
Fool Proof: How Fear of Playing the Sucker Shapes Our Selves and the Social Order--And What We Can Do about It, (Hardcover)
Key item features
- Fool Proof: How Fear of Playing the Sucker Shapes Our Selves and the Social Order--And What We Can Do about It, (Hardcover)
- Author: Harper
- ISBN: 9780063214262
- Format: Hardcover
- Publication Date: 2023-02-07
- Page Count: 288
Specs
- Book formatHardcover
- Fiction/nonfictionNon-Fiction
- Publication dateFebruary, 2023
- Pages288
- Reading levelGeneral/trade
- SubgenreSocial Psychology
- Free shipping
Free 30-day returns
How do you want your item?
About this item
Product details
The fear of playing the fool is a universal psychological phenomenon and an underappreciated driver of human behavior; in the spirit of Malcolm Gladwell's Blink, Dan Ariely's Predictably Irrational, and Susan Cain's Quiet, Fool Proof tracks the implications of the sucker construct from personal choices to cultural conflict, ultimately charting an unexpected and empowering path forward.
In the American moral vernacular, we have a whole thesaurus for victims of exploitation. They are suckers (born every minute), fools (not suffered gladly), dupes, marks, chumps, pawns, and losers. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. Cultural stories about suckers abound too: the Trojan Horse, the Boy Who Cried Wolf, the Emperor's New Clothes, even Hansel and Gretel. If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you. Don't go out with him; he only wants one thing. The fear of playing the fool is not just a descriptive fact; it is a prescriptive theme: Don't let that be you.
Most of us are constantly navigating two sets of imperatives: how to be successful and how to be good. The fear of being suckered whispers that you can't do both, operating as a quiet caution against leaps of faith and acts of altruism. University of Pennsylvania law professor and moral psychologist Tess Wilkinson-Ryan brings evidence from studies in psychology, sociology, and economics to show how the sucker construct shapes, and distorts, human decision-making.
Fool Proof offers the first in-depth analysis of the sucker's game as implicit worldview, drawing evidence everywhere from grocery shopping to international trade deals, from road rage to #MeToo. Offering real-world puzzles and stories, Wilkinson-Ryan explores what kinds of hustles feel like scams and which ones feel like business as usual, who gets pegged as suckers and who gets lauded as saints. She takes deep dives into areas like the psychology of stereotyping, the history of ethnic slurs, and the economics of the family--and shows how the threat of being suckered is deployed to perpetuate social and economic hierarchies.
Ultimately, Fool Proof argues that the goal is not so much to spot the con as to renegotiate its meaning. The fear of being suckered can be weaponized to disrupt cooperation and trust, but it can also be defused and reframed to make space for moral agency and social progress. Facing the fear of being suckered head-on means deciding for ourselves what risks to take, what relationships to invest in, when to share, and when to protest--drafting a new template for how to live with integrity in a sucker's world.
- Fool Proof: How Fear of Playing the Sucker Shapes Our Selves and the Social Order--And What We Can Do about It, (Hardcover)
- Author: Harper
- ISBN: 9780063214262
- Format: Hardcover
- Publication Date: 2023-02-07
- Page Count: 288
Specifications
Book format
Fiction/nonfiction
Genre
Publication date
Warranty
Warranty information
Similar items you might like
Based on what customers bought
Chasing Rescue: Surviving Narcissistic Abuse, (Hardcover) $19.51 Was $21.99
$1951current price $19.51, Was $21.99$21.99Chasing Rescue: Surviving Narcissistic Abuse, (Hardcover)
Leading Beyond Fear: The Formula for Psychological Safety, Adaptability, and Growth, (Hardcover) $21.80 Was $25.15
$2180current price $21.80, Was $25.15$25.15Leading Beyond Fear: The Formula for Psychological Safety, Adaptability, and Growth, (Hardcover)
Best seller The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness (Hardcover) $16.49
Best seller
$1649current price $16.49The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness (Hardcover)
634.4 out of 5 Stars. 63 reviewsBaby Person: The Secrets to Radically Fulfilling, Less Anxious Parenting, (Hardcover) $32.49
$3249current price $32.49Baby Person: The Secrets to Radically Fulfilling, Less Anxious Parenting, (Hardcover)
Self-directed Behavior Change (Hardcover) $33.90
$3390current price $33.90Self-directed Behavior Change (Hardcover)
Fear Is Not an Option!: Managing Anxiety and Building Confidence, (Hardcover) $30.99
$3099current price $30.99Fear Is Not an Option!: Managing Anxiety and Building Confidence, (Hardcover)
Pre-Owned Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models Paperback $15.17
$1517current price $15.17Pre-Owned Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models Paperback
Half-Way Done: From Fear to Love (Hardcover) $30.95
$3095current price $30.95Half-Way Done: From Fear to Love (Hardcover)
Manipulation Psychology: The Easy Guide For The World of Manipulation Psychology, To Defense Yourself Against Manipulato, (Hardcover) $27.95 Was $36.90
$2795current price $27.95, Was $36.90$36.90Manipulation Psychology: The Easy Guide For The World of Manipulation Psychology, To Defense Yourself Against Manipulato, (Hardcover)
Dare to Be Great: Overcoming Life's Challenges on Your Way to the Top !, (Hardcover) $23.99
$2399current price $23.99Dare to Be Great: Overcoming Life's Challenges on Your Way to the Top !, (Hardcover)
The Glue Factor: Giving Presentations That Make Your Message Stick $28.37
$2837current price $28.37The Glue Factor: Giving Presentations That Make Your Message Stick
Psychodynamics of Fear, Hate and Social Polarization (Hardcover) by Antonio R Barquet $29.12
$2912current price $29.12Psychodynamics of Fear, Hate and Social Polarization (Hardcover) by Antonio R Barquet
Parenting Anxiety: Breaking the Cycle of Worry and Raising Resilient Kids, (Hardcover) $22.38
$2238current price $22.38Parenting Anxiety: Breaking the Cycle of Worry and Raising Resilient Kids, (Hardcover)
The Anxiety Epidemic (Paperback) $27.56
$2756current price $27.56The Anxiety Epidemic (Paperback)
Taming the Anxious Mind: A Guide to Relief Stress & Anxiety, (Hardcover) $22.94
$2294current price $22.94Taming the Anxious Mind: A Guide to Relief Stress & Anxiety, (Hardcover)
Manipulation Psychology: The Easy Guide For The World of Manipulation Psychology, To Defense Yourself Against Manipulato, (Hardcover) $27.95 Was $36.90
$2795current price $27.95, Was $36.90$36.90Manipulation Psychology: The Easy Guide For The World of Manipulation Psychology, To Defense Yourself Against Manipulato, (Hardcover)
Tavistock Clinic Social Defences Against Anxiety: Explorations in a Paradigm, (Paperback) $59.99
$5999current price $59.99Tavistock Clinic Social Defences Against Anxiety: Explorations in a Paradigm, (Paperback)
When Thoughts Run Wild: A Mom's Guide to Untangling Cognitive Distortions, (Paperback) $16.60
$1660current price $16.60When Thoughts Run Wild: A Mom's Guide to Untangling Cognitive Distortions, (Paperback)
Disorder- Increasing Evolution of Life (Hardcover) $34.37
$3437current price $34.37Disorder- Increasing Evolution of Life (Hardcover)
How to Talk to Anyone with Ease: 21 Actionable Skills for Young Adults to Tackle Social Anxiety and Make Friends in the , (Hardcover) $19.97
$1997current price $19.97How to Talk to Anyone with Ease: 21 Actionable Skills for Young Adults to Tackle Social Anxiety and Make Friends in the , (Hardcover)
