Summer is over, and the glorious season of autumn is blooming here in New England. I hope that, wherever you are, you are happy and healthy. I have just two items to report.

First, I can now announce that I have a new book arriving next spring from Oxford University Press: The Uses of Delusion: Why It’s Not Always Rational to Be Rational. After spending much of my career championing logic, reason, and science, I’ve come to a slightly more nuanced view. Without question, most of the time we should be driven by reason, but there are times when the path of reason is not the best path. Many people do things that don’t strictly make sense, and yet these actions help them achieve their personal goals and navigate the social world. That’s what this book is about.

The Uses of Delusion was the most pleasurable of all my books to write so far, and it is filled with stories and personal anecdotes to illustrate the main points. It will not appear until April or May, but it’s available for pre-order now. I already have one book talk scheduled, for the Stonington (CT) Free Library on August 24, 2022. You can be certain I will remind you about this and other opportunities to hear about the book as they emerge.

My latest “Behavior & Belief” column for Skeptical Inquirer magazine is called “Why Your Uncle Isn’t Going to Get Vaccinated.” All of us here in the US know someone who—six months after the vaccines have been widely available—still resists getting the shot. Meanwhile the Delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus rages. At this point, it seems unlikely these people can be convinced to get vaccinated, and in this article, I provide some possible explanations for a decision that seems more than a little crazy to the rest of us.

That’s it for now!

SV