{"product_id":"the-7-laws-of-magical-thinking-how-irrational-beliefs-keep-us-happy-healthy-and-sane-9781594630873","title":"The 7 Laws of Magical Thinking: How Irrational Beliefs Keep Us Happy  Healthy  and Sane","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhat is so special about touching a piano John Lennon once owned? Why do we yell at our laptops? What drove the Yankees to dig up the Red Sox jersey secretly buried beneath their new stadium? And whats up with the phrase \"Everything happens for a reason\"?  Psychologists have documented a litany of cognitive biasesmisperceptions of realityand explained their positive functions. Now  Matthew Hutson shows that all of us  even the staunchest skeptics  engage in magical thinking all the timeand that we can use it to our advantage  if we know how to outsmart it.  Drawing on cognitive science  neuroscience  psychology  and anthropology  Hutson shows us that magical thinking has been so useful to us that its hardwired into our brains. It encourages us to think that we actually have free will. It helps us believe that we have an underlying purpose in the world. It can even protect us from the paralyzing awareness of our own mortality. In other words  magical thinking is a completely irrational way of making our lives make sense.  With wonderfully entertaining stories  personal reflections  and sharp observations  Hutson has written a book that is entertaining  useful  and ever so slightly alarming.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45646909145141,"sku":"ByrdShop_1594630879","price":32.97,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781594630873.jpg?v=1781681237","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-7-laws-of-magical-thinking-how-irrational-beliefs-keep-us-happy-healthy-and-sane-9781594630873","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}