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A review by deraj727
Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment by Cass R. Sunstein, Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony
3.0
It is rare to find a book that is both fascinating and written with style. The ideas in Noise are fascinating and vital. However, the writing is cryptic and academic. I love behavioral science and psychology, I read academic journal articles for fun and listen to talks on weekends. Yet I found myself struggling to muster the motivation to pick up Noise.
If your job involves people making judgments about how long someone spends in prison or whether someone has an illness or if you make any decisions of any important, you should worry about noise. You should worry that any important decision can change depending on who makes it and when they make it. If someone reports to 4 doctors will the same symptoms and gets 4 different diagnoses, you should worry about that. And we should aim to make these decisions more consistent.
Noise matters. However, it’s a shame that such an important and fascinating topic is such a struggle to get through. There will be people out there who should read this book but understandably throw it aside in favor of something more interesting. A book about cupcakes perhaps, or a book about how to make concert.
So, on one hand, bravo to the authors for tackling this important topic. On the other, I suspect I’ll spend a good chunk of time at work convincing people they should take the ideas of noise seriously.
If your job involves people making judgments about how long someone spends in prison or whether someone has an illness or if you make any decisions of any important, you should worry about noise. You should worry that any important decision can change depending on who makes it and when they make it. If someone reports to 4 doctors will the same symptoms and gets 4 different diagnoses, you should worry about that. And we should aim to make these decisions more consistent.
Noise matters. However, it’s a shame that such an important and fascinating topic is such a struggle to get through. There will be people out there who should read this book but understandably throw it aside in favor of something more interesting. A book about cupcakes perhaps, or a book about how to make concert.
So, on one hand, bravo to the authors for tackling this important topic. On the other, I suspect I’ll spend a good chunk of time at work convincing people they should take the ideas of noise seriously.