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kettusade 's review for:
Thinking, Fast and Slow
by Daniel Kahneman
I was a bit skeptical about this book at first because the writer has won the Nobel prize for economics. However, my skepticism was assuaged when I started reading the book and learned that 1. Kahneman is not an economist and 2. his style of writing is very down to earth and disarming. (He must be quite the manipulator if he wants to be.)
I loaned this book from the library, and it has a several-months-long waiting list so I can't renew the loan. I wish I could spend more time memorising some of the stuff because this book gave me a lot to think about. Richard Thaler's recommendation, printed on the back cover, is quite accurate: "Buy it fast. Read it slowly. It will change the way you think!" This surely is a book best read slowly, and I may even buy a copy at some point.
That being said, I am very impressed at how approachably and clearly this book is written, even though the subject areas are by no means my forté. Congratulations, Kahneman, you successfully explained statistics to a person whose brain goes on strike at the sight of numbers!
Part of the engagement and slowness of reading were the thought exercises.
They were enlightening in themselves, but it was also interesting to see how my thinking most times aligned and sometimes diverged from the average person's.
In general, the thought patterns presented in the book are very recognizable. Below, there are some interesting ideas and concepts that Kahneman discusses in the book. In my mind, many of those ideas have clear implications on social transformation and social interaction among people. Therefore, this book also helped me better understand people whose behaviour I find frustrating and/or incomprehensible, such as people who get angry at the idea of eating more plant-based food or trying to solve structural racism.
Also, one of the most surprising and interesting things I learned from this book was that stock picking is based almost purely on luck. That makes the industry even more stupid and arbitrary than it already was in my mind.
- "The mind—especially System 1—appears to have a special aptitude for the construction and interpretation of stories about active agents, who have personalities, habits, and abilities." (29)
- Ego depletion, meaning running out of mental energy
- "Many people are overconfident, prone to place too much faith in their intuitions. They apparently find cognitive effort at least mildly unpleasant and avoid it as much as possible." (45)
- "When people believe a conclusion is true, they are also very likely to believe arguments that appear to support it, even when these arguments are unsound." (45)
- "It is the consistency of the information that matters for a good story, not its completeness. Indeed, you will often find that knowing little makes it easier to fit everything you know into a coherent pattern." (87) > This helped me understand why people fall for all kinds of weird bullshit.
- "[T]he illusions of validity and skill are supported by a powerful professional culture. We know that people can maintain an unshakable faith in any proposition, however absurd, when they are sustained by a community of like-minded believers. Given the professional culture of the financial community, it is not surprising that large numbers of individuals in that world believe themselves to be among the chosen few who can do what they believe others cannot" [correctly predict changes in the stock market]. (217)
- "[T]he disadvantages of a change loom larger than its advantages, inducing a bias that favors the status quo." (292) > This is probably a partial reason why some people feel threatened about reducing inequality.
- "System 1 [intuitive thinking] is much better at dealing with individuals than categories." (329) > This is probably related to why news and stories about individual people are more effective and memorable than information about larger phenomena, e.g. human rights violations.
- "The frenetic picture taking of many tourists suggests that storing memories is often an important goal, which shapes both the plans for the vacation and the experience of it. The photographer does not view the scene as a moment to be savored but as a future memory to be designed." (388–389) > This is probably related to why so many people focus on filming music shows rather than enjoying the music and the moment. I wonder if this idea has been researched in connection to social media!
All in all, this was a very enlightening, entertaining and educational book.
I loaned this book from the library, and it has a several-months-long waiting list so I can't renew the loan. I wish I could spend more time memorising some of the stuff because this book gave me a lot to think about. Richard Thaler's recommendation, printed on the back cover, is quite accurate: "Buy it fast. Read it slowly. It will change the way you think!" This surely is a book best read slowly, and I may even buy a copy at some point.
That being said, I am very impressed at how approachably and clearly this book is written, even though the subject areas are by no means my forté. Congratulations, Kahneman, you successfully explained statistics to a person whose brain goes on strike at the sight of numbers!
Part of the engagement and slowness of reading were the thought exercises.
They were enlightening in themselves, but it was also interesting to see how my thinking most times aligned and sometimes diverged from the average person's.
In general, the thought patterns presented in the book are very recognizable. Below, there are some interesting ideas and concepts that Kahneman discusses in the book. In my mind, many of those ideas have clear implications on social transformation and social interaction among people. Therefore, this book also helped me better understand people whose behaviour I find frustrating and/or incomprehensible, such as people who get angry at the idea of eating more plant-based food or trying to solve structural racism.
Also, one of the most surprising and interesting things I learned from this book was that stock picking is based almost purely on luck. That makes the industry even more stupid and arbitrary than it already was in my mind.
- "The mind—especially System 1—appears to have a special aptitude for the construction and interpretation of stories about active agents, who have personalities, habits, and abilities." (29)
- Ego depletion, meaning running out of mental energy
- "Many people are overconfident, prone to place too much faith in their intuitions. They apparently find cognitive effort at least mildly unpleasant and avoid it as much as possible." (45)
- "When people believe a conclusion is true, they are also very likely to believe arguments that appear to support it, even when these arguments are unsound." (45)
- "It is the consistency of the information that matters for a good story, not its completeness. Indeed, you will often find that knowing little makes it easier to fit everything you know into a coherent pattern." (87) > This helped me understand why people fall for all kinds of weird bullshit.
- "[T]he illusions of validity and skill are supported by a powerful professional culture. We know that people can maintain an unshakable faith in any proposition, however absurd, when they are sustained by a community of like-minded believers. Given the professional culture of the financial community, it is not surprising that large numbers of individuals in that world believe themselves to be among the chosen few who can do what they believe others cannot" [correctly predict changes in the stock market]. (217)
- "[T]he disadvantages of a change loom larger than its advantages, inducing a bias that favors the status quo." (292) > This is probably a partial reason why some people feel threatened about reducing inequality.
- "System 1 [intuitive thinking] is much better at dealing with individuals than categories." (329) > This is probably related to why news and stories about individual people are more effective and memorable than information about larger phenomena, e.g. human rights violations.
- "The frenetic picture taking of many tourists suggests that storing memories is often an important goal, which shapes both the plans for the vacation and the experience of it. The photographer does not view the scene as a moment to be savored but as a future memory to be designed." (388–389) > This is probably related to why so many people focus on filming music shows rather than enjoying the music and the moment. I wonder if this idea has been researched in connection to social media!
All in all, this was a very enlightening, entertaining and educational book.