Just Trust Me: Finding the Truth in a World of Spin
by G. Randy Kasten
SUVs are the safest vehicle because they're so large-right? Wrong! That's the advertising pitch, but in 2000, they had the highest rollover rate (36%) of any vehicle type involved in fatal accidents. Yet two years later their safety myth was still so strong that one of four vehicles sold in the U. S. was an SUV
The world of spin we live in is full of such potentially hazardous illusions. We need to know if particular foods can hurt us with Salmonella or cholesterol, whether our government is truthful in its reasons for waging war, what problems a political candidate may cause or resolve if elected, and whether the items we purchase are durable or junk. But gaining those insights can be challenging when so many of the illusions surrounding us are deliberately created.
As a civil-litigation attorney for over twenty-five years, Randy Kasten has heard thousands of lies. He has witnessed that those who dispense the information we need to make decisions-advertisers, salespeople, politicians, and the media-often have a vested interest in manipulating us. Truth's biggest enemies are the people whose job it is to sell us incomplete versions of the facts and our willingness to believe what we want to believe. Often, we believe what we believe because it is the only story available.
To help us see through deceptions of all types, Kasten discusses eight kinds of lies and what we can do about them, as well as methods for discerning the truth gleaned from his practice of law. Other topics include advertising magic, thirty-six places where the truth hides, lessons from science, the media and misinformation, and how we fool ourselves. Altogether, he provides a unique tool for enabling us to make decisions that will lead to more prosperity, better health, greater intimacy, and a life based on lasting values
Paperback
English
Brand New
Author Biography
G. Randy Kasten is an attorney with twenty-five years of experience in litigation and legal transaction work. Kasten's experience includes jury trials, bench trials, arbitrations, mediations and appellate work. He has sat as a judge and acted as an arbitrator, has written about thirty legal articles and edited newsletters on legal subjects. Kasten has given public presentations on legal topics as well as continuing education seminars for lawyers. Much of Just Trust Me: Finding the Truth in a World of Spin is the result of Kasten's experience in litigation. Seeing patterns in why lies were told and how they were structured, he was inspired to write a useful book to help people get the facts. The author has also worked in a coffee bar, in warehouses, as a performer in a theatrical road show in England and as an undercover restaurant security officer. At Reed College, Kasten majored in American Studies, exploring the effects of economic conditions, education and technology on individual belief systems. He acted on television and in local theatre productions at a young age. His mother ran a county library system so he learned at an early age what a tremendous difference access to information makes in people's lives.
Review
Truth itself can be defined in different ways and may best be described as a constellation of concepts, rather than a single one. The nature of truth shifts depending on context, and can seen from many vantage points. --G. Randy Kasten
, Excerpted from: USA Today-- "Reviews" Today's media seems to be found on lies and deception more than anything else. Just Trust Me: Finding the Truth in a World of Spin is a discussion of today's world of illusions and spin from all sides and from all sources, G. Randy Kasten offers advice to cutting to the heart of the matter and how to get a leg up on understanding today's confusing world. Just Trust Me is filled with sage advice and very much recommended reading.
--Midwest Book Review
-- "Reviews" Kasten discusses eight kinds of lies and what we can do about them, as well as methods for discerning the truth gleaned from his practice of law. Other topics include advertising magic, thirty-six places where the truth hides, lessons from science, the media and misinformation, and how we fool ourselves. Altogether, he provides a unique tool for enabling us to make decisions that will lead to more prosperity, better health, greater intimacy, and a life based on lasting values --Excerpted from: DailyOm.com
-- "Reviews" As a 25-year veteran of the civil courts system, Randy Kasten has made his living figuring out when, why, and especially how people lie. In his new book, he breaks down the most common types of lies we're fed -- from advertising, politicians, the media, friends, family, even lawyers -- and, more importantly, how to identify them --Ellen Cushing, EastBayExpress.com
-- "Reviews" Just Trust Me: Finding Truth in a World of Spin by Randy Kasten '78 (Quest Books, 2011). Randy examines why deceptions occur -- not only in advertising media, but also in social and business interactions--and suggests ways to detect them. He also provides strategies for surmounting the barriers to truth: our willingness to believe what we want to believe; the absence of accurate information; and the rise of the professional spinmaster. --Reed Magazine
-- "Reviews"
Review Quote
"You can fool all of the people some of the time," said Lincoln, "and some of the people all of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time." Randy Kasten, in his new book, Just Trust Me: Finding the Truth in a World of Spin , sets out to create another group: those who refuse to be fooled any of the time. Written with clarity, logic and insight, this is an instruction book on how to sort through the information that bombards us from all directions, and separate truth from lies. People who find themselves adrift in this world--and that includes all of us at one time or another--now have this book to help them navigate around what is phony and misleading, and sail on toward what is true." --Walter Rimler, author of George Gershwin: An Intimate Portrait "Anyone listening to the arguments surrounding healthcare reform should keep a copy of this book in their back pocket. The types of spin Kasten describes are all there, from obfuscation with statistics to mis-direction and errors of omission. If you're sick of lies, Just Trust Me will be uniquely therapeutic." --Doug Perednia, M.D., author of Overhauling the Healthcare Machine
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