Informative, clear and entertaining

I enjoyed this audiobook. It's an excellent and well-researched overview of the various cognitive biases, emotional pitfalls (some of them could almost be called "old sins", such as pride and anger) and other blind spots intelligent people may be prone to, and which may lead them to making questionable decisions or stupid mistakes. Didn't feel that there was anything new under the sun though. Besides, if the "wildfires of stupidity" (authors analogy) that are continually lighting up and spreading over the internet teach us anything, it's that people who would not generally quality as "intelligent" (intellectually or emotionally) also feel proud of their "knowledge" and are willing to go to great lengths to bring the rest of the world down to their viewpoint. If history counts for something, then "stupid pride" usually leads to far greater tragedies than a plane crash or even an oil spill, as sad and damaging these events are. Please refer to the first 50 years of the 20th century for details.

This book got me thinking about my own biases and assumptions and, for that, I found it challenging in the most positive way. The research presented opens the door to discovering even more biases and cultural assumptions, which we have become so used to that we don't see them anymore. They are our blind spots. For example: I totally understand the need for critical thinking. However, having spent my life working within teams and in a collective environment, I would add that timing is everything. The onset of a project or initiative is the right time to raise issues and possible problems to be solved. But once the group gets moving, my own experience is that continually raising issues can become a project risk, and is often a symptom of lack of self-confidence or of a desire to "express one's pride in being self-assertive".

Not seeing the difficult and TENSE interplay between the need to know as much as possible and the need to act efficiently seems to be a typical blind spot of many intellectuals, especially professional writers. Let's call it the "intellectual-contemplative" bias, which could be characterized as the "belief that the world is something that can be solved through reasoning". As far as I'm concerned, practical experience shows that some decisions can be reflected upon, while others require speed, swiftness and, therefore, rely on the "jam-packed knowledge and experience" we call "intuition". I would add we may be wired to transform slow thinking into fast thinking, and that this process is at the very heart of our "existential requirements" as individual and as a species. But one can work hard on building a resilient and open intuition.

If you're looking for a book that will challenge you, make you think and open doors for future self-improvement, you'll love this one. If you can live with a British accent, you'll enjoy the narration as well.

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1 person found this helpful

Could have been much shorter

While the main concept (which follows many other books) is important, the book is full of unnecessary repetitions and elaborations which make it less interesting without adding much. It could have been a quarter or a third of now without losing much. Some chapters clearly don’t have much to offer.

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Very interesting indeed 👌

So many interesting and practical insights into cognitive bias. A world of valuable information in a short concise roundup.

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