Ruben Mersch

About Ruben Mersch

Ruben Mersch studied philosophy and biology in Ghent. He is the Big Pharma correspondent at De Correspondent, a columnist at De Standaard, and the author of three books on human thinking.

Ruben is fascinated by humanity and its shortcomings. Based on insights from philosophy, psychology, economics, and biology, he tries to understand why collaboration is so difficult and why we often make slightly less rational decisions. His mission: to teach people how to avoid the pitfalls in their thinking.

After his studies in philosophy and biology, Ruben ended up in the pharmaceutical industry as an IT project manager. Until the company he worked for was acquired by an American pharmaceutical giant. Suddenly it was turning disease into profit and ideals were replaced by profit margins. He resigned and decided to write a book.

In “Oogklepdenken, Waarom wij allemaal idioten zijn” he dissects human thinking. We often believe we are rational beings, but is that really the case? In this book, he searches for the pitfalls in our reasoning and unmasks the idiot in each of us. An idiot that makes us susceptible to half-truths and outright lies that inundate us daily. Oogklepdenken became a bestseller. It is currently in its 10th edition and over 15,000 copies have been sold.

After that success, he became a regular columnist at De Standaard, where he analyzes a thinking error biweekly.

In 2016, his second book “Waarom iedereen altijd gelijk heeft” is published. Why do discussions so often create two camps, both convinced they possess the wisdom? Why do we so eagerly dig into the trenches of our own correctness? He attempts to answer these questions using insights from psychologists, anthropologists, biologists, philosophers, and an 18th-century preacher with a fondness for billiards. The book receives 4-star reviews in, among others, De Standaard and De Volkskrant.

Afterwards, he seeks solutions. He dives into the scientific literature looking for points of connection to transcend current polarization. How can you turn a disagreement into a constructive debate? The result of that search is published in 2018 by Borgerhoff & Lamberigts as “Van mening verschillen, Een handleiding”

Since January 2019, he has been a correspondent at De Correspondent. For them, he writes a piece twice a month in which he scrutinizes Big Pharma.

He is frequently heard on the radio and occasionally appears on television (VPRO boeken, Van Gils en gasten, …). He has been interviewed by various newspapers and magazines (De Volkskrant, De Standaard, Knack, …)

As a speaker, he tries to be anything but boring. His presentations contain little text, and he uses paranormal octopuses, scheming politicians, cockroaches, and the sagging pants of hip-hoppers to clarify his ideas with a lot of humor.

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