Jamie Holmes is a Future Tense Fellow at New America and a former Research Coordinator at Harvard University in the Department of Economics. He holds an M.I.A. from Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs and his writing has appeared in The New Yorker, the New York Times, Slate, Politico, the Christian Science Monitor, The New Republic, The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, and the Daily Beast.
"Holmes... debuts with a provocative analysis of the roots of
uncertainty... The author's bright anecdotes and wide-ranging
research stories are certain to please many readers."
—Kirkus Reviews
"This isn't really about 'nonsense,' as in silliness, but about
ambiguity—when it's helpful, when it's not; and how people react to
it for good or ill... The many fans of the work of Malcolm
Gladwell... will enjoy this readable and thought-provoking
work."
—Library Journal (starred)
"By clearly staking out his thesis and exploring the topic with a
dash of mischief, Holmes convincingly demonstrates that stressful
situations can cause us to cling more steadfastly to our beliefs
and discard unwelcome information, but he also offers a primer on
how to combat these natural tendencies. While life is full of
nonsense, managing our response to uncertainty makes all the sense
in the world."
—Booklist
"An extremely useful primer for anyone who wants to better
understand the complicated ways ambiguity affects human
decision-making."
—New York Magazine
"Holmes is a fine writer and a clear thinker who leads us through
the uses of confusion in art, business, medicine, engineering,
police work and family life... If we want people to be prepared for
the work of life and of living together, we should encourage
lessons in the art of skepticism."
—Washington Post
"If you're hard-wired to know and want to get more comfortable not
knowing, this book will guide you down that long, dark hall."
—Charlotte Observer
“Uncomfortable with ambiguity? Maybe you shouldn’t be. In this
energetic, tale-filled, fascinating tour of a broad horizon, Jamie
Holmes shows that people often prosper when and because they are
uncertain. A persuasive argument, but one thing is clear: You’ll
learn a lot from this book.”
—Cass R. Sunstein, professor, Harvard University, and coauthor of
Nudge
“Jamie Holmes has written a refreshing, lively book sparkling with
insights and entertaining stories that illustrate how the mind
deals with ambiguity. And he makes the case well that how we manage
ambiguity both as individuals and as a species is critical to our
future success.”
—Peter Bergen, author of Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden
from 9/11 to Abbottabad
“How do we make sense of the nonsensical? Extract meaning from
endless ambiguity? In Nonsense, Jamie Holmes takes us on an
engrossing journey into the mind’s ability to process the murky
world around us. From women’s hemlines to Nazi spies, Henri Matisse
to Anton Chekhov, Holmes is an entertaining guide into the vagaries
of our comprehension of reality—and the power we can derive from
nonsense, if only we give it a chance.”
—Maria Konnikova, author of Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock
Holmes
“A book of astonishing stories and deep insights into how people
deal with ambiguity, a subject that has troubled human beings
forever, and never mattered more than it does now.”
—Peter Beinart, associate professor, CUNY, columnist for The
Atlantic and Haaretz
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