Arcadia Public Library

In this work the author, a recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his seminal work in psychology that challenged the rational model of judgment and decision making, has brought together his many years of research and thinking in one book. He 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. He exposes the extraordinary capabilities,...

The authors introduce a four-step process designed to counteract the biases that inevitably creep into the decision-making process.

Is it best to be emotionless and analytical in decision making? When our goal is to be decisive, the answer is a resounding no. Instead, harnessing the power of emotions is critical. Studies of the neural underpinnings of decision making show that our brains start by evaluating options analytically. But very soon usually based on first impressions we create an emotional front-runner. We then continue down a path of predecisional distortion, which...

Why do smart people make irrational decisions every day? The answers will surprise you. This book is a look at why we all make illogical decisions. Why can a 50-cent aspirin do what a penny aspirin can't? If an item is "free" it must be a bargain, right? Why is everything relative, even when it shouldn't be? How do our expectations influence our actual opinions and decisions? In this book, the author, a behavioral economist cuts to the heart of our...

"By digging into the data, [Emily] Oster found that much of the conventional pregnancy wisdom was wrong. In Cribsheet, she now tackles an even great challenge: decision making in the early years of parenting. As any new parent knows, there is an abundance of often-conflicting advice hurled at you from doctors, family, friends, and the internet. From the earliest days, parents get the message that they must make certain choices around feeding, sleep,...

Decision making cuts across all human activities. Yet we rarely study much less apply the fundamental thinking processes that should be undertaken before we make important decisions. Most of us can't stop our emotions from having more sway than rational deliberation. Dr. Howard, who has spent much of his career studying this struggle between instinct and logic, describes the elements of high-quality decisions: proper framing, clear alternatives, appropriate...

"Brilliant. . . . Lewis has given us a spectacular account of two great men who faced up to uncertainty and the limits of human reason." —William Easterly, Wall Street Journal

Forty years ago, Israeli psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky wrote a series of breathtakingly original papers that invented the field of behavioral economics. One of the greatest partnerships in the history of science, Kahneman and Tversky's...

"From the host of EconTalk, a guide to decision-making when you can't crunch the numbers. Algorithms and apps analyze data and tell you how to beat the traffic, what books to buy, what music to listen to, and even who to date-often with great results. But what do you do when you face the big decisions of life-the "wild problems" of who to marry, whether to have children, where to move, how to forge a life well-lived-that can't be solved by measurement...

Sheena Iyengar's award-winning research reveals how and why we choose: whether or not choice is innate or bound by culture, why we sometimes choose against our best interests, and how much control we really have over what we choose.