About this item
You are a mind reader, born with an extraordinary ability to understand what others think, feel, believe, want, and know. It's a sixth sense you use every day, in every personal and professional relationship you have. At its best, this ability allows you to achieve the most important goal in almost any life: connecting, deeply and intimately and honestly, to other human beings. At its worst, it is a source of misunderstanding and unnecessary conflict, leading to damaged relationships and broken dreams. How good are you at knowing the minds of others? How well can you guess what others think of you, know who really likes you, or tell when someone is lying? How well do you really understand the minds of those closest to you, from your spouse to your kids to your best friends? Do you really know what your coworkers, employees, competitors, or clients want?In this illuminating exploration of one of the great mysteries of the human mind, University of Chicago psychologist Nicholas Epley introduces us to what scientists have learned about our ability to understand the most complicated puzzle on the planet - other people - and the surprising mistakes we so routinely make.
About the Author
Nicholas Epley is the John T. Keller Professor of Behavior Science at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He received a bachelor's degree in psychology and philosophy in 1996 from Saint Olaf College. In 2001, he graduated from Cornell University with a PhD in psychology and then began his career as an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. He joined the Chicago Booth faculty in 2004.
Epley conducts research on mind reading--not the spooky or psychic versions but rather the everyday version in which we routinely make inferences about what others think, believe, feel, or want. People routinely misunderstand each other without knowing it. Epley's research pinpoints the chronic mistakes we all make, and tests how all of us might learn how to understand each other better.
His research has appeared in more than two dozen journals, including the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Psychological Science, Psychological Review, and the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. His research also has been featured by the Wall Street Journal, CNN, Wired, and National Public Radio, among many others, has been funded by the National Science Foundation, and has earned the 2008 Theoretical Innovation Award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. He was named a "professor to watch" by the Financial Times, and was awarded the 2011 Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology from the American Psychological Association. In 2014, Epley was named as one of the "World's Best 40 under 40 Business School Professors" by Poets and Quants, and identified as one of 8 Young Business School Professors on the Rise by CNN.
