5 ms·

Ask HN: Books recommendations on developing critical thinking?

29 points by jackallis 5y ago

hoping get your recommedation on critical thinking, decision under uncertainity - other than khaneman's book.

enduser 5y ago
The most helpful approach for me has been to write up my own thinking and have it reviewed by others. Having ideas about how to think is nowhere near as useful as practice and feedback. Writing up our thought process is also very helpful for getting buy-in from others—turning personal success/failure into group success/failure.
thenerdhead 5y ago
Here's a few. Taleb's collection, Walter Isaacson bios, Farnam Street mental model books, and a recent favorite "Decoding Greatness".
goodusername 5y ago
I highly recommend The Skeptics Guide To The Universe: How to Know What’s Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake https://www.theskepticsguide.org/our-book https://www.theskepticsguide.org/our-book Its somewhat of a reference book and very accessible
cc101 5y ago
See the CIA's "Thinking About Thinking".
- westcort 5y ago
  Available here: https://web.archive.org/web/20181122000011/https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/psychology-of-intelligence-analysis/art4.html https://web.archive.org/web/20181122000011/https://www.cia.g...
nbernard 5y ago
I found "Rational Choice in an Uncertain World: The Psychology of Judgement and Decision Making" by Reid Hastie and Robyn M. Dawes very good on this topic. I read the first edition, but I believe there is a 2nd one now.
unifer1 5y ago
Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking, by Daniel Dennett
westurner 5y ago
"Ask HN: How can I “work-out” critical thinking skills as I age?" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24026223 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24026223 Causal_inference#Methodology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causal_inference#Methodology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causal_inference#Methodology
Py-o7 5y ago
If you like Khaneman, there's a lot more to be found at edge.org (e.g. Tetlock's Superforecasters is discussed at length with a panel including Kahneman IIRC. I liked that book but I think I liked the discussion even more.) Max Bazerman and Rich Zeckhauser (e.g. "Investing in the Unknown...") have written some very interesting stuff and "The Best of Charlie Munger" is worth reading. Also, spending a lot of time playing poker (or bridge) can be very helpful. The fact that Zeckhauser is a champion bridge player may be worth thinking on.
tr00evol 5y ago
Highly recommend the Model Thinking course on Coursera: https://www.coursera.org/learn/model-thinking https://www.coursera.org/learn/model-thinking
kody 5y ago
It's kind of a pop self-help book but I really enjoyed Annie Duke's Thinking in Bets, particularly in terms of managing risk and making decisions in uncertainty.
omosubi 5y ago
I'd recommend reading the classics - Plato, Shakespeare, Dostoyevsky, Homer, etc. Reading enough classics will challenge your mind in many ways and give you broad historical and cultural understanding that will help you improve your thought processes, regardless of the field.
- muzani 5y ago
  I'm not so sure about some of those. The classics are often flawed in some way - many came before the invention of economics, modern religion, scientific method, modern storytelling. There was an era where storytelling was just about failures - drama and comedy. And often this was from one's own fault, and they would spiral all the way down despite best efforts. But religion, probably Christianity, flipped that and storytelling became about people who failed on their own weakness and then repented and became successful. 18th century Economics also changed the mindset of society a lot. It was no longer about stuff you had or would steal from others. It was about productivity. Suddenly wealth was measure in GNP/GDP and not gold. But there are some really good stuff in the classics. I love Aristotle's stuff. It's reverse Blinkist - a summary of it is actually longer than the original books. Also because old stuff is flawed, it's good practice to criticize them. Instead of blindly opposing something, bring up where the author is uninformed, misinformed, or illogical. Sometimes you know something is missing but can't articulate it, and that's a good study on where the missing piece is. Something written thousands of years ago is bound to have lots of missing pieces.
arturo40 5y ago
See the chapter on teaching critical thinking in: Kosslyn et al, "Building the Intentional University: Minerva and the Future of Higher Education (The MIT Press)" For decision making: Heath et al, "Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work"
galfarragem 5y ago
Any book will do. Every book expose you to a different point of view that will challenge your beliefs. Once your time on Earth is limited, avoid blockbusters and prefer classics.
- shime 5y ago
  I don't think so. Bad books, like "The Secret" or "Think and Grow Rich" should be avoided if you want to develop your critical thinking.
austincheney 5y ago
Nicomachean Ethics. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicomachean_Ethics https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicomachean_Ethics Usually critical thinking means two things simultaneously: 1. Degree of willingness to defy group dynamics. Group can refer to an immediate group such as family or employment team yet also more broadly as culture or identity. This defiance is not spontaneous, as in an adolescent behavior for increased independence, but cognitive and intentional. 2. Degree of willingness to act. Under stress people typically defer to a fight or flight dichotomy of decisions. When either the fight or flight conditions are unclear they do nothing. A willingness to act suggests that in the face of uncertainty a willingness to commit to a decision, even if wrong, and execute as opposed to doing nothing as a posture for uncertainty avoidance.
marttt 5y ago
"An Introduction to General Systems Thinking" by Gerald M. Weinberg [0] was highly influential to me. I still often use his "systems triumvirate" when I have to sort out bigger-picture problems: 1. Why do I see what I see? 2. Why do things stay the same? 3. Why do things change? 0: https://geraldmweinberg.com/Site/General_Systems.html https://geraldmweinberg.com/Site/General_Systems.html
bwb 5y ago
This might be helpful, Steven Pinker recommended the best books on rationality -> https://shepherd.com/best-books/rationality https://shepherd.com/best-books/rationality i am working on more around critical thinking... I think specifically his rec for this book would be interesting in developing critical thinking: The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth By Jonathan Rauch

29 points by jackallis 5y ago

hoping get your recommedation on critical thinking, decision under uncertainity - other than khaneman's book.

The most helpful approach for me has been to write up my own thinking and have it reviewed by others. Having ideas about how to think is nowhere near as useful as practice and feedback. Writing up our thought process is also very helpful for getting buy-in from others—turning personal success/failure into group success/failure.

thenerdhead 5y ago

Here's a few. Taleb's collection, Walter Isaacson bios, Farnam Street mental model books, and a recent favorite "Decoding Greatness".

goodusername 5y ago

I highly recommend The Skeptics Guide To The Universe: How to Know What’s Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake https://www.theskepticsguide.org/our-book https://www.theskepticsguide.org/our-book Its somewhat of a reference book and very accessible

cc101 5y ago

See the CIA's "Thinking About Thinking".

westcort 5y ago
Available here: https://web.archive.org/web/20181122000011/https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/psychology-of-intelligence-analysis/art4.html https://web.archive.org/web/20181122000011/https://www.cia.g...

nbernard 5y ago

I found "Rational Choice in an Uncertain World: The Psychology of Judgement and Decision Making" by Reid Hastie and Robyn M. Dawes very good on this topic. I read the first edition, but I believe there is a 2nd one now.

unifer1 5y ago

Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking, by Daniel Dennett

westurner 5y ago

"Ask HN: How can I “work-out” critical thinking skills as I age?" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24026223 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24026223 Causal_inference#Methodology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causal_inference#Methodology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causal_inference#Methodology

Py-o7 5y ago

If you like Khaneman, there's a lot more to be found at edge.org (e.g. Tetlock's Superforecasters is discussed at length with a panel including Kahneman IIRC. I liked that book but I think I liked the discussion even more.) Max Bazerman and Rich Zeckhauser (e.g. "Investing in the Unknown...") have written some very interesting stuff and "The Best of Charlie Munger" is worth reading. Also, spending a lot of time playing poker (or bridge) can be very helpful. The fact that Zeckhauser is a champion bridge player may be worth thinking on.

tr00evol 5y ago

Highly recommend the Model Thinking course on Coursera: https://www.coursera.org/learn/model-thinking https://www.coursera.org/learn/model-thinking

kody 5y ago

It's kind of a pop self-help book but I really enjoyed Annie Duke's Thinking in Bets, particularly in terms of managing risk and making decisions in uncertainty.

omosubi 5y ago

I'd recommend reading the classics - Plato, Shakespeare, Dostoyevsky, Homer, etc. Reading enough classics will challenge your mind in many ways and give you broad historical and cultural understanding that will help you improve your thought processes, regardless of the field.

muzani 5y ago
I'm not so sure about some of those. The classics are often flawed in some way - many came before the invention of economics, modern religion, scientific method, modern storytelling. There was an era where storytelling was just about failures - drama and comedy. And often this was from one's own fault, and they would spiral all the way down despite best efforts. But religion, probably Christianity, flipped that and storytelling became about people who failed on their own weakness and then repented and became successful. 18th century Economics also changed the mindset of society a lot. It was no longer about stuff you had or would steal from others. It was about productivity. Suddenly wealth was measure in GNP/GDP and not gold. But there are some really good stuff in the classics. I love Aristotle's stuff. It's reverse Blinkist - a summary of it is actually longer than the original books. Also because old stuff is flawed, it's good practice to criticize them. Instead of blindly opposing something, bring up where the author is uninformed, misinformed, or illogical. Sometimes you know something is missing but can't articulate it, and that's a good study on where the missing piece is. Something written thousands of years ago is bound to have lots of missing pieces.

arturo40 5y ago

See the chapter on teaching critical thinking in: Kosslyn et al, "Building the Intentional University: Minerva and the Future of Higher Education (The MIT Press)" For decision making: Heath et al, "Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work"

galfarragem 5y ago

Any book will do. Every book expose you to a different point of view that will challenge your beliefs. Once your time on Earth is limited, avoid blockbusters and prefer classics.

shime 5y ago
I don't think so. Bad books, like "The Secret" or "Think and Grow Rich" should be avoided if you want to develop your critical thinking.

austincheney 5y ago

Nicomachean Ethics. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicomachean_Ethics https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicomachean_Ethics Usually critical thinking means two things simultaneously: 1. Degree of willingness to defy group dynamics. Group can refer to an immediate group such as family or employment team yet also more broadly as culture or identity. This defiance is not spontaneous, as in an adolescent behavior for increased independence, but cognitive and intentional. 2. Degree of willingness to act. Under stress people typically defer to a fight or flight dichotomy of decisions. When either the fight or flight conditions are unclear they do nothing. A willingness to act suggests that in the face of uncertainty a willingness to commit to a decision, even if wrong, and execute as opposed to doing nothing as a posture for uncertainty avoidance.

marttt 5y ago

"An Introduction to General Systems Thinking" by Gerald M. Weinberg [0] was highly influential to me. I still often use his "systems triumvirate" when I have to sort out bigger-picture problems: 1. Why do I see what I see? 2. Why do things stay the same? 3. Why do things change? 0: https://geraldmweinberg.com/Site/General_Systems.html https://geraldmweinberg.com/Site/General_Systems.html

bwb 5y ago

This might be helpful, Steven Pinker recommended the best books on rationality -> https://shepherd.com/best-books/rationality https://shepherd.com/best-books/rationality i am working on more around critical thinking... I think specifically his rec for this book would be interesting in developing critical thinking: The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth By Jonathan Rauch