Narrator
The narrator of this book—David McRaney, himself—aims to enlighten his audience to the many ways in which we have deluded ourselves into believing we know everything. He uses his book as a platform to educate and humble members of greater society into recognizing our own pitfalls and weaknesses. In this way, McRaney attempts to use humor and blunt honesty to open his readers’ eyes to the frailty of their own existence, knowledge, and ego. In spite of this, McRaney recognizes that such frailty is fundamental to human existence. As such, he is both a sympathetic and critical narrator.
The Greater Society
David McRaney’s chapter book is directed precisely at us—the citizens of greater society. In this perspective, we are depicted as being completely blinded by our own sensibilities. McRaney suggests that we in the greater society do not have an accurate sense of what we do and don’t know and, in this way, have an inflated sense of our own capabilities and knowledge. In spite of this, McRaney does not intend to shame the greater society for this shortfalls. Rather, he recognizes that such fallibility is fundamental to human nature and is, in fact, one of our greatest strengths and acts of self-preservation. In this way, we members of greater society are portrayed as being somewhat oblivious to our own capabilities, but still capable of metacognition and change. As such, there is hope for greater society to become more self-aware.
