This quirky guide lists A to Z the many irrational ideas which lodge firmly in the human brain. Though many are familiar and notorious, they are here plucked from their niche locations and gathered, for the first time, under the catchy acronym 'PAP'. We yield to the attractive proposals of charismatic preachers and politicians, and we support the hunt for non-existent animals. Against all reason we trust financiers who offer ways to get rich quickly and we heed the confident therapists who tempt us to de-tox from mythical toxins. Most PAPs are harmless but some can lead us into danger. Unstoppable and always around, the author uncovers PAPs at the root of (nearly) everything. Our brain, he says, has a design fault: it is hard-wired to accept such PAPs, and offers evidence in an extensive bibliography .