'Useful Delusions' Examines How Beliefs Can Be Powerful In Positive And Negative Ways
In a new book, former NPR reporter Shankar Vedantam suggests attaining "a deeper psychological understanding of why people believe what they believe," being empathetic, and considering costs involved.
A few years ago, former NPR journalist and Hidden Brain podcast host Shankar Vedantam became absorbed with the story of Donald Lowry.
Decades ago this Illinois man impersonated a woman, writing thousands of love letters to men across America â and he asked them for money.
Some of the men who were fooled by this con artist did not care when they learned the truth. Some actually reported that their lives had been transformed for the better. Eventually, when Lowery was brought to trial on charges of mail fraud, some even came and testified in his defense and argued that the love letters had kept them from depression and suicide.
Lowery story begins a new book by Vedantam
