Roland Paulsen Makes Me Dumber Than I Am

People like to congratulate themselves on their intelligence. Roland Paulsen’s new book argues that the more surprising fact is how irrationally they often use it.

In his review of “Avbegåvad,” Håkan Lindgren follows Paulsen’s examination of the ways people make themselves less intelligent than they are. The book is published by Albert Bonniers Förlag and runs to 287 pages.

Paulsen’s central comparison is deliberately sharp. Human beings can examine a used car with care and experience, yet accept a “used” religion or ideology without showing the same critical judgment. Their intelligence is present, but they apply it selectively and irrationally.

Lindgren presents the reading experience as something that leaves him “a little dumber along the way,” echoing the book’s provocative premise that people themselves are often responsible for dulling their own reasoning.