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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
informative
slow-paced
Too emotional for the book. Will give it another try later.
Stepped away after the section of intuitive decisions, because I felt it was a bit biased / judgmental. In particular I felt that the choice to take money now and not wait one month and take more money then, was presented as the better choice. I think this really depends - if you want to use the money immediately (e.g. buy a playstation) wouldn't it make more sense to take less and have one more month of joy (caused by playing play station)?
Definitely a challenging read, might give it another try when I am less emotional and more secure myself.
Stepped away after the section of intuitive decisions, because I felt it was a bit biased / judgmental. In particular I felt that the choice to take money now and not wait one month and take more money then, was presented as the better choice. I think this really depends - if you want to use the money immediately (e.g. buy a playstation) wouldn't it make more sense to take less and have one more month of joy (caused by playing play station)?
Definitely a challenging read, might give it another try when I am less emotional and more secure myself.
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
informative
reflective
slow-paced
I read somewhere, that someone described this book and the works of Kahneman & Tversky, as stuff that everyone should know exists, and has been thought about, but that you yourself probably don't need to read.
In fact, the work of Kahneman and Tversky was so ground breaking and fundamental, that many of the negative reviews seem to be people saying 'this is common sense.' It's common sense now, certainly.
This book is not exactly a page turner. It is interesting, because it's Psychology which is inherently interesting. But this is pretty unfun in places. I found many times that at the end of a paragraph I had little idea what it was about. Not an uncommon occurrence, we all do it, but I had to backtrack *so often* in this book, far more than I normally do.
Part IV: Choices was by far the slowest section. I read the last 70 pages of this in one setting, but that middle ~110 pages nearly caused me to throw in the towel.
Setting aside the research, Daniel led a very different life than my own, and at times I felt strange about the stories he told. A lot of time was spent talking about his time in the Israeli armed forces. I was primed to dislike all that content by the current war between Israel and Palestine.
Additionally, I stopped reading the book in Part III for a couple of months, because a chapter about how algorithms are better than humans at making decisions made me upset. If I had a chance to talk to Dr Kahneman today, I'd like to bring this up. In theory, of course algorithms are better at decision making. But in reality, algorithms have been developed by sexist, racist, agist, biased people, and are themselves being used to achieve sexist, racist, agist, biased ends.
I've got an ax to grind, but I'm going to leave it here. I'm just glad to be done.
In fact, the work of Kahneman and Tversky was so ground breaking and fundamental, that many of the negative reviews seem to be people saying 'this is common sense.' It's common sense now, certainly.
This book is not exactly a page turner. It is interesting, because it's Psychology which is inherently interesting. But this is pretty unfun in places. I found many times that at the end of a paragraph I had little idea what it was about. Not an uncommon occurrence, we all do it, but I had to backtrack *so often* in this book, far more than I normally do.
Part IV: Choices was by far the slowest section. I read the last 70 pages of this in one setting, but that middle ~110 pages nearly caused me to throw in the towel.
Setting aside the research, Daniel led a very different life than my own, and at times I felt strange about the stories he told. A lot of time was spent talking about his time in the Israeli armed forces. I was primed to dislike all that content by the current war between Israel and Palestine.
Additionally, I stopped reading the book in Part III for a couple of months, because a chapter about how algorithms are better than humans at making decisions made me upset. If I had a chance to talk to Dr Kahneman today, I'd like to bring this up. In theory, of course algorithms are better at decision making. But in reality, algorithms have been developed by sexist, racist, agist, biased people, and are themselves being used to achieve sexist, racist, agist, biased ends.
I've got an ax to grind, but I'm going to leave it here. I'm just glad to be done.
It's difficult to state how important this book is.
I firmly believe that if even a fraction of Kahneman's research about the three main topics of this book (system 1&2, econs&humans, and experiencing&remembering selves) could enter the public consciousness, society would improve. Or at least we would be able to do better decisions more consistently, and ultimately be happier.
I firmly believe that if even a fraction of Kahneman's research about the three main topics of this book (system 1&2, econs&humans, and experiencing&remembering selves) could enter the public consciousness, society would improve. Or at least we would be able to do better decisions more consistently, and ultimately be happier.
It took me a while to finish reading this book. Don't mistake that for ambivalence. I was reading the book and pondering its narrative and important research, then I had to take it back to the library where I had borrowed it. I talked about it to friends and family quite a bit, recommending they read it even though I'd not finished it. The chapters stand alone. Then I was called up for jury duty recently. I saw the book on the library shelves again, and I knew I had to finish it. I'm proud to say that I used some of the principles of this book in my jury duty experience, for what else is a jury but and exercise in group think? I had the research and persuasiveness to compel the 2 (innocent)-3 (undecided)-8 (guilty) starting vote to a 7 (innocent) - 5 (guilty) hung jury. I won't say I was the only one who argued this change, but I was one of the two initial innocent votes. I also won't say that Kahneman's book is all about jury deliberation, but it begs one to consider a case from multiple perspectives and to keep an open mind and mostly importantly not to cave to the loudest mouth in the room.
Read this book! Important, heady stuff, but a manual for life. After all what is life, but a series of decisions?
Read this book! Important, heady stuff, but a manual for life. After all what is life, but a series of decisions?
There's not much to say that hasn't been said already. I think everyone should read this book. It isn't perfect and does read a bit like a 400 page introductory section, but it's hard to blame someone like Kahneman for writing like an academic.
Probably one of the most intellectually rewarding books I've read in a long, long time. And it took me a long, long time to finish Thinking, Fast and Slow, because while Kahneman knows what he's talking about, the book is dry. I would pick it up, tackle a chapter or two and put it back down for long stretches because the writing can be tedious at times.
He goes into minute detail and clearly did all his homework, which doesn't always make for the easiest read. The subjects (essentially: why do we think the way we do?) are fascinating but Kahneman is more of a scientist than a writer which can lend itself to long stretches of complex ideas.
Personally, I'm wired to have things explained to me like I'm 5-years-old. There were quite a few sections where I had to re-read just to make sure I hadn't lost the plot. But once you settle into Kahneman's writing it gets easier. The book challenges the very idea of human rationalism. so if that hooks you I'd absolutely recommend it. Just know that for the lay person, the writing can get bogged down in the minutia at times. Overall this book is quite an accomplishment; it was just a tougher read than I anticipated. And even though I now have a better understanding of how my brain works, I'm confident I'll continue to make the same boneheaded choices I always do.
He goes into minute detail and clearly did all his homework, which doesn't always make for the easiest read. The subjects (essentially: why do we think the way we do?) are fascinating but Kahneman is more of a scientist than a writer which can lend itself to long stretches of complex ideas.
Personally, I'm wired to have things explained to me like I'm 5-years-old. There were quite a few sections where I had to re-read just to make sure I hadn't lost the plot. But once you settle into Kahneman's writing it gets easier. The book challenges the very idea of human rationalism. so if that hooks you I'd absolutely recommend it. Just know that for the lay person, the writing can get bogged down in the minutia at times. Overall this book is quite an accomplishment; it was just a tougher read than I anticipated. And even though I now have a better understanding of how my brain works, I'm confident I'll continue to make the same boneheaded choices I always do.
Interested in the topic but this was SO boring and tedious. I think the concepts would be better suited for a podcast. Way too many words and didn’t keep me interested, unfortunately.