Thinking, Fast and Slow
by Daniel Kahneman
Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 1 edition (October 25, 2011)
In the highly anticipated Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. Kahneman exposes the extraordinary capabilities—and also the faults and biases—of fast thinking, and reveals the pervasive influence of intuitive impressions on our thoughts and behavior. The impact of loss aversion and overconfidence on corporate strategies, the difficulties of predicting what will make us happy in the future, the challenges of properly framing risks at work and at home, the profound effect of cognitive biases on everything from playing the stock market to planning the next vacation—each of these can be understood only by knowing how the two systems work together to shape our judgments and decisions.
Engaging the reader in a lively conversation about how we think, Kahneman reveals where we can and cannot trust our intuitions and how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking. He offers practical and enlightening insights into how choices are made in both our business and our personal lives—and how we can use different techniques to guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble. Thinking, Fast and Slow will transform the way you think about thinking.
Read a NYTimes Book Review by Jim Holt at http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/dlashof/thinking_fast_and_slow_about_c.html#.TzMb9laPMDI.twitter
You can read Dan Lashoff’s review of this book at the National Resource Defence Council’s blog at http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/dlashof/thinking_fast_and_slow_about_c.html#.TzMb9laPMDI.twitter
2 Comments
I learned a lot about social change and psychology from this book. Kahneman shows the reader that he or she must not immediately accept statistics as they are, but to question their validity and context. This is relevant to modern day media as credibility becomes an issue.
Kahneman’s book, Thinking Fast and Slow, delves deeply into the hidden biases in the world. He separates the human way of thinking into two categories: System 1 and System 2. System 1 is the fast thinking – the side that makes certain assumptions and is less logical while System 2 is the slow thinking – the side that is more logical and doubting. Kahneman shows that there are many things that influence System 1 when System 2 is inactive, and this can lead to a lot of prejudice. However, he also shows that System 1 can save a person when System 2’s slow pace is too sluggish. This book is truly a revolutionary look at the mysterious influences around us.