Just Trust Me
Finding the Truth in a World of Spin
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
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.
