{"id":136842,"date":"2024-11-24T13:52:05","date_gmt":"2024-11-24T17:52:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=136842"},"modified":"2024-12-03T18:01:20","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T22:01:20","slug":"trust-your-mind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-mind\/","title":{"rendered":"Do You Trust Your Mind? Perhaps You Should Think Again"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Why does your mind sometimes fail to recognize real danger? What makes your memories and perceptions less reliable than you might think?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In <em>You Are Not So Smart<\/em>, David McRaney reveals surprising insights about how our minds can deceive us. From underreacting to threats to forming inaccurate memories, our brains often work in ways that don&#8217;t serve our best interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep reading to discover why you shouldn&#8217;t always trust your mind and learn practical strategies to overcome these cognitive shortcomings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-don-t-trust-your-mind-completely\">Don&#8217;t Trust Your Mind Completely<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>McRaney contends that our minds aren\u2019t as reliable as we think they are. We often rely on our brains\u2019 automatic processes to keep us safe and help us make good decisions. However, McRaney explains that automatic responses such as running from danger and our ability to accurately perceive and remember reality aren\u2019t all that dependable\u2014our biases and faulty thought processes often get in the way. Let\u2019s explore why you should hesitate to trust your mind fully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-thought-error-1-you-underreact-to-danger\">Thought Error 1: You Underreact to Danger<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>First, McRaney explains that our brains aren\u2019t as reliable as we think because our drive to rationalize situations often undermines our ability to appropriately identify and react to danger\u2014<strong>we doubt the severity of threats and underreact in dangerous situations<\/strong>. This psychological phenomenon, called the <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-normalcy-bias\/\">normalcy bias<\/a><\/em>, occurs for two reasons. First, we act based on our experience living in a fairly safe world\u2014when danger arises, we underreact because our past experiences tell us the threat probably isn\u2019t real. Second, when a threat presents itself, we want everything to go back to normal, so we <em>pretend<\/em> it\u2019s normal to soothe ourselves. According to McRaney, this error is detrimental because it makes you more vulnerable to danger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>To avoid the normalcy bias, McRaney recommends preparing for the possibility of dangerous situations<\/strong>\u2014research potential dangers, practice drills, and plan how you\u2019ll act if a crisis arises. This will help you take the signs of danger seriously rather than ignoring them and act effectively when they occur instead of freezing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-thought-error-2-your-perce-p-tions-and-memories-are-often-inaccurate\"><strong>Thought Error 2: Your Perce<\/strong>p<strong>tions and Memories Are Often Inaccurate<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Second, McRaney explains that our brains aren\u2019t as reliable as we think they are because <strong>our perceptions and memories of reality aren\u2019t complete and objective\u2014they\u2019re skewed by available information and external influences.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-faulty-perceptions-of-reality\">Faulty Perceptions of Reality<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>McRaney explains that our perceptions of reality are largely determined by our experiences<\/strong>. We\u2019re more likely to believe an anecdote if we have even one example that proves it, we\u2019re more likely to doubt things we haven\u2019t experienced, and we\u2019re likely to make judgments based on comparisons. This can be seen in psychological phenomena such as <em>the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/availability-bias\/\">availability heuristic<\/a>,<\/em> a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-shortcuts\/\">mental shortcut<\/a> that helps us make quick but often inaccurate assessments based on the information most accessible to us, and <em>the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-anchoring-effect\/\">anchoring effect<\/a><\/em>, our tendency to make judgments based on one specific reference. These biases developed as an evolutionary advantage\u2014they allow us to make quick decisions that will keep us safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, someone tells you that people with dark hair tend to read more than others\u2014you believe this because your mom has dark hair and loves to read. However, if your mom had blonde hair, you\u2019d be likely to doubt this anecdote because it doesn\u2019t fit with your experience. Further, imagine you want to buy a new perfume but its $100 price is out of your $50 budget; however, next week there\u2019s a two-for-one sale\u2014the cost of the perfume is still over your budget, but you perceive this is a cheap price because you\u2019re getting more for the original price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While you can\u2019t help the fact that your brain is easily influenced by experience, <strong>McRaney says you can gain a more realistic understanding of reality and make more effective decisions by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-practice-critical-thinking\/\">practicing critical thinking<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-keep-an-open-mind\/\">keeping an open mind<\/a><\/strong>. Always consider what you don\u2019t know, how you might be wrong, whether the information is coming from a reliable source, and whether it represents the whole picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-inaccurate-memories\">Inaccurate Memories<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>McRaney explains that our memories are often inaccurate because they\u2019re slightly different each time we recall them<\/strong>. This psychological phenomenon, called <em>the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-misinformation-effect\/\">misinformation effect<\/a><\/em>, occurs because, rather than existing in an unchanging state in our minds, memories are reconstructed from scratch each time we recall them. This means that we might forget or alter certain aspects each time we recall a memory as we\u2019re influenced by new experiences and knowledge<em>. <\/em>For example, you\u2019re rehashing last week\u2019s meeting with a coworker and they mention that the boss looked annoyed\u2014you didn\u2019t notice this, but since your coworker mentioned it, it becomes part of your memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This thought error suggests that your testimonies and those of others aren\u2019t always reliable<\/strong>. As a result, you may inadvertently believe or spread misinformation. To overcome this, McRaney suggests using your knowledge of this error to be more skeptical about your memories and to more critically analyze them for inaccuracies and inconsistencies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why does your mind sometimes fail to recognize real danger? What makes your memories and perceptions less reliable than you might think? In You Are Not So Smart, David McRaney reveals surprising insights about how our minds can deceive us. From underreacting to threats to forming inaccurate memories, our brains often work in ways that don&#8217;t serve our best interests. Keep reading to discover why you shouldn&#8217;t always trust your mind and learn practical strategies to overcome these cognitive shortcomings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":136848,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,160],"tags":[1681],"class_list":["post-136842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psychology","category-science","tag-you-are-not-so-smart","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Do You Trust Your Mind? Perhaps You Should Think Again - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Our brains often work in ways that don&#039;t serve our best interests. Discover why you shouldn&#039;t always trust your mind.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-mind\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Do You Trust Your Mind? Perhaps You Should Think Again\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Our brains often work in ways that don&#039;t serve our best interests. Discover why you shouldn&#039;t always trust your mind.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-mind\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-24T17:52:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-12-03T22:01:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/confused-man-light-bulb.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1344\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elizabeth Whitworth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elizabeth Whitworth\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-mind\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-mind\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Elizabeth Whitworth\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13\"},\"headline\":\"Do You Trust Your Mind? Perhaps You Should Think Again\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-24T17:52:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-03T22:01:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-mind\/\"},\"wordCount\":857,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-mind\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/confused-man-light-bulb.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"You Are Not So Smart\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Psychology\",\"Science\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-mind\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-mind\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-mind\/\",\"name\":\"Do You Trust Your Mind? Perhaps You Should Think Again - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-mind\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-mind\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/confused-man-light-bulb.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-24T17:52:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-03T22:01:20+00:00\",\"description\":\"Our brains often work in ways that don't serve our best interests. Discover why you shouldn't always trust your mind.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-mind\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-mind\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-mind\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/confused-man-light-bulb.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/confused-man-light-bulb.jpg\",\"width\":1344,\"height\":768,\"caption\":\"A confused man in a dark room and a light bulb shining in the background illustrates that you shouldn't fully trust your mind\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-mind\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Do You Trust Your Mind? Perhaps You Should Think Again\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13\",\"name\":\"Elizabeth Whitworth\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Elizabeth Whitworth\"},\"description\":\"Elizabeth has a lifelong love of books. She devours nonfiction, especially in the areas of history, theology, and philosophy. A switch to audiobooks has kindled her enjoyment of well-narrated fiction, particularly Victorian and early 20th-century works. She appreciates idea-driven books\u2014and a classic murder mystery now and then. Elizabeth has a Substack and is writing a book about what the Bible says about death and hell.\",\"sameAs\":[\"rina@shortform.com\"],\"award\":[\"Contributions to joint task force efforts (FBI)\",\"Contributions to Special Operations Division (DOJ & DEA)\",\"Efforts to fight the war on drugs (NSA)\",\"Contributions to Operation Storm Front (US Customs Service)\"],\"knowsAbout\":[\"History\",\"Theology\",\"Government\"],\"jobTitle\":\"Senior SEO Writer\",\"worksFor\":\"Shortform\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/elizabeth\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Do You Trust Your Mind? Perhaps You Should Think Again - Shortform Books","description":"Our brains often work in ways that don't serve our best interests. Discover why you shouldn't always trust your mind.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-mind\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Do You Trust Your Mind? Perhaps You Should Think Again","og_description":"Our brains often work in ways that don't serve our best interests. Discover why you shouldn't always trust your mind.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-mind\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2024-11-24T17:52:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-12-03T22:01:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1344,"height":768,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/confused-man-light-bulb.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Elizabeth Whitworth","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Elizabeth Whitworth","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-mind\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-mind\/"},"author":{"name":"Elizabeth Whitworth","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13"},"headline":"Do You Trust Your Mind? Perhaps You Should Think Again","datePublished":"2024-11-24T17:52:05+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-03T22:01:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-mind\/"},"wordCount":857,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-mind\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/confused-man-light-bulb.jpg","keywords":["You Are Not So Smart"],"articleSection":["Psychology","Science"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-mind\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-mind\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-mind\/","name":"Do You Trust Your Mind? Perhaps You Should Think Again - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-mind\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-mind\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/confused-man-light-bulb.jpg","datePublished":"2024-11-24T17:52:05+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-03T22:01:20+00:00","description":"Our brains often work in ways that don't serve our best interests. Discover why you shouldn't always trust your mind.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-mind\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-mind\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-mind\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/confused-man-light-bulb.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/confused-man-light-bulb.jpg","width":1344,"height":768,"caption":"A confused man in a dark room and a light bulb shining in the background illustrates that you shouldn't fully trust your mind"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-mind\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Do You Trust Your Mind? Perhaps You Should Think Again"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13","name":"Elizabeth Whitworth","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Elizabeth Whitworth"},"description":"Elizabeth has a lifelong love of books. She devours nonfiction, especially in the areas of history, theology, and philosophy. A switch to audiobooks has kindled her enjoyment of well-narrated fiction, particularly Victorian and early 20th-century works. She appreciates idea-driven books\u2014and a classic murder mystery now and then. Elizabeth has a Substack and is writing a book about what the Bible says about death and hell.","sameAs":["rina@shortform.com"],"award":["Contributions to joint task force efforts (FBI)","Contributions to Special Operations Division (DOJ & DEA)","Efforts to fight the war on drugs (NSA)","Contributions to Operation Storm Front (US Customs Service)"],"knowsAbout":["History","Theology","Government"],"jobTitle":"Senior SEO Writer","worksFor":"Shortform","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/elizabeth\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/confused-man-light-bulb.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136842"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137013,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136842\/revisions\/137013"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}