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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
Very interesting read that describes the history of Kahneman and Tversky including how they came to focus on particular topics. Later chapters focus on their deteriorating relationship.
Overall really interesting book; Lewis incorporates behavioral theories into his biographical like writing. The ending was really sad, but I liked learning about this topic.
Humans intrinsically seek determinism and certainty yet as Buddha so eloquently said, the only thing certain in life is change. Our brain has various heuristics to make sense of the world and the above described mismatch leads to fundamental mistakes in our decision making apparatus. Many of these were classified and described by two great psychologists of this era Daniel Kahnemann and Amos Tversky. This book whilst mainly focusing on the lives of these two individuals and the growth of their intertwined research career in the midst of the genesis and fight for survival of the state of Israel, describes many of the heuristics they found and the subsequent effect it had in multiple disciplines ranging from public policy, foreign policy, economics and medicine.
I thought the review on the back of the book where the reviewer said at the end that they were “blinking back tears” was hyperbole. I was shocked to find it was not.
That friendships can be more intense than romantic relationships, and that an intellectual friendship could be Shakespearian in scope is not something I expected from Lewis who normally spins through his characters quickly. The research needed to get these incredible details about these two men and their relationship as a “fertile pair” must have been painstaking.
Like “Liar’s Poker” (his only other book I have read) Lewis pulled me along at a rapid enough pace from complex theory to complex theory without letting me lose the thread. The book is full of little vignette’s that Tversky and Kahneman designed to demonstrate the fallibility of the mind and it makes it all the more fun to read, though very humbling as I fell for every one.
It is fascinating how Lewis can create a meaningful narrative of interlinked causes and effects in these two men’s lives, building up a clear picture of personalities (sets of behaviour) despite simultaneously explaining that the idea that these sets and meanings don’t make any sense is what these guys lives are built on. By creating rationality from the irrational Lewis performs a kind of magic trick. Or exposes that story telling is an expanded version of an Amos and Kahneman vignette in which I am very happy to be swept up and fooled.
That friendships can be more intense than romantic relationships, and that an intellectual friendship could be Shakespearian in scope is not something I expected from Lewis who normally spins through his characters quickly. The research needed to get these incredible details about these two men and their relationship as a “fertile pair” must have been painstaking.
Like “Liar’s Poker” (his only other book I have read) Lewis pulled me along at a rapid enough pace from complex theory to complex theory without letting me lose the thread. The book is full of little vignette’s that Tversky and Kahneman designed to demonstrate the fallibility of the mind and it makes it all the more fun to read, though very humbling as I fell for every one.
It is fascinating how Lewis can create a meaningful narrative of interlinked causes and effects in these two men’s lives, building up a clear picture of personalities (sets of behaviour) despite simultaneously explaining that the idea that these sets and meanings don’t make any sense is what these guys lives are built on. By creating rationality from the irrational Lewis performs a kind of magic trick. Or exposes that story telling is an expanded version of an Amos and Kahneman vignette in which I am very happy to be swept up and fooled.
informative
medium-paced
We'll written story of the two men who identified most of the cognitive biases you've heard of (recency bias, anchoring bias, etc.)
informative
The book itself is is informative and a great read but their connections to Israel are illuminating in a horrible way. War criminals hailed as heroes never fails to be uncomfortable, despite their scientific work
informative
slow-paced
informative
medium-paced
I loved the stories. I have friends that hated this book -- so it helps if you're a Michael Lewis fan, I guess.