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danchibnall's review
4.0
I was a little concerned early on that this book would be too much like a Malcolm Gladwell book. Gladwell's books are often fun and easy to read, but lack scientific merit to support certain claims or assertions.
Jonah Lehrer did a much better job with this book. Even though he does fall into a Gladwellian trap from time to time, the information about the structure of the brain, the workings of the brain, and how that affects our day-to-day lives was fascinating. This gave me food for thought so I can go out and find some more books on neuroscience that have more empirical data as well.
Jonah Lehrer did a much better job with this book. Even though he does fall into a Gladwellian trap from time to time, the information about the structure of the brain, the workings of the brain, and how that affects our day-to-day lives was fascinating. This gave me food for thought so I can go out and find some more books on neuroscience that have more empirical data as well.
amb3rlina's review
4.0
This book didn't impress me much at first - I felt like the author was just spouting out interesting facts without a coherent theme or message. But the anecdotes kept me involved and I'm glad I stuck with it. He tied it up much better at the end and it proved to be a highly interesting and informative book. Think about thinking was my main take away and that is something I indulge in plenty. I appreciate the credence he gave to "emotional" decisions and it reinforced much of what I've always felt to be true. Fascinating stuff.
niniane's review
4.0
The book seemed contradictory for the first 90%, but wrapped it up in the end in a semi-organized theory. It repeats a lot of material from "Happiness Hypothesis", so if you've read that, a lot of this will seem redundant.
Main points:
- For decisions that can be mathematically expressed (e.g. which of these banks gives me a better savings plan, which way will this airplane turn if I rotate the wheel), rely on reason instead of intuition/emotion.
- For complex decisions that you have experience with (e.g. which jam do I like eating, which apartment should I live in, which car should I drive), rely on intuition / emotion.
- Be open to contradicting evidence instead of shutting it out.
Main points:
- For decisions that can be mathematically expressed (e.g. which of these banks gives me a better savings plan, which way will this airplane turn if I rotate the wheel), rely on reason instead of intuition/emotion.
- For complex decisions that you have experience with (e.g. which jam do I like eating, which apartment should I live in, which car should I drive), rely on intuition / emotion.
- Be open to contradicting evidence instead of shutting it out.
robynryle's review
3.0
This was an intersting book in trying to use emerging neuroscience to explain how we make decisions. Sometimes I feel that a lot of the "startling" conclusions that neuroscientists come to were fairly obvious to those of us in the social sciences. We don't make decisions rationally. Are decisions are usually actually based on emotions and then post-hoc, we come up with a rational explanation for our decision. No kidding. Still, interesting to see the "real" scientists back up some of the conclusions of those of us who deal with humans, rather than brains. Nice mix of philosophy, too, but very little consideration of the importance of social factors in thinking about how people think.
jameshaus's review
5.0
Really good book on how brain works and how decision making works. Basically it teaches you the differences between decisions based on reason, and decisions based on emotion and asserts that people discount emotional decision making way too much. Sometimes your emotions are distilling the sum of your experience very rapidly and should be listened too, sometimes they lead you astray. Of course, reason sometimes leads you astray as well. The utility of this book is giving you some guideposts to figure out when you should listen to your instincts and when you should let your analytical mind take over. Very good, highly recommended.
On a side note, there's an interesting tie-in to comfortable with uncertainty which is a book on Buddhism. Both this, that book and even the power of now advise you to think about how you think all the time. Interesting to hear it from the spiritual side then read about this guy coming at it from a completely scientific, neurobiological perspective.
On a side note, there's an interesting tie-in to comfortable with uncertainty which is a book on Buddhism. Both this, that book and even the power of now advise you to think about how you think all the time. Interesting to hear it from the spiritual side then read about this guy coming at it from a completely scientific, neurobiological perspective.
afox98's review
2.0
I got bored with this pretty quick. It wasn't written particularly well, and seemed to jump all over the place. And maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention b/c I was bored, but I don't know where he got his information. I didn't finish it.
waitenathan's review
5.0
This is the book Malcolm Gladwell tries to write. Informative, engaging writing that you can't help but learn from.
lakecake's review
4.0
Really interesting, but relatively simple, look at the science of deciding and at the brain. Ends with practical advice about how to make decisions, which is cool (if I remember any of it).
sfletcher26's review against another edition
2.0
An entertaining read with one or two interesting take away facts. A little too superficial though. Anyone interested in neurology and neurobiology would be better off reading Sachs or Ramachandran.