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audreych's review against another edition
4.0
I feel like reading this validated my psych degree because I kind of knew everything mentioned already. It's written in quite an accessible manner with (mostly) interesting examples and a interesting look (well, I find most of this stuff interesting) into how we think and how our 'rationality' and emotions interact. It's quite Malcolm Gladwell-ish for the psychology-inclined.
lajacquerie's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyed it for what it is, a good overview of many of the main decision-making drivers affecting our behavior (anchor bias, choice fatigue, etc). Probably should've read this first; it's like a primer level book on the topic with some good examples/studies presented clearly and engagingly, instead of doing a super deep dive into the topic. The main takeaways: your brain is better at learning from experience than you think; sometimes our pattern-seeking instincts cause us to fail miserably in truly random situations because of that deep desire to make sense of everything (particularly when it coms to stock markets), and you should trust your gut for big/complex decisions, but use logic for the simple ones.
daaan's review against another edition
4.0
This is a very good book about the current psychological theories of decision making. It presents a more balanced view of the science than some books I've encountered. There's a lot of partisanship in this fields, on the one side people have a view of humanity as hopelessly biased and logically faulty, on the other, highly optimistic about the rationality of humans. This presents a middle ground, and I love the middle ground. Being serious though, the strength of this book is really the conclusion. It gives you a good summary of the conditions in which you should rely on fast/emotional thinking, and conversely the conditions under which you should rely on slow/rational thinking, though I can't remember it specifying the conditions under which you should rely on neither and instead use an algorithm, but that's by the by. Very good read. Only downside is the author's professional ethics and decision making are highly impaired. Oh well, can't have it all.
kaylana's review against another edition
4.0
This was a great basic rundown on the science of the brain. I've read a lot of this information but Lehrer presented the science in a fun way that allowed me to see new insights. He's a great story-teller and that really brought the book to life for me. Incorporating the science into real life stories helps things to stick.
cwyse's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book! But I love all things neuroscience. Good writing and good content.
juliembode's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting look at how reason and emotion are needed for decision making and how too much or too little of one in different situations can have dramatic consequences
stevenk's review against another edition
4.0
A very engaging book about how the mind works when we have to make decisions on a neurological level. The mind has two parts the emotional side and the logical side and these sides work together to help the human brain work. This book looks at how some decisions are better made on "instinct" relying on the emotional side, and others are better being analyzed by the logical side. A fast read full of interesting examples of different types of decision processes from real life, from inventing new ways to fly a plane in an emergency situation to the infamous "choke" in sports.
ellenw's review against another edition
4.0
It is hard not to hate Jonah Lehrer for being only 26 and having written two amazingly well-selling books and received a Rhodes Scholarship.
That said, this book is really fun. The idea in it I think I found most fascinating is that emotion is actually part of rationality, rather than being its opposite; for example, people with damaged frontal lobes have trouble making decisions. Lehrer also argues that our emotional reactions to things tend to be (or at least can be) the result of subconscious weighing of options, and in some situations turn out to lead to better choices than conscious analysis.
Anyway, like I said, good stuff, and it's a pretty quick, light read. I will probably pick up Proust Was a Neuroscientist at some point, though it's not immediately jumped to the top of my to-read list.
That said, this book is really fun. The idea in it I think I found most fascinating is that emotion is actually part of rationality, rather than being its opposite; for example, people with damaged frontal lobes have trouble making decisions. Lehrer also argues that our emotional reactions to things tend to be (or at least can be) the result of subconscious weighing of options, and in some situations turn out to lead to better choices than conscious analysis.
Anyway, like I said, good stuff, and it's a pretty quick, light read. I will probably pick up Proust Was a Neuroscientist at some point, though it's not immediately jumped to the top of my to-read list.
nsevey's review against another edition
3.0
This book sort of lost me at hello with the first two anecdotes discussing football and soap operas, but I decided to keep reading since it's a topic that interests me. It was definitely quite interesting. I don't know that I really learned all that much. I guess some part of me was hoping that he would impart some grand secret about how to be decisive. Interestingly enough, he cites having trouble deciding which cereal to buy as the impetus to his epiphany that he should write about about making decisions.
ljdickey's review against another edition
Very interesting! Cool real-life examples. I sometimes find my self thinking about why I'm thinking something, after reading about some of the built-in biases we have in our decision making process.