Wrong
Why Experts Keep Failing Us and How to Know When Not to Trust Them
By: David H. Freedman
Published: June 10, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 304 page
ISBN-13: 9780316023788
ISBN-10: 0316023787
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
"The fact is, expert wisdom usually turns out to be at best highly contested and ephemeral, and at worst flat-out wrong", writes science and business journalist David H. Freedman in his groundbreaking and thought provoking book Wrong: Why Experts Keep Failing Us and How to Know When Not to Trust Them. The author describes in detail how not only are experts very often wrong and their data flawed, but also that the general public is losing faith rapidly in their alleged expertise.
David Freedman pulls back the curtain on how research data is really conducted in modern society, and the results are not flattering to the research community. Whether the expert is seeking a medical breakthrough, psychological research, or how to better operate a business, the data is very often wrong, flawed, falsified, or interpreted incorrectly. The author points out the most highly publicized research results are the most likely to be misleading at best, or entirely wrong at worst. David Freedman points to problems in the way the scientific community, academia, think tanks, and corporations conduct and publish research as issues that demand a closer examination. Even the peer reviewed journals are considered suspect by the author due to their own bias for demanding fresh, startling results from big name researchers.
David H. Freedman (photo left) understands that there is much good research taking place in the medical, scientific, and business communities. For the author, the concern is the best research is often distorted, neglected, or even confused or overwhelmed by inferior or tainted research data. The demands of the media and the general public for the next big thing, and a headline grabbing finding, leads researchers to focus on a positive result even if it means cheating on the research. The author also points out that research that refutes the widely reported sensational claims is either not reported widely, or ignored entirely. The result for the average person is a lack of trust in research, as good research becomes confused with doubtful and suspect findings. The general public no longer puts faith in the findings or the word of experts, leading to a general mistrust in all information regardless of source.
For me, the power of the book is how David H. Freedman describes with deep insight how and why research data may be unreliable, its reporting inaccurate and sensationalized, and the expert opinion may be entirely wrong. That assessment only reflects one half of the book's importance, however. The other side of the book is more positive in nature. The author shares his ideas on how to better determine the accuracy and value of expert opinion, through better awareness of how the conclusions were reached, and how the underlying research was conducted and analyzed. David Freedman provides a detailed check list for readers to follow to help sort out good research from the shoddy, bad, or even falsified analysis so often put forward without question. The book is an important wake up call for all members of society in general, and the media and research communities in particular. Failure to provide accurate and useful advice will eventually render all experts irrelevant, whether they have valuable ideas to share or not. The author even includes, to his credit, an entire chapter outlining how his book itself could be wrong.
I highly recommend the highly original and landmark book Wrong: Why Experts Keep Failing Us and How to Know When Not to Trust Them by David H. Freedman, to anyone seeking a more complete understanding of how expert ideas are formulated, and the various pitfalls and roadblocks awaiting solid research that may not conform to pre-existing biases. This book goes far in helping to bridge the knowledge gap between what experts claim and what is really the truth.
Read the eye opening and empowering book Wrong: Why Experts Keep Failing Us and How to Know When Not to Trust Them by David H. Freedman, and discover for yourself the flaws in modern research, and the shortcomings of today's experts in all aspects of our lives. Learn as well how to decipher the real meaning of the research data and results, and how to decide for yourself how to sort reliable information and advice from that which is less accurate and very often outright wrong.
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