Fool Proof: How Fear of Playing the Sucker Shapes Our Selves and the Social Order—and What We Can Do About It
Written by Tess Wilkinson-Ryan
Narrated by Mia Barron
4/5
()
About this audiobook
The fear of playing the fool is a universal psychological phenomenon and an underappreciated driver of human behavior; in the spirit of Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink, Dan Ariely’s Predictably Irrational, and Susan Cain’s Quiet, Fool Proof tracks the implications of the sucker construct from personal choices to cultural conflict, ultimately charting an unexpected and empowering path forward.
In the American moral vernacular, we have a whole thesaurus for victims of exploitation. They are suckers (born every minute), fools (not suffered gladly), dupes, marks, chumps, pawns, and losers. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. Cultural stories about suckers abound too: the Trojan Horse, the Boy Who Cried Wolf, the Emperor’s New Clothes, even Hansel and Gretel. If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you. Don’t go out with him; he only wants one thing. The fear of playing the fool is not just a descriptive fact; it is a prescriptive theme: Don’t let that be you.
Most of us are constantly navigating two sets of imperatives: how to be successful and how to be good. The fear of being suckered whispers that you can’t do both, operating as a quiet caution against leaps of faith and acts of altruism. University of Pennsylvania law professor and moral psychologist Tess Wilkinson-Ryan brings evidence from studies in psychology, sociology, and economics to show how the sucker construct shapes, and distorts, human decision-making.
Fool Proof offers the first in-depth analysis of the sucker’s game as implicit worldview, drawing evidence everywhere from grocery shopping to international trade deals, from road rage to #MeToo. Offering real-world puzzles and stories, Wilkinson-Ryan explores what kinds of hustles feel like scams and which ones feel like business as usual, who gets pegged as suckers and who gets lauded as saints. She takes deep dives into areas like the psychology of stereotyping, the history of ethnic slurs, and the economics of the family—and shows how the threat of being suckered is deployed to perpetuate social and economic hierarchies.
Ultimately, Fool Proof argues that the goal is not so much to spot the con as to renegotiate its meaning. The fear of being suckered can be weaponized to disrupt cooperation and trust, but it can also be defused and reframed to make space for moral agency and social progress. Facing the fear of being suckered head-on means deciding for ourselves what risks to take, what relationships to invest in, when to share, and when to protest—drafting a new template for how to live with integrity in a sucker’s world.
Tess Wilkinson-Ryan
Tess Wilkinson-Ryan is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She has a law degree and a doctorate in psychology, and studies the moral psychology of legal decision-making, teaching courses in contracts, consumer law, and leadership. Wilkinson-Ryan grew up in Maine and now lives in Philadelphia with her husband and two children.
Related to Fool Proof
Related audiobooks
Mindwise: Why We Misunderstand What Others Think, Believe, Feel, and Want Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Upside of Uncertainty: A Guide to Finding Possibility in the Unknown Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How Trust Works: The Science of How Relationships Are Built, Broken, and Repaired Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBefore You Say Anything: The Untold Stories and Failproof Strategies of a Very Discreet Speechwriter Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGrandstanding: The Use and Abuse of Moral Talk Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Switch Craft: The Hidden Power of Mental Agility Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Belonging: The Science of Creating Connection and Bridging Divides Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Thinking with Your Hands: The Surprising Science Behind How Gestures Shape Our Thoughts Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDon't Trust Your Gut: Using Data to Get What You Really Want in Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Misbelief: What Makes Rational People Believe Irrational Things Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A More Just Future: Psychological Tools for Reckoning With Our Past and Driving Social Change Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Rethinking Intelligence: A Radical New Understanding of Our Human Potential Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Say the Right Thing: How to Talk about Identity, Diversity, and Justice Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Radical Inclusion: Seven Steps to Help You Create a More Just Workplace, Home, and World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fluke: Chance, Chaos, and Why Everything We Do Matters Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Both/And Thinking: Embracing Creative Tensions to Solve Your Toughest Problems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mindwandering: How Your Constant Mental Drift Can Improve Your Mood and Boost Your Creativity Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sludge: What Stops Us from Getting Things Done and What to Do about It Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Me, Myself, and Us: The Science of Personality and the Art of Well-Being Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How You Say It: Why You Talk the Way You Do—And What It Says About You Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Power of Experiments: Decision-Making in a Data Driven World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Misinformation Age: How False Beliefs Spread Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Between Us: How Cultures Create Emotions Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Making Numbers Count: The Art and Science of Communicating Numbers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects Our Minds and How to Build Immunity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Psychology For You
Man's Search for Ultimate Meaning Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of Seduction: An Indispensible Primer on the Ultimate Form of Power Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The 48 Laws of Power Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sociopath: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Do the Work: Recognize Your Patterns, Heal from Your Past, and Create Your Self Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Magic Words Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn’t Designed For You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Win Friends and Influence People: Updated For the Next Generation of Leaders Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Highly Sensitive Person in Love: Understanding and Managing Relationships When the World Overwhelms You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Do Hard Things: Why We Get Resilience Wrong and the Surprising Science of Real Toughness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Banish Your Inner Critic: Silence the Voice of Self-Doubt to Unleash Your Creativity and Do Your Best Work Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Games People Play: The Basic Handbook of Transactional Analysis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How To Win Friends And Influence People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It Starts with Self-Compassion: A Practical Road Map Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5You’re Not the Only One F*cking Up: Breaking the Endless Cycle of Dating Mistakes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values, and Spritual Growth Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Memory Craft: Improve Your Memory with the Most Powerful Methods in History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond Small Talk: How to Have More Dynamic, Charismatic and Persuasive Conversations Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related categories
Reviews for Fool Proof
1 rating0 reviews