The Vaccine Against Foolishness

How to develop cognitive defenses against manipulation, errors, and misinformation.

If we are so intelligent, why do we fall for so many foolishness and atrocities? Why do we allow ourselves to be manipulated by false beliefs, conspiracy theories, and prejudices? José Antonio Marina warns us of an invisible but real danger: mental viruses—ideas that infect and corrupt our intelligence, distort our memory, skew our judgment, and make us vulnerable to political, economic, and ideological manipulation.

After years of research, Marina offers us a true vaccine against foolishness, designed to strengthen critical thinking, deactivate clichés that we accept as dogmas, and understand how our brain, an unfinished work of evolution, leads us to make systematic mistakes. With his clear and provocative style, the author invites us to recognize the cognitive traps that surround us and to protect ourselves against misinformation, credulity, and manipulation. An essential read for those seeking clarity in times of confusion.