What They Say

The Certainty Trap is an essential book for our times. With remarkable clarity, Ilana Redstone identifies the thinking that leads people to believe that those holding viewpoints opposed to their own must be intellectually and morally deficient. Assymetric certainty is behind much of our current social and political dysfunction, and The Certainty Trap not only astutely analyzes this phenomenon but also offers practical steps to overcome it, by showing us how to question the infallibility of our own ideas.

Bernard Schweizer, Director of Heresy Press and author of Christianity and the Triumph of Humor

In an increasingly polarized country, The Certainty Trap offers us a way forward and a pathway back to one and other. Ilana Redstone gives us the rare combination of essential research, engaging prose, and the potential for real world application. It turns out there is something all of us can do at this crucial moment: question our assumptions and open up our minds -- the most democratic act of all. 

Eli Saslow, two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and author of Rising out of Hatred

In a world that often feels like it's spinning out of control, The Certainty Trap is a steadying hand on the wheel. It's a book that will challenge you, change you, and give you hope for the future. If you're ready to break free from the certainty trap and see the world in a new light, this book is the perfect place to start.

Barbara Oakley, PhD, author of the best-selling A Mind for Numbers and instructor of “Learning How to Learn,” one of the world’s most popular courses.

In our troubled time of polarisation, warring narratives, and distrust of institutions and of each other, the absolute certainty with which many people hold their beliefs and perceptions of the motivations of others plays a key and destructive role. In The Certainty Trap, Ilana Redstone, in a style that is thorough and meticulous, yet accessible and engaging, takes the reader through ways to think about how we think and why we think that way in order to better understand both our own values, beliefs, goals and principles and those of others. Redstone does not ask us to embrace epistemological or moral relativism or refrain from drawing conclusions, but to avoid the mind-closing trap of certainty, and instead hold the views we feel warrant it with a confidence that leaves room for doubt, questioning and revision. Clarity and precision, Redstone tells us, matter enormously and those qualities are found in abundance in her important new book.

Helen Pluckrose, Author of Cynical Theories, Social (In)justice, The Counterweight Handbook and (forthcoming), Reformers, Revolutionaries and Reactionaries: Has Liberalism Failed or Are We Failing to be Liberal?

If more people embraced Redstone's wisdom in international affairs, the world would be a better place.

Carlo Rovelli, Italian theoretical physicist and writer. Centre de Physique Théorique de Luminy, Marseille France, Perimeter Institute, Waterloo, Canada. Rotman Institute of Philosophy, London Ontario.