Daniel Kahneman: Thinking, fast and slow (2011, Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Published Dec. 13, 2011 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Kahneman introduces two modes of thought - system 1, fast and intuitive, and system 2, slow and reasoned - and explores how these modes effect behavior, particularly judgement and decision making.
A run-down of the psychology of action from one of the leading experts in the field. Nice flow throughout this book. Although some of the experimentation was dubious, the gist - why we act the way we act, impulsively or methodically - was well explored and the interactivity of puzzles in the book was entertaining (sometimes patronising). Worth a read.
This is my second reading of this book. I expect I’ll read it again a few more times.
It is useful to anyone who can follow some basic scientific reasoning (simple statistics, using only basic arithmetic and reports of experiments).
It remains useful even if you have more advanced statistical, psychological and economic knowledge because one of its aims is to show you how many humans, even experts, engage their fast, heuristic reasoning unless something triggers their slow, logical reasoning, and the fast process is subject to illusions similar to optical illusions. These leave us feeling certain of something that is wrong. Just as with many optical illusions, even when we know that things are not as they seem, the heuristic illusions remain in spite of our "slow thinking" knowledge.
If you read this book, you will have a significant set of new thinking tools and, although you will still …
This is my second reading of this book. I expect I’ll read it again a few more times.
It is useful to anyone who can follow some basic scientific reasoning (simple statistics, using only basic arithmetic and reports of experiments).
It remains useful even if you have more advanced statistical, psychological and economic knowledge because one of its aims is to show you how many humans, even experts, engage their fast, heuristic reasoning unless something triggers their slow, logical reasoning, and the fast process is subject to illusions similar to optical illusions. These leave us feeling certain of something that is wrong. Just as with many optical illusions, even when we know that things are not as they seem, the heuristic illusions remain in spite of our "slow thinking" knowledge.
If you read this book, you will have a significant set of new thinking tools and, although you will still be subject to the errors, you may be able to work around them by thinking carefully.
This is also a classic - since my first reading a couple of years ago, I have seen it referenced by many other books and scientific papers.
This was a great book. It had very accessible language, but it was very long. I read this over the course of about three months. I found it pretty easy to pick up again after putting it down for a while. I do wish there was a summarized take-away somewhere.
My primary somewhat-reading-between-the-lines take away: humans are not rational agents and we should consider that fact when evaluate hard human topics like accountability, freedom, fairness, justice, and equality.
Managed to meet my high expectations. Will recommend to others.
I was fortunate to be given this book, as I've unknowningly been really interested in many of the ideas and principles that turn out to have been indebted to Kahneman's work. This is a long read, but I found it consistently interesting, though at times I felt like there were some missed opportunities to more clearly outline and draw out principles from each chapter. I've bookmarked a number of passages and intend to reread some again to better internalize some of the lessons. Kahneman's skepticism and caution about human rationality is healthy and much needed, especially in the educator sector in which I work.
Thorough, readable overview of cognitive biases and prospect theory. Consistent short chapters covering one idea, often a review of psychology experiments that demonstrate the bias or result. Memorable shorthands for the different ways of thinking: the title mostly refers to our mind's intensity-driven jump-to-conclusion machine and our lazy calculating rational machine, neither free of bias.
The old line that true wisdom comes when you realize how little you know is brought to mind by this book which shows us that we often respond to the world using a pre-wired quick-acting, but deeply flawed system of mental function. The author, a Nobel prize laureate, describes his theory of fast and slow methods of thought, which, at first, seems to be an analytical version of the id and ego dressed up and without attribution, but as the stories are told and the experimental results accumulate, we see an extraordinary far-reaching concept that has consequences for all human activity. Included are: explanations of how con men and salesman trick us so easily, the difficulty of comprehending simple statistical concepts, one of the best explanations of regression to the mean that I have ever read, more support for efficient market theory and debunking of those who predict the future, …
The old line that true wisdom comes when you realize how little you know is brought to mind by this book which shows us that we often respond to the world using a pre-wired quick-acting, but deeply flawed system of mental function. The author, a Nobel prize laureate, describes his theory of fast and slow methods of thought, which, at first, seems to be an analytical version of the id and ego dressed up and without attribution, but as the stories are told and the experimental results accumulate, we see an extraordinary far-reaching concept that has consequences for all human activity. Included are: explanations of how con men and salesman trick us so easily, the difficulty of comprehending simple statistical concepts, one of the best explanations of regression to the mean that I have ever read, more support for efficient market theory and debunking of those who predict the future, the reason why tourists need to take pictures and a discussion of the remembering self that gave me insight into Proust, tips on hiring, the basis of intuition and much more.
I bought that book almost by chance - saw it in the bookshop, got a rise of an eyebrow at the mention "Nobel price", looked at the cover, shrugged, probably told myself "this guy is probably not too much of a quack, he probably has interesting things to say".
It IS a very interesting book, but it's pretty dense. I guess a (pretty long) subtitle could be "You suck at probabilities and at making rational decisions and here's why". The book summarizes around 30 years of research in psychology and economics, including what got Kahneman his Nobel price (in economics). It describes two ways of thinking, what they call System 1 and System 2 - System 1 is fast and intuitive (and allows you to not get eaten in the jungle, essentially), System 2 is more thoughtful and logical. And even when you think you're being entirely rational and logical, …
I bought that book almost by chance - saw it in the bookshop, got a rise of an eyebrow at the mention "Nobel price", looked at the cover, shrugged, probably told myself "this guy is probably not too much of a quack, he probably has interesting things to say".
It IS a very interesting book, but it's pretty dense. I guess a (pretty long) subtitle could be "You suck at probabilities and at making rational decisions and here's why". The book summarizes around 30 years of research in psychology and economics, including what got Kahneman his Nobel price (in economics). It describes two ways of thinking, what they call System 1 and System 2 - System 1 is fast and intuitive (and allows you to not get eaten in the jungle, essentially), System 2 is more thoughtful and logical. And even when you think you're being entirely rational and logical, chances are, you're not (and you're not probably not aware that you're not). Kahneman gives a lot of examples, and explains how a number of factors can effect rationality. Many of these may be familiar to those who read [b:You Are Not So Smart|11709037|You Are Not So Smart Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You're Deluding Yourself|David McRaney|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1391879112s/11709037.jpg|16656588], by David McRaney; while McRaney's style is more conversational and anecdote-based (pop science-y, maybe, in the good sense of the word), Kahneman is probably a bit above that - which may make it a bit harder to read (but again, very interesting).
I found myself being amazed, amused and bewildered by a lot of experimental results he presents, and fascinated by the explanations. Definitely recommended.
Would have given it five stars if it hadn't been so impenetrably boring at various points
Advertisers and politicians know this stuff. We should know it too.
Kahneman documents the almost paradoxical differences between our "automatic" thinking (à la Gladwell's "Blink") and our "rational" (prefrontal cortex) selves. How the automatic systems frequently trick us, and sometimes in dangerous ways.
Psychology, economics, and statistics all in one brilliantly accessible package.
Just as human minds are vulnerable to optical and auditory illusions, we also have regular, predictable, remarkable flaws in the ways we predict events, handle statistical data and uncertainty, remember our own lives, anticipate what will make us happy, assess information, and so forth. These cognitive illusions are only recently undergoing rigorous exploration, and [a:Daniel Kahneman|72401|Daniel Kahneman|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1615917414p2/72401.jpg] is one of the top names in the field.
In [b:Thinking Fast and Slow|11468377|Thinking, Fast and Slow|Daniel Kahneman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1317793965l/11468377.SX50.jpg|16402639], Kahneman introduces his model for understanding these illusions. Roughly: people have two cognitive systems for evaluating information and making decisions -- System 1 and System 2. System 1 is fast, intuitive, subconscious, and automatic, but is prone to some easily-exploitable biases and illusions. System 2 is slow, must be deliberately invoked, is conscious, and is sapping of mental energy; while it can fill in some of the gaps where System 1 fails, it …
Just as human minds are vulnerable to optical and auditory illusions, we also have regular, predictable, remarkable flaws in the ways we predict events, handle statistical data and uncertainty, remember our own lives, anticipate what will make us happy, assess information, and so forth. These cognitive illusions are only recently undergoing rigorous exploration, and [a:Daniel Kahneman|72401|Daniel Kahneman|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1615917414p2/72401.jpg] is one of the top names in the field.
In [b:Thinking Fast and Slow|11468377|Thinking, Fast and Slow|Daniel Kahneman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1317793965l/11468377.SX50.jpg|16402639], Kahneman introduces his model for understanding these illusions. Roughly: people have two cognitive systems for evaluating information and making decisions -- System 1 and System 2. System 1 is fast, intuitive, subconscious, and automatic, but is prone to some easily-exploitable biases and illusions. System 2 is slow, must be deliberately invoked, is conscious, and is sapping of mental energy; while it can fill in some of the gaps where System 1 fails, it has some blind spots of its own, and can be over-reliant on the snap judgments of System 1 as the basis for its own decisions.
The marketing and propaganda industries are of course eagerly studying this new research into the various ways in which they can trick us into parting with more of our resources or doing more of their bidding while receiving less in return. We, the intended victims, are much slower to educate ourselves. Perhaps books like this will help.
Added caveat (June 2016): jasoncollins.org/2016/06/29/re-reading-kahnemans-thinking-fast-and-slow/
Added caveat (May 2021): replicationindex.com/2020/12/30/a-meta-scientific-perspective-on-thinking-fast-and-slow/
