Peter Attia's Review of Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me)

“That’s sort of pushed Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me) into the now number three spot, just ahead probably of Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! It’s weird, isn’t it? It says something about us, the books we like to give people, doesn’t it?

““Mistakes Were Made, But Not By Me,” is a book about cognitive dissonance, and it’s one of the few books that at the moment that I not only reread it but I bought it for about ten people. I think that the authors, one of whom I’ve become very close friends with and she is now actually an advisor to NuSI as well, her name is Carol Tavris. One of the things the authors do such a great job of is really getting at the psychology of why it is that we are simply not wired to acknowledge mistakes when we make them, look for weaknesses in our thinking. And I just think that, you know, how do I make sure I go through life without becoming too sure of myself? Because on some levels I am sure of myself, but at other levels I have to realize, like, what can I do to make sure I’m not missing something that could allow me to do a better job? And so I think it’s a fantastic book.