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Thinking, fast and slow - Daniel Kahneman A stunningly good book about cognitive biases, with fairly understated claims and backed up with studies. Excellent a

by IanCal 12y ago

Thinking, fast and slow - Daniel Kahneman A stunningly good book about cognitive biases, with fairly understated claims and backed up with studies. Excellent advice for life and it's changed how I view decisions and interactions. [edit - if you want it and can't afford it, get in touch and I might be able to buy you a copy] The Evolution of Cooperation - Robert Axelrod Rather hammers the prisoners dilemma a lot, but it does feel justified. It's been maybe 9 years since I read this and it was the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw this question. How does co-operation work? What properties are required for co-operation? If I recall correctly it examines these questions from the scale of bacteria to nation states.

gbersac 12y ago
> Thinking, fast and slow Definitely one of the most mind blowing book I ever read. Loved it.This could be summarised in : "I know that I know nothing". It's incredible how our mind is biased in so many way to the point of being untrustworthy.
- IanCal 12y ago
  What I particularly love about it is that it makes quite reasonable claims, and explains the data behind them. Often it comes from him doing an experiment and finding something odd, then trying to eliminate the effect by reducing more and more parts before being left with incredible results. It is not a self help book, it's not a "10 crazy things your doctor won't tell you!" book, it's a story about the more interesting findings of a Nobel Prize winner (Nobel Memorial Prize apparently, after checking wikipedia) extremely well explained. I think the only book that's left me stopping every few pages and going "huh... so that's why..." or prodding someone near to explain a cool new thing is a Brief History of Time when I was younger (also a thoroughly good read if you've not done so, having being reminded now).

by IanCal 12y ago

gbersac 12y ago

> Thinking, fast and slow Definitely one of the most mind blowing book I ever read. Loved it.This could be summarised in : "I know that I know nothing". It's incredible how our mind is biased in so many way to the point of being untrustworthy.

IanCal 12y ago
What I particularly love about it is that it makes quite reasonable claims, and explains the data behind them. Often it comes from him doing an experiment and finding something odd, then trying to eliminate the effect by reducing more and more parts before being left with incredible results. It is not a self help book, it's not a "10 crazy things your doctor won't tell you!" book, it's a story about the more interesting findings of a Nobel Prize winner (Nobel Memorial Prize apparently, after checking wikipedia) extremely well explained. I think the only book that's left me stopping every few pages and going "huh... so that's why..." or prodding someone near to explain a cool new thing is a Brief History of Time when I was younger (also a thoroughly good read if you've not done so, having being reminded now).