3.5 stars rounded down. Relatively easy read; if you're completely new to these concepts, it presents them in an easy-to-understand manner. If you're already familiar with them, it serves as an easygoing "back-t0-basics" style.

Yes, there are plenty of charts and graphs - there's no escaping those! But there's also plenty of wit and a healthy mix of examples both outrageous and practical that make for a good time reading.
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I don't read much nonfiction, but I picked this one up because of the pretty cover, and that I recognized the author from one of my college courses.

It was well put together and interesting throughout. I learned some stuff, but a lot of it was also reinforcing things that I already knew.

I don't know what the target audience of this book is. People like me, who would be more likely to be drawn to it, would likely find less value from it. The kind of person who would potentially benefit a lot from it would probably dismiss it as something that's not worth their time in the first place.

I don't really get the draw of nonfiction like this. I did buy two more books by this author, though, which seem like they'll be less preachy and more focused on the topic of language, and I'm excited to read those.

I appreciated this book! Pinker is a little more technical here than I perceived him in "Enlightenment Now", the other book of his that I've read. I appreciated the detail, and would need to re-read this a few times to really retain it enough to use conversationally. That being said, while reading this you really are giving yourself time to refine how you think about the world, how your brain processes information it receives, and checking in on yourself and your ability to be honest with that information. It felt like a bit of a check-up from the neck-up.

This was deeply interesting while simultaneously being a giant snooze fest. There were so many great concepts but at the same time so many of them did not translate well into audio format. Since much of this book really required examining text to get the full punch I think I will have to get the physical copy to examine some of the breakdowns. I think there is much to be learned from this and it can prove to be a truly valuable text especially those that give it the time it's due.

While each portion of the book was good, the beginning and end to a great job discussing why we are not rational thinkers from a sociological and psychological perspective, the majority of the book would be better off as small articles about examples of how we don't think rationality.

There was a lot more math and logic than I expected so I’m walking away wondering if I was smart enough for this book but I didn’t enjoy and learn from some chapters

One of the best books I've listened to in a long time. Might be the only time I have ever bought the physical book afterwards so I could actually read it and see the charts, graphs and all.

dul, simplistic concept without teeth behind the exploration. Finished it but it was a slog for sure.

A whirlwind of Pinker lucidity and thought. He makes the case for careful, measured reason in a world where the speed of thought is fettered only by internet speeds of gigabyte-per-second social media uploads.