From Shakespeare and Robert Frost to George Bailey and Captain Kirk, we all wonder about the things we could have done—the moments when we turned left when we should have turned right. RATIONAL DEFIANCE: A Guide to Clear Thinking, Bold Action, and Living on Your Own Terms is a book about these moments, and hence it is a book that any reader feels they might have written themselves. But Henk Pretorius does so with a startling clarity that few could have achieved.
With a doctoral degree in behavioral psychology, Pretorius is singularly well placed to make sense of our reactions to conformity. One of the key planks of his argument in favor of the principle that provides the book’s title is the existence of status quo bias: a phenomenon identified in 1988, in which people presented with the choice of either modifying a position already in existence or changing an action tend to lean towards keeping things as they are. In Pretorius’s view, all too often this results in what he calls the “Conformity Coma”: a state of mind in which one does not question orthodoxies, and settles for the familiar rather than seeking out the new. Useful overviews of the sunk-cost fallacy, nudge theory, and confirmation bias (among other phenomena) follow.
Pretorius draws on theoretical constructs by a raft of academics, but, firmly aware of his target audience, keeps footnoting to a minimum. In the same way, the framework of the book is straightforward. It introduces core concepts that clarify the relationship between the individual and the network of motivations that largely dictate the choices one makes in life without being condescending. Pretorius is also modest enough to acknowledge that the points he makes have been made since the early modern period. Occasionally the narrative’s narrow focus widens to no good effect; invoking changing social trends throughout history in order to draw attention to the “mindless conformity of past generations” really does feel like taking the reader by the hand.
Pretorius’s solution to the overriding imperative of conformity is “Rational Defiance,” defined as “the deliberate decision to challenge the status quo when it stands in the way of something better.” This entails taking qualified, calculated risks. In other words: stepping out of routine in measured, considered ways—whether in the realm of one’s business, social, or personal life.
There is a great deal of welcome advice here, but the really impressive aspect of RATIONAL DEFIANCE is the extent to which it insists on nuance and correctness. Pretorius acknowledges that conformity isn’t always bad and bucking the trend not always good; he elevates facts while shunning misinformation and lies. It's the sort of book that readers will want to read, and then read again, to fully assimilate its useful lessons.
Written by Henk Pretorius, RATIONAL DEFIANCE: A Guide to Clear Thinking, Bold Action, and Living on Your Own Terms offers compelling and useful advice for changing readers' mindsets when it comes to conformity.
~ Craig Jones for IndieReader