Foolproof
Winner of British Psychological Society Best Book Prize (Popular Science) 2023
Nature’s Top 10 Books of 2023
A Financial Times Book of the Year 2023
A Waterstones Book of the Year for Politics 2023
Fake news. Alternative facts. Conspiracy theories. Misinformation is one of the defining problems of our age, and despite what we may think, we are all susceptible. So how and why does misinformation spread? And, more importantly, what can we do about it? Sander van der Linden, a Cambridge University professor and leading expert, takes us through the psychology of conspiratorial thinking and equips us with the tools needed to help stop the spread of misinformation once and for all.
'Authoritative' Financial Times
'Encouraging' The Times
‘A fascinating case for counteracting the misinformation virus through psychological inoculation’ Observer
‘A must-read for those of us interested in resisting the spread of disinformation’ Psychology Today
'If you want to know why people believe fake news and how to defend yourself against it, then this is the book to read' The Skeptic
Sander van der Linden is The Professor of Social Psychology in Society and Director of the Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab in the Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge. He is often dubbed Cambridge’s ‘defence against the dark arts teacher’ and his pioneering research on fake news, misinformation, science denial, and the psychology of influence and persuasion is world-renowned and has received many awards. Prior to Cambridge, he was based at Yale University and Princeton University. He earned his PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and currently resides in Cambridge, UK.