We humans make judgments about a staggering variety of topics. These include which medical
condition is the correct diagnosis for your symptoms whether a particular defendant is guilty
of some crime or whether a particular political candidate will win an election-to name a few of
countless examples. But how accurate are the judgments we all make and how can they get
better? This book synthesizes interdisciplinary research about these questions into one volume.
In doing so it uniquely draws on insights from fields as diverse as medicine political
judgment cross-cultural psychology evolutionary history and the heuristics and biases
research program. Consequently the book also enables readers concerned with judgmental
accuracy in one field to benefit from the insights in others. Moreover the author introduces
an emerging field of research: empirical epistemology or normative cognitive science. The book
lastly articulates a set of recommendations-recommendations aiming to improve our judgment our
decision-making and ultimately our lives.
