https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jan/02/reality-bubble-ziya-tong-review

A lively book about what we don’t, or refuse to, see – and the destructive consequences

Publishing functions very much like the fashion world. Like a suddenly ubiquitous cut of hem or style of trainer, a book comes along every few seasons that hits a nerve, sells well, and spawns a whole host of knock-offs and lookalikes.

Following the huge success of Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens, I was afraid that science writer Ziya Tong’s The Reality Bubble might be one of the Sapiens copies – an anthology of interesting facts about the human race that one can quote to friends. A few pages in, her book seems to be just that; it makes some mildly entertaining but not revelatory points about human blindspots, both physical (in the eye), and societal (refusing to believe that the Earth is round). Its premise is only briefly explained, with a worthy quote from Carl Sagan that “our species needs, and deserves, a citizenry with minds wide awake and a basic understanding of how the world works”.