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490 reviews for:
Think Like a Freak: The Authors of Freakonomics Offer to Retrain Your Brain
Steven D. Levitt
3.7 AVERAGE
490 reviews for:
Think Like a Freak: The Authors of Freakonomics Offer to Retrain Your Brain
Steven D. Levitt
3.7 AVERAGE
First I haven't read the first two Freakeconomic books, I discovered the authors of Freakonomics listening to their podcast. I listen to this book through Audible, so it was a lot like listen to a series of their podcast episodes. The book was good and it made me think at points, although I do think that at times they over simplified issues. I do recommend this book, but just be aware you may find yourself shaking your head know as you read it.
Not as good as their first two books. Maybe after listening to their podcast since episode 1, I had too high a bar set for it. Still funny and amusing though.
Tercera entrega de Levitt y Dubner, tras sus Freakonomics y Superfreakonomics. Sin embargo, no es una tercera entrega en plenas condiciones. Es una especie de guía para enfrentarse a los problemas económicos/estadísticos que los autores abordan en libros anteriores.
Para mi gusto les ha quedado un libro corto y algo descafeinado. Sigue siendo interesante, p0or supuesto, pero no alcanza el nivel de los dos anteriores. Los autores tienen un podcast en el que tratan multitud de temas de este tipo, bastaría con una recopilación de lo más votado de los dos últimos años para sacar un tercer libro glorioso.
Cuenta con 40 páginas de notas y 14 de índice. Lo de que las notas estén todas al final no me acaba de gustar. Prefiero un libro con constantes notas al pie, para poder consultarlas sin tener que hacer malabarismos atrás y adelante en el libro, ya sea en papel o en Kindle (apreciación muy personal).
Para mi gusto les ha quedado un libro corto y algo descafeinado. Sigue siendo interesante, p0or supuesto, pero no alcanza el nivel de los dos anteriores. Los autores tienen un podcast en el que tratan multitud de temas de este tipo, bastaría con una recopilación de lo más votado de los dos últimos años para sacar un tercer libro glorioso.
Cuenta con 40 páginas de notas y 14 de índice. Lo de que las notas estén todas al final no me acaba de gustar. Prefiero un libro con constantes notas al pie, para poder consultarlas sin tener que hacer malabarismos atrás y adelante en el libro, ya sea en papel o en Kindle (apreciación muy personal).
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Why are 419 Nigerian scam emails so silly? Why did the foolish authors of this book tell terrorists how to evade their detection system? Read the book to find out.
Excellent read, full of useful perspectives for those trying to solve problems. Understanding symptoms vs. root causes, incentives and biases are just some of the tools described.
Excellent read, full of useful perspectives for those trying to solve problems. Understanding symptoms vs. root causes, incentives and biases are just some of the tools described.
Like many others, I’ve enjoyed the more exciting, more freaky version of economics by Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt. Both Freakonomics and Superfreakonomics were original, quirky and interesting. I realised recently that I hadn’t read any of the other books by this pair, so it was off to the library. Think Like a Freak also has a cool cover, but in my opinion it’s nowhere near as strong as the previous two books.
Why is that? Well, I think it’s a number of factors, the first being that this book has the aim of teaching you to think ‘like a freak’ (funny that). So it’s a bit more of an instructional tool, using famous examples of how people thought outside the square and solved a problem (e.g. Professor Barry Marshall, who drank the Helicobacter pylori mixture and ended up with an ulcer, proving that stomach ulcers are bug related and killing off Zantac® in the process). The second is that the book has enormous print and references, and an index. Now, a good non-fiction book definitely needs the last two, but I felt a bit ripped off that there was a big chunk of book that I wasn’t actually going to read in detail. The last factor is the book feels a bit forced, like there was pressure to generate another ‘freak’ book but not enough time to run experiments etc.
The book still contains interesting examples of thinking outside the box but I don’t think I took too much away that will help me in my day to day life. I don’t read self-help books and occasionally this book felt a bit prescriptive. I would have preferred more stories about people thinking outside the box and less, ‘how to think like this person did’. Maybe if you work in a creative field this book will be of more help to you in that way. The book still has the easy to read tone of the previous books, but it just felt padded and less evidence based to me. Definitely one to borrow from the library rather than buy.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
Why is that? Well, I think it’s a number of factors, the first being that this book has the aim of teaching you to think ‘like a freak’ (funny that). So it’s a bit more of an instructional tool, using famous examples of how people thought outside the square and solved a problem (e.g. Professor Barry Marshall, who drank the Helicobacter pylori mixture and ended up with an ulcer, proving that stomach ulcers are bug related and killing off Zantac® in the process). The second is that the book has enormous print and references, and an index. Now, a good non-fiction book definitely needs the last two, but I felt a bit ripped off that there was a big chunk of book that I wasn’t actually going to read in detail. The last factor is the book feels a bit forced, like there was pressure to generate another ‘freak’ book but not enough time to run experiments etc.
The book still contains interesting examples of thinking outside the box but I don’t think I took too much away that will help me in my day to day life. I don’t read self-help books and occasionally this book felt a bit prescriptive. I would have preferred more stories about people thinking outside the box and less, ‘how to think like this person did’. Maybe if you work in a creative field this book will be of more help to you in that way. The book still has the easy to read tone of the previous books, but it just felt padded and less evidence based to me. Definitely one to borrow from the library rather than buy.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
A lot of the concepts and stories were familiar but that's probably only because I've always found these types of things compelling. I liked that some ideas are a little unsettling, like that crime went down because of increasing abortions or that the best way to increase a population is to place a bounty on pelts. Yikes! And the chapter on transPOOsions can't be beat.
These books are always a fun mash up of stories, psychology and economic theory in practice. This one was more clear cut about how you could use those three techniques to improve your own life rather than how these concepts work and lay in our world. It was a fun, quick and easy read, the kind of book you devour in a farewell days time. Even though it's an economics book I'd recommend it as a bit of light reading.
Listened to this on audiobook. Am a big fan of the authors' podcast and although it did cover some content I've heard in their podcasts, I liked how it supplemented with new ideas and things for the reader/listener to consider when dealing with tough situations or when interacting with others. Definitely challenges you to think outside the box.
I enjoyed this book, but having listened to a lot of the podcasts, have heard much of the material before.