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Loading... The Art of Thinking Clearly (original 2011; edition 2014)by Rolf Dobelli DrT | Mar 13, 2022 |   I’d read three already (and can only really recommend one of those, McRaven’s Make Your Bed), so I decided to see if there was any merit to the rest of the stack. I tried to imagine what a twenty-something me would take away, and of course, the current me informs how I read it now. As I make my way through the list, I’ve mentally sorted them into “No”, “Qualified No”, “Qualified Yes”, “Yes” categories. One of the books gave me pause and I had to add a new category: “Not Only No, But…”. This one is a Qualified Maybe* One of the best things Mr. Dobelli says in this book is “This is not a how-to book. You won’t find “seven steps to an error-free life” here.” Yet, I guess all or most of the 99 essays came from blog posts, which might explain the short, attempted everyman approach with a veneer of accessibility dressing that doesn’t quite cut it. Dobelli also says in his Epilogue, “I have listed almost one hundred thinking errors in this book without answering the question: What are thinking errors anyway? What is irrationality? Why do we fall into these traps? ” What he also doesn’t do is explain the fallacies, biases, heuristics very well, and he has scattershot examples for each of his targets that don’t always follow… he does a poor job of tying together those examples (the short format might be to blame.) I think a good example would be his essay on the clustering illusion and references to pareidolia without identifying it (save a poor example in his notes). He jumps off that into seeing patterns where they aren’t before redeeming himself (this time) with “When it comes to pattern recognition, we are oversensitive. Regain your skepticism. If you think you have discovered a pattern, first consider it pure chance. If it seems too good to be true, find a mathematician and have the data tested statistically. And if the crispy parts of your pancake start to look a lot like Jesus’s face, ask yourself: If he really wants to reveal himself, why doesn’t he do it in Times Square or on CNN?” As a book on critical thinking, its chief value is in applying your knowledge of critical thinking to what he has cobbled together. But be warned, you’ll soon tire of having to check pretty much everything he says. So, Qualified Maybe if you want to bounce your learning off of a different book, but look elsewhere if you want to learn about logical fallacies. (  ) Razinha | Feb 7, 2024 |  ) wvlibrarydude | Jan 14, 2024 | ) EZLivin | Jul 4, 2023 | Rolf Dobelli is a Swiss author who originally began his writing career as a novelist. In The Art of Thinking Clearly, Dobelli examines the cognitive biases, or thinking errors, we engage on a daily basis. I listened to the audiobook and can definitely see how a physical copy of this book would be super helpful. He identifies 99 cognitive biases in relatively short chapters. The large number of errors discussed in audio format made it difficult for me to remember them for the best application. Dobelli explains each concept thoroughly and provides understandable and relatable examples. There are times where he uses math, statistics, and probabilities to illustrate his point. Well, I have a serious aversion to anything math related. I suck at it and likely always will. So, those examples were naturally hard for me, but may be very helpful for others skilled with numbers. Overall, I enjoyed this and am glad I read it. (  ) NatalieRiley | Jun 17, 2023 |  ) basilyok | Jul 26, 2022 | Why I picked this book up: It came up on YouTube which reminded me I bought it at B&N during Christmas-season one year so I picked it up. It seemed like a fun book to read. Thoughts: Cognitive errors, we all have them, Things don’t change like Camus and Aurelius saw and we interpret things differently than the past. These short chapters, based in cognitive errors, sales, psychological factors, social functions, biological, logic and he said he is not a philosopher or a Psychologist, etc. but and what he offers in these short, fun chapters are worth the read. Table of contents: 1 Why You Should Visit Cemeteries: Survivorship Bias 2 Does Harvard Make You Smarter?: Swimmer’s Body Illusion 3 Why You See Shapes in Clouds: Clustering Illusion 4 If Fifty Million People Say Something Foolish, It Is Still Foolish: Social Proof 5 Why You Should Forget the Past: Sunk Cost Fallacy 6 Don’t Accept Free Drinks: Reciprocity 7 Beware the “Special Case”: Confirmation Bias (Part 1) 8 Murder Your Darlings: Confirmation Bias (Part 2) 9 Don’t Bow to Authority: Authority Bias 10 Leave Your Supermodel Friends at Home: Contrast Effect 11 Why We Prefer a Wrong Map to None at All: Availability Bias 12 Why “No Pain, No Gain” Should Set Alarm Bells Ringing: The It’ll-Get-Worse-Before-It-Gets-Better Fallacy 13 Even True Stories Are Fairy Tales: Story Bias 14 Why You Should Keep a Diary: Hindsight Bias 15 Why You Systematically Overestimate Your Knowledge and Abilities: Overconfidence Effect 16 Don’t Take News Anchors Seriously: Chauffeur Knowledge 17 You Control Less Than You Think: Illusion of Control 18 Never Pay Your Lawyer by the Hour: Incentive Super-Response Tendency 19 The Dubious Efficacy of Doctors, Consultants, and Psychotherapists: Regression to Mean 20 Never Judge a Decision by Its Outcome: Outcome Bias 21 Less Is More: Paradox of Choice 22 You Like Me, You Really, Really Like Me: Liking Bias 23 Don’t Cling to Things: Endowment Effect 24 The Inevitability of Unlikely Events: Coincidence 25 The Calamity of Conformity: Groupthink 26 Why You’ll Soon Be Playing Megatrillions: Neglect of Probability 27 Why the Last Cookie in the Jar Makes Your Mouth Water: Scarcity Error 28 When You Hear Hoofbeats, Don’t Expect a Zebra: Base-Rate Neglect 29 Why the “Balancing Force of the Universe” Is Baloney: Gambler’s Fallacy 30 Why the Wheel of Fortune Makes Our Heads Spin: The Anchor 31 How to Relieve People of Their Millions: Induction 32 Why Evil Is More Striking Than Good: Loss Aversion 33 Why Teams Are Lazy: Social Loafing 34 Stumped by a Sheet of Paper: Exponential Growth 35 Curb Your Enthusiasm: Winner’s Curse 36 Never Ask a Writer If the Novel Is Autobiographical: Fundamental Attribution Error 37 Why You Shouldn’t Believe in the Stork: False Causality 38 Why Attractive People Climb the Career Ladder More Quickly: Halo Effect 39 Congratulations! You’ve Won Russian Roulette: Alternative Paths 40 False Prophets: Forecast Illusion 41 The Deception of Specific Cases: Conjunction Fallacy 42 It’s Not What You Say, but How You Say It: Framing 43 Why Watching and Waiting Is Torture: Action Bias 44 Why You Are Either the Solution—or the Problem: Omission Bias 45 Don’t Blame Me: Self-Serving Bias 46 Be Careful What You Wish For: Hedonic Treadmill 47 Do Not Marvel at Your Existence: Self-Selection Bias 48 Why Experience Can Damage Your Judgment: Association Bias 49 Be Wary When Things Get Off to a Great Start: Beginner’s Luck 50 Sweet Little Lies: Cognitive Dissonance 51 Live Each Day as If It Were Your Last—But Only on Sundays: Hyperbolic Discounting 52 Any Lame Excuse: “Because” Justification 53 Decide Better—Decide Less: Decision Fatigue 54 Would You Wear Hitler’s Sweater?: Contagion Bias 55 Why There Is No Such Thing as an Average War: The Problem with Averages 56 How Bonuses Destroy Motivation: Motivation Crowding 57 If You Have Nothing to Say, Say Nothing: Twaddle Tendency 58 How to Increase the Average IQ of Two States: Will Rogers Phenomeno 59 If You Have an Enemy, Give Him Information: Information Bias 60 Hurts So Good: Effort Justification 61 Why Small Things Loom Large: The Law of Small Numbers 62 Handle with Care: Expectations 63 Speed Traps Ahead!: Simple Logic 64 How to Expose a Charlatan: Forer Effect 65 Volunteer Work Is for the Birds: Volunteer’s Folly 66 Why You Are a Slave to Your Emotions: Affect Heuristic 67 Be Your Own Heretic: Introspection Illusion 68 Why You Should Set Fire to Your Ships: Inability to Close Doors 69 Disregard the Brand New: Neomania 70 Why Propaganda Works: Sleeper Effect 71 Why It’s Never Just a Two-Horse Race: Alternative Blindness 72 Why We Take Aim at Young Guns: Social Comparison Bias 73 Why First Impressions Are Deceiving: Primacy and Recency Effects 74 Why You Can’t Beat Homemade: Not-Invented-Here Syndrome 75 How to Profit from the Implausible: The Black Swan 76 Knowledge Is Nontransferrable: Domain Dependence 77 The Myth of Like-Mindedness: False-Consensus Effect 78 You Were Right All Along: Falsification of History 79 Why You Identify with Your Football Team: In-Group Out-Group Bias 80 The Difference between Risk and Uncertainty: Ambiguity Aversion 81 Why You Go with the Status Quo: Default Effect 82 Why “Last Chances” Make Us Panic: Fear of Regret 83 How Eye-Catching Details Render Us Blind: Salience Effect 84 Why Money Is Not Naked: House-Money Effect 85 Why New Year’s Resolutions Don’t Work: Procrastination 86 Build Your Own Castle: Envy 87 Why You Prefer Novels to Statistics: Personification 88 You Have No Idea What You Are Overlooking: Illusion of Attention 89 Hot Air: Strategic Misrepresentation 90 Where’s the Off Switch?: Overthinking 91 Why You Take On Too Much: Planning Fallacy 92 Those Wielding Hammers See Only Nails: Déformation Professionnelle 93 Mission Accomplished: Zeigarnik Effect 94 The Boat Matters More Than the Rowing: Illusion of Skill 95 Why Checklists Deceive You: Feature-Positive Effect 96 Drawing the Bull’s-Eye around the Arrow: Cherry Picking 97 The Stone Age Hunt for Scapegoats: Fallacy of the Single Cause 98 Why Speed Demons Appear to Be Safer Drivers: Intention-to-Treat Error 99 Why You Shouldn’t Read the News: News Illusion Why I finished this read: I finished because all the chapters were so short and I found it an enjoyable read. If you want to dig deeper for more comprehensive material on each topic you are able to do that. Stars rating: this was difficult for me to rate. If I rate it on depth it would be rather low but if I rate it on my enjoyment I rated it at a 4 out if 5 stars. ( ) DrT | Mar 13, 2022 | Easy book to read. Short chapters. Interesting examples to make his points. Some notes from the book: Survivor bias: people systematically overestimate their chances of success Trying to be happier is as futile as trying to be taller The sunken cost fallacy is most dangerous when we have invested a lot of time, money, energy, or loving something. No matter how much you have already invested, only your assessment of the future costs and benefits count. Don't cling to things. Consider your property something that the "universe" has bestowed to you temporarily. Keep in mind that he can recoup this in the blink of an eye. All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone," wrote Blaise Pascal. Aim for as much free time and autonomy as possible since long lasting positive effects generally come from what you actively do. Follow your passions even if you must forfeit a portion of your income for them. Invest in friendships. If you have nothing to say, say nothing. Simplicity is the Zenith of a long arduous journey, not the starting point. Be all the more critical with yourself. Regard your internal observations with the same skepticism as claims from some random person. Become your own toughest critic. Adopt a life strategy similar to a corporate strategy: write down what not to pursue in your life. In other words, make calculated decisions to disregard certain possibilities and when an option shows up, test it against your not to pursue list. Try to avoid evaluations based on first impressions. It is safe to assume that half of what you remember is wrong. Our memories are riddled with inaccuracies, including the seemingly flawless flashbulb memories. News is irrelevant. In the past 12 months you're probably consumed about 10,000 news snippets – – perhaps as many as 30 per day. Be very honest: name one of them, just one that helped you make a better decision – – for your life, your career or your business – – compared with not having this piece of news. Find out what your circle of confidence is. Get a clear grasp of it. Hint: it's smaller than you think. If you face a consequence decision outside that circle, apply the hard, slow, rational thinking. For everything else, give your intuition free rein. ( ) writemoves | Oct 26, 2021 | ) jiyoungh | May 3, 2021 | ) SeekingApatheia | Apr 13, 2021 | I read it in German because was not sure whether it was written in German or English - am still not sure...? (  ) flydodofly | Oct 2, 2020 | Example: If you have nothing to say, say nothing. You have hind sight bias. you have association bias. Other stuff include telling you that news are 99% sensational, has no depth and adds little value so don't bother with news. Also, Speed demons are safer on the road because they spent less time on the road and are more focused on driving while driving. my 150th read book. ( ) Wendy_Wang | Sep 28, 2019 | ) tina0822 | Nov 28, 2018 | Example: If you have nothing to say, say nothing. You have hind sight bias. you have association bias. Other stuff include telling you that news are 99% sensational, has no depth and adds little value so don't bother with news. Also, Speed demons are safer on the road because they spent less time on the road and are more focused on driving while driving. my 150th read book. ( ) Jason.Ong.Wicky | Oct 9, 2018 | One of the stories that the author shared that I really like was this: The Pope asked Michaelangelo: "Tell me the secret of your genius. How have you created the Statue of David, the masterpiece of all masterpieces?" Michaelangelo's answer: It's simple. I removed everything that is not David. Thinking more clearly and acting more shrewdly means adopting Michaelangelo's Method: Don't focus on David. Instead, focus on everything that is not David and chisel it away. In our case: eliminate all errors and better thinking will follow. Anyways, if you want an outline of the book, here is the table of contents (which might be good to be used as a checklist as suggested by the author): 1 Why You Should Visit Cemeteries: Survivorship Bias 2 Does Harvard Make You Smarter?: Swimmer’s Body Illusion 3 Why You See Shapes in Clouds: Clustering Illusion 4 If Fifty Million People Say Something Foolish, It Is Still Foolish: Social Proof 5 Why You Should Forget the Past: Sunk Cost Fallacy 6 Don’t Accept Free Drinks: Reciprocity 7 Beware the “Special Case”: Confirmation Bias (Part 1) 8 Murder Your Darlings: Confirmation Bias (Part 2) 9 Don’t Bow to Authority: Authority Bias 10 Leave Your Supermodel Friends at Home: Contrast Effect 11 Why We Prefer a Wrong Map to None at All: Availability Bias 12 Why “No Pain, No Gain” Should Set Alarm Bells Ringing: The It’ll-Get-Worse-Before-It-Gets-Better Fallacy 13 Even True Stories Are Fairy Tales: Story Bias 14 Why You Should Keep a Diary: Hindsight Bias 15 Why You Systematically Overestimate Your Knowledge and Abilities: Overconfidence Effect 16 Don’t Take News Anchors Seriously: Chauffeur Knowledge 17 You Control Less Than You Think: Illusion of Control 18 Never Pay Your Lawyer by the Hour: Incentive Super-Response Tendency 19 The Dubious Efficacy of Doctors, Consultants, and Psychotherapists: Regression to Mean 20 Never Judge a Decision by Its Outcome: Outcome Bias 21 Less Is More: Paradox of Choice 22 You Like Me, You Really, Really Like Me: Liking Bias 23 Don’t Cling to Things: Endowment Effect 24 The Inevitability of Unlikely Events: Coincidence 25 The Calamity of Conformity: Groupthink 26 Why You’ll Soon Be Playing Megatrillions: Neglect of Probability 27 Why the Last Cookie in the Jar Makes Your Mouth Water: Scarcity Error 28 When You Hear Hoofbeats, Don’t Expect a Zebra: Base-Rate Neglect 29 Why the “Balancing Force of the Universe” Is Baloney: Gambler’s Fallacy 30 Why the Wheel of Fortune Makes Our Heads Spin: The Anchor 31 How to Relieve People of Their Millions: Induction 32 Why Evil Is More Striking Than Good: Loss Aversion 33 Why Teams Are Lazy: Social Loafing 34 Stumped by a Sheet of Paper: Exponential Growth 35 Curb Your Enthusiasm: Winner’s Curse 36 Never Ask a Writer If the Novel Is Autobiographical: Fundamental Attribution Error 37 Why You Shouldn’t Believe in the Stork: False Causality 38 Why Attractive People Climb the Career Ladder More Quickly: Halo Effect 39 Congratulations! You’ve Won Russian Roulette: Alternative Paths 40 False Prophets: Forecast Illusion 41 The Deception of Specific Cases: Conjunction Fallacy 42 It’s Not What You Say, but How You Say It: Framing 43 Why Watching and Waiting Is Torture: Action Bias 44 Why You Are Either the Solution—or the Problem: Omission Bias 45 Don’t Blame Me: Self-Serving Bias 46 Be Careful What You Wish For: Hedonic Treadmill 47 Do Not Marvel at Your Existence: Self-Selection Bias 48 Why Experience Can Damage Your Judgment: Association Bias 49 Be Wary When Things Get Off to a Great Start: Beginner’s Luck 50 Sweet Little Lies: Cognitive Dissonance 51 Live Each Day as If It Were Your Last—But Only on Sundays: Hyperbolic Discounting 52 Any Lame Excuse: “Because” Justification 53 Decide Better—Decide Less: Decision Fatigue 54 Would You Wear Hitler’s Sweater?: Contagion Bias 55 Why There Is No Such Thing as an Average War: The Problem with Averages 56 How Bonuses Destroy Motivation: Motivation Crowding 57 If You Have Nothing to Say, Say Nothing: Twaddle Tendency 58 How to Increase the Average IQ of Two States: Will Rogers Phenomeno 59 If You Have an Enemy, Give Him Information: Information Bias 60 Hurts So Good: Effort Justification 61 Why Small Things Loom Large: The Law of Small Numbers 62 Handle with Care: Expectations 63 Speed Traps Ahead!: Simple Logic 64 How to Expose a Charlatan: Forer Effect 65 Volunteer Work Is for the Birds: Volunteer’s Folly 66 Why You Are a Slave to Your Emotions: Affect Heuristic 67 Be Your Own Heretic: Introspection Illusion 68 Why You Should Set Fire to Your Ships: Inability to Close Doors 69 Disregard the Brand New: Neomania 70 Why Propaganda Works: Sleeper Effect 71 Why It’s Never Just a Two-Horse Race: Alternative Blindness 72 Why We Take Aim at Young Guns: Social Comparison Bias 73 Why First Impressions Are Deceiving: Primacy and Recency Effects 74 Why You Can’t Beat Homemade: Not-Invented-Here Syndrome 75 How to Profit from the Implausible: The Black Swan 76 Knowledge Is Nontransferrable: Domain Dependence 77 The Myth of Like-Mindedness: False-Consensus Effect 78 You Were Right All Along: Falsification of History 79 Why You Identify with Your Football Team: In-Group Out-Group Bias 80 The Difference between Risk and Uncertainty: Ambiguity Aversion 81 Why You Go with the Status Quo: Default Effect 82 Why “Last Chances” Make Us Panic: Fear of Regret 83 How Eye-Catching Details Render Us Blind: Salience Effect 84 Why Money Is Not Naked: House-Money Effect 85 Why New Year’s Resolutions Don’t Work: Procrastination 86 Build Your Own Castle: Envy 87 Why You Prefer Novels to Statistics: Personification 88 You Have No Idea What You Are Overlooking: Illusion of Attention 89 Hot Air: Strategic Misrepresentation 90 Where’s the Off Switch?: Overthinking 91 Why You Take On Too Much: Planning Fallacy 92 Those Wielding Hammers See Only Nails: Déformation Professionnelle 93 Mission Accomplished: Zeigarnik Effect 94 The Boat Matters More Than the Rowing: Illusion of Skill 95 Why Checklists Deceive You: Feature-Positive Effect 96 Drawing the Bull’s-Eye around the Arrow: Cherry Picking 97 The Stone Age Hunt for Scapegoats: Fallacy of the Single Cause 98 Why Speed Demons Appear to Be Safer Drivers: Intention-to-Treat Error 99 Why You Shouldn’t Read the News: News Illusion ( ) kicker27 | Jun 27, 2018 | The Art of Thinking Clearly presents a bunch of anecdotal evidence to support commonly known fallacies in logical thinking. You know that hindsight is 20/20, we cling to our narratives, and think we'll be like the models in makeup ads if only we buy their product, plus a bunch of other semi-obvious ways in which we end up making bad decisions (or poorly rationalized flukes that still turn out okay). This book *might* be the reminder you need to think critically about what assumptions and misconceptions you are basing your decisions on. However, if you're already a critical thinker you probably won't learn too much from this book. Also, it doesn't really seem academically researched enough to be otherwise worthwhile. If it was more humorous it would at least make the obviousness more palatable. To its benefit, you will almost definitely find at least one logical fallacy within that applies more to you personally (the, "Oh, I didn't realize it, but I definitely do that!" moment), and I suppose there's a chance that it may make a huge difference in your life. Also, it's a pretty quick read, with separate 'chapters' (a page or two) for each fallacy. So readers who prefer informational shorts over long form compositions will appreciate the format. ( ) blueviolent | Feb 18, 2018 | ) jay_sejpal | Jun 30, 2017 | الكتاب يتكلم عن اخطاء التفكير من مغالطات وتحيز و وهم و ميول مبنية على اعتقادات مسبقة و افكار معينة واذا اردت ان تفكر بوضوح لا تركز على ما يجب ان تفعل بل ما يجب ابعاده من شوائب التفكير ( ) manolina | Sep 16, 2016 | A compilation of brief summaries of 99 commonly known psychological fallacies in logical thinking. Each chapter is 2-4 pages long and covers one such fallacy. Enough breadth, but no depth. I might add a 100th error: Depth and Breadth Illusion. In most circumstances, breadth does little to compensate for the lack of depth; likewise, depth can rarely sufficiently compensate for the lack of breadth. I think the epilogue is more "authentic" than any other part of the book. In the very last chapter, the author finally explains what thinking errors are, what irrationality is, and why we fall into these traps. He gives three explanations of why we persistently make mistakes: 1) Evolutionary psychology convinces us that it pays to be wrong about the same things. Thinking is a biological phenomenon. Evolution has shaped it just as it has the forms of animals or the colors of flowers. 2) Our brains focus on reproduction rather than the search for truth -- we are prone to being persuaded and convinced. A second, parallel explanation of why our mistakes are so persistent took shape in the late 1990s: Our brains are designed to reproduce rather than search for the truth. In other words, we use our thoughts primarily to persuade. Whoever convinces others secures power and thus access to resources. Such assets represent a major advantage for mating and for rearing offspring. That truth is, at best, a secondary focus and is reflected in the book market: Novels sell much better than nonfiction titles, in spite of the latter's superior candor. 3) We often make decisions based on our emotions and intuitions rather than logic and reason. Finally, a third explanation exists: Intuitive decisions, even if they lack logic, are better under certain circumstances. So-called heuristic research deals with this topic. For many decisions, we lack the necessary information, so we are forced to use mental shortcuts and rules of thumb (heuristics). [...] In short, we often decide intuitively and justify our choices later. And the author's solution? To make things simple, I have set myself the following rules: In situations where the possible consequences are large (i.e., important personal or business decisions), I try to be as reasonable and rational as possible when choosing. I take out my list of errors and check them off one by one, just like a pilot does. I've created a handy checklist decision tree, and I use it to examine important decisions with a fine-tooth comb. (Comment: I hope the author will be able to resist the deception of checklists and combat the feature-positive effect, as he outlines in Chapter 95) In situations where the consequences are small (i.e., regular or Diet Pepsi, sparking or flat water?) I forget about rational optimization and let my intuition take over. Thinking is tiring. Therefore, if the potential harm is small, don't rack your brains; such errors won't do last damage. You'll live better like this. Nature doesn't seem to mind if our decisions are perfect or not, as long as we can maneuver ourselves through life -- and as long as we are ready to be rational when it comes to the crunch. Although the book is moderately interesting and entertaining, I couldn't help but ponder the point of publishing such books as this. A quick index of logical fallacies? More publicity for the author? Perhaps the most valuable part of this book is the Note on Sources. I doubt that "the art of thinking clearly" can be cultivated by merely reading through this list of 99 thinking errors. Rather, the art of thinking well and clearly can be mastered and refined only through trial and error, one improvement after another. My rating: 2.5 / 5 ( )1  sunrise_hues | Jul 8, 2015 | )1 jen.e.moore | Jun 18, 2015 | There is enough human stupidity that exists in the world, and the 99 bite sized chapters do expose many of the myths that we live by. Yet, the book does not reveal anything of the art of thinking clearly. This is a clever title, and this is one of the reasons I bought the book.... one of the great fallacies of our times. If the book was called, The Book of Human Fallacies, I probably would not have bought it. Yet, there is enough in the book to enthrall, and keep you engaged. The writing style is simple and down to earth. I like this. ( ) RajivC | Feb 8, 2014 | )1 xander_paul | Dec 25, 2013 | If you are looking for a more rigorous research backed, the author is very open in pointing towards Daniel Kahneman and Nassim Taleb who he quotes throughout the book. A very enjoyable read I will go back to. Enjoyment: 4/5 Influence: 3/5 1 undstra | Jun 14, 2013 | |
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Why I picked this book up: It came up on YouTube which reminded me I bought it at B&N during Christmas-season one year so I picked it up. It seemed like a fun book to read.
Thoughts: Cognitive errors, we all have them, Things don’t change like Camus and Aurelius saw and we interpret things differently than the past. These short chapters, based in cognitive errors, sales, psychological factors, social functions, biological, logic and he said he is not a philosopher or a Psychologist, etc. but and what he offers in these short, fun chapters are worth the read.
Table of contents:
1 Why You Should Visit Cemeteries: Survivorship Bias
2 Does Harvard Make You Smarter?: Swimmer’s Body Illusion
3 Why You See Shapes in Clouds: Clustering Illusion
4 If Fifty Million People Say Something Foolish, It Is Still Foolish: Social Proof
5 Why You Should Forget the Past: Sunk Cost Fallacy
6 Don’t Accept Free Drinks: Reciprocity
7 Beware the “Special Case”: Confirmation Bias (Part 1)
8 Murder Your Darlings: Confirmation Bias (Part 2)
9 Don’t Bow to Authority: Authority Bias
10 Leave Your Supermodel Friends at Home: Contrast Effect
11 Why We Prefer a Wrong Map to None at All: Availability Bias
12 Why “No Pain, No Gain” Should Set Alarm Bells Ringing: The It’ll-Get-Worse-Before-It-Gets-Better Fallacy
13 Even True Stories Are Fairy Tales: Story Bias
14 Why You Should Keep a Diary: Hindsight Bias
15 Why You Systematically Overestimate Your Knowledge and Abilities: Overconfidence Effect
16 Don’t Take News Anchors Seriously: Chauffeur Knowledge
17 You Control Less Than You Think: Illusion of Control
18 Never Pay Your Lawyer by the Hour: Incentive Super-Response Tendency
19 The Dubious Efficacy of Doctors, Consultants, and Psychotherapists: Regression to Mean
20 Never Judge a Decision by Its Outcome: Outcome Bias
21 Less Is More: Paradox of Choice
22 You Like Me, You Really, Really Like Me: Liking Bias
23 Don’t Cling to Things: Endowment Effect
24 The Inevitability of Unlikely Events: Coincidence
25 The Calamity of Conformity: Groupthink
26 Why You’ll Soon Be Playing Megatrillions: Neglect of Probability
27 Why the Last Cookie in the Jar Makes Your Mouth Water: Scarcity Error
28 When You Hear Hoofbeats, Don’t Expect a Zebra: Base-Rate Neglect
29 Why the “Balancing Force of the Universe” Is Baloney: Gambler’s Fallacy
30 Why the Wheel of Fortune Makes Our Heads Spin: The Anchor
31 How to Relieve People of Their Millions: Induction
32 Why Evil Is More Striking Than Good: Loss Aversion
33 Why Teams Are Lazy: Social Loafing
34 Stumped by a Sheet of Paper: Exponential Growth
35 Curb Your Enthusiasm: Winner’s Curse
36 Never Ask a Writer If the Novel Is Autobiographical: Fundamental Attribution Error
37 Why You Shouldn’t Believe in the Stork: False Causality
38 Why Attractive People Climb the Career Ladder More Quickly: Halo Effect
39 Congratulations! You’ve Won Russian Roulette: Alternative Paths
40 False Prophets: Forecast Illusion
41 The Deception of Specific Cases: Conjunction Fallacy
42 It’s Not What You Say, but How You Say It: Framing
43 Why Watching and Waiting Is Torture: Action Bias
44 Why You Are Either the Solution—or the Problem: Omission Bias
45 Don’t Blame Me: Self-Serving Bias
46 Be Careful What You Wish For: Hedonic Treadmill
47 Do Not Marvel at Your Existence: Self-Selection Bias
48 Why Experience Can Damage Your Judgment: Association Bias
49 Be Wary When Things Get Off to a Great Start: Beginner’s Luck
50 Sweet Little Lies: Cognitive Dissonance
51 Live Each Day as If It Were Your Last—But Only on Sundays: Hyperbolic Discounting
52 Any Lame Excuse: “Because” Justification
53 Decide Better—Decide Less: Decision Fatigue
54 Would You Wear Hitler’s Sweater?: Contagion Bias
55 Why There Is No Such Thing as an Average War: The Problem with Averages
56 How Bonuses Destroy Motivation: Motivation Crowding
57 If You Have Nothing to Say, Say Nothing: Twaddle Tendency
58 How to Increase the Average IQ of Two States: Will Rogers Phenomeno
59 If You Have an Enemy, Give Him Information: Information Bias
60 Hurts So Good: Effort Justification
61 Why Small Things Loom Large: The Law of Small Numbers
62 Handle with Care: Expectations
63 Speed Traps Ahead!: Simple Logic
64 How to Expose a Charlatan: Forer Effect
65 Volunteer Work Is for the Birds: Volunteer’s Folly
66 Why You Are a Slave to Your Emotions: Affect Heuristic
67 Be Your Own Heretic: Introspection Illusion
68 Why You Should Set Fire to Your Ships: Inability to Close Doors
69 Disregard the Brand New: Neomania
70 Why Propaganda Works: Sleeper Effect
71 Why It’s Never Just a Two-Horse Race: Alternative Blindness
72 Why We Take Aim at Young Guns: Social Comparison Bias
73 Why First Impressions Are Deceiving: Primacy and Recency Effects
74 Why You Can’t Beat Homemade: Not-Invented-Here Syndrome
75 How to Profit from the Implausible: The Black Swan
76 Knowledge Is Nontransferrable: Domain Dependence
77 The Myth of Like-Mindedness: False-Consensus Effect
78 You Were Right All Along: Falsification of History
79 Why You Identify with Your Football Team: In-Group Out-Group Bias
80 The Difference between Risk and Uncertainty: Ambiguity Aversion
81 Why You Go with the Status Quo: Default Effect
82 Why “Last Chances” Make Us Panic: Fear of Regret
83 How Eye-Catching Details Render Us Blind: Salience Effect
84 Why Money Is Not Naked: House-Money Effect
85 Why New Year’s Resolutions Don’t Work: Procrastination
86 Build Your Own Castle: Envy
87 Why You Prefer Novels to Statistics: Personification
88 You Have No Idea What You Are Overlooking: Illusion of Attention
89 Hot Air: Strategic Misrepresentation
90 Where’s the Off Switch?: Overthinking
91 Why You Take On Too Much: Planning Fallacy
92 Those Wielding Hammers See Only Nails: Déformation Professionnelle
93 Mission Accomplished: Zeigarnik Effect
94 The Boat Matters More Than the Rowing: Illusion of Skill
95 Why Checklists Deceive You: Feature-Positive Effect
96 Drawing the Bull’s-Eye around the Arrow: Cherry Picking
97 The Stone Age Hunt for Scapegoats: Fallacy of the Single Cause
98 Why Speed Demons Appear to Be Safer Drivers: Intention-to-Treat Error
99 Why You Shouldn’t Read the News: News Illusion
Why I finished this read: I finished because all the chapters were so short and I found it an enjoyable read. If you want to dig deeper for more comprehensive material on each topic you are able to do that.
Stars rating: this was difficult for me to rate. If I rate it on depth it would be rather low but if I rate it on my enjoyment I rated it at a 4 out if 5 stars. (