Our choices and experience of the world are increasingly shaped by powerful companies and godlike technology. Somebody else is deciding what ‘good’ choices look like—and often that means good for them, not for you. From the social media apps hijacking your attention and algorithms quietly curating your reality, to the markets profiting from confusion and AI systems slowly eroding your thinking: your choices are shaped by people who understand your psychological vulnerabilities better than you do and use that knowledge for their own ends. Against this backdrop, it is easy to feel diminished and 'done to'.

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This book is about fighting back—individually and collectively—and becoming the best of ourselves. Drawing on over 1,000 experiments run across more than 70 countries, Halpern and Costa pair rigorous scientific findings with compelling stories. They show how we can put humans back in the driver’s seat, empowering us to regain agency so we can shape—rather than be manipulated by—the forces around us.