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A review by jonscott9
Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior by Ori Brafman
3.0
Oh, how I wish I could retain more of what I read in this one! Such important notes on such all-too-human tendencies such as loss aversion, snap judgments, instincts, short-term impulse vs. long-term view, and the beat goes on.
Especially intriguing were the sections about loss aversion (how we try to avoid the pain of a loss, or seeing something as such) and value attribution, which explained how we often find it so hard, if unconsciously so, to change our takes on some things (people) after making initial judgments about them.
Started this three months before I finished it, picking it up periodically and having a lot of it fall out of my head. For shame. The epilogue helped tie it all back together to an extent. I do recall a great deal of the section about job interviewing making complete sense, and in light of how I was interviewed in that setting the last time. It's absurd sometimes, the questions asked (and not asked) and the reasons why some managers end up taking to certain applicants over others. (This just in: It ain't a meritocracy out there.)
Perhaps most compelling were the painstaking details surrounding the huge question "WHY?" as it pertained to a highly regarded pilot's inexplicable decision to put hundreds of lives in danger on a particular takeoff. Unfortunately that account got to be arduous to read. As it turned out, the writing throughout this book had a spry cadence at first and then became a bit of a slog, possibly due to my own come-and-go relationship with it.
Eagerly I took to the light shone on the Supreme Court and its own "sway" dynamics, the personalities of the justices and how they decide what cases to hear and whether/when to write opinions. Justice David Souter's take on the highest court in the land was intriguing. These authors (brothers) really snagged some high-end interviews here.
Recommended for anyone willing to admit that the titular behavior seeps into life sometimes, which should be each of us.
Especially intriguing were the sections about loss aversion (how we try to avoid the pain of a loss, or seeing something as such) and value attribution, which explained how we often find it so hard, if unconsciously so, to change our takes on some things (people) after making initial judgments about them.
Started this three months before I finished it, picking it up periodically and having a lot of it fall out of my head. For shame. The epilogue helped tie it all back together to an extent. I do recall a great deal of the section about job interviewing making complete sense, and in light of how I was interviewed in that setting the last time. It's absurd sometimes, the questions asked (and not asked) and the reasons why some managers end up taking to certain applicants over others. (This just in: It ain't a meritocracy out there.)
Perhaps most compelling were the painstaking details surrounding the huge question "WHY?" as it pertained to a highly regarded pilot's inexplicable decision to put hundreds of lives in danger on a particular takeoff. Unfortunately that account got to be arduous to read. As it turned out, the writing throughout this book had a spry cadence at first and then became a bit of a slog, possibly due to my own come-and-go relationship with it.
Eagerly I took to the light shone on the Supreme Court and its own "sway" dynamics, the personalities of the justices and how they decide what cases to hear and whether/when to write opinions. Justice David Souter's take on the highest court in the land was intriguing. These authors (brothers) really snagged some high-end interviews here.
Recommended for anyone willing to admit that the titular behavior seeps into life sometimes, which should be each of us.