us online vertical, as well as the cohost of the podcast Blocked and Reported. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Slate, The Boston Globe, The Daily Beast, and other outlets. He was a Robert Bosch Foundation fellow in Berlin and holds a master's degree from Princeton University's School of Public and International Affairs.

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