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For August 2014, we will be reading Thinking, Fast and Slow.

Please use this thread to post questions, comments, and reviews, at any time.

I finally secured a copy of the book. Ready to read for August.

It's an excellent book, Kathy--you will enjoy it!

I have read the intro to this book few months ago after a friend recommended it for me. It will be an opportunity to read it with the group after all the praise I heard about it.

This book sounds really interesting. I am going to try to get a copy.

I've got a copy and just started . Looks to be interesting.

Not too far along. But good read so far. A couple more days & I should have enough read to begin to discuss, hoping others are reading too.

Just a quick note on the introduction, because it resonated with me:
his aim is too enrich the vocabulary used when talking about decision making and judgments. Technical terms used in psychology research have the potential to clarify processes and possible errors. I like this notion, because I think it raises self-awareness and may improve daily life.

Reminded me slightly of this article:
which is about relationships and why some are happy and some are not. They used the term "bids" for what happens daily in a relationship, a request to connect emotionally with the partner. Having a framework for something that I do every day, helped me to see some processes more clearly.

A more precise language on hand is always good, so I am excited about what comes next in the book.

Just started this and am having fun! The author's enthusiasm for his work really shines through.

Glynn wrote: "Just started this and am having fun! The author's enthusiasm for his work really shines through."

I agree with you. I haven't had much time to read this month, but liking what I have done so far.

Any favorite parts so far?

I am a slow monthly reader. On chapter 3 and a couple of thoughts. When reading an intellectually engaging book I tend to do "mindless snacking." So am I feeding my systems in order not to ego deplete?


And (page 45 in my paperback copy) I thought this sentence telling, "They apparently find cognitive effort at least mildly unpleasant and avoid it at all costs." Is this then part of the aversion that some people have against mathematics? It simply takes up too much intellectual effort and humans brains are just lazy?

A great example of cognitive ease and strain is how much more effortless it was for me to comment on Robin Williams' death than it is to discuss the events in Ferguson, Missouri or Gaza or Iraq. It's easier for me to process the loss of an entertainer, and how that makes me feel, than to think rationally about complicated conflicts. In the first case, it's not entirely necessary to engage System 2; little more is needed than a visceral reaction. In the second, however, biases tend to cause much strain and dissonance as I try to make sense of the competing initial associations. As a result, I often give up trying to make sense of it when I'm pressed for a response, so I either fall back to my System 1 thinking or I simply don't draw any conclusion at all.

I find this to be a fascinating bit of my own psychology. I often don't draw conclusions about difficult topics until I'm able to give my System 2 a go at it.

Kathy wrote: "Glynn wrote: "Just started this and am having fun! The author's enthusiasm for his work really shines through."

I agree with you. I haven't had much time to read this month, but liking what I have...Any favorite parts so far? "

I found the chapter explaining "priming" fascinating. I was taken with the study of more people voting to increase the funding of a school when the voting takes place in a school than when it takes place in a different location.

I really need to read the monthly book before the month starts. I am still working my way through Thinking, Fast and Slow and am enjoying it, but it is taking me a bit of time to get through it.

Hope to finish by the end of the month, but if not, perhaps someone will still be reading with me.

Kathy wrote: "I really need to read the monthly book before the month starts. I am still working my way through Thinking, Fast and Slow and am enjoying it, but it is taking me a bit of time to ge..."
same here, i'm pretty sure I will continue next month

Great to know, Mirela. Hope we can continue the conversation until we finish.

You can always continue the conversation as long as there are people interested. Our group reads are never restricted to the target month.

Kathy wrote: "I really need to read the monthly book before the month starts. I am still working my way through Thinking, Fast and Slow and am enjoying it, but it is taking me a bit of time to ge..."

I am a little over halfway through so I'm pretty sure I'll still be reading it past month's end. Fascinating stuff :)

Hi Glynn! Good to see you around. It is an interesting book for me also. I haven't read anything like it, so all the information is new to me. Looks like we are at similar places in the book.

The chapters on loss aversion are particularly relevant to me. We just moved to a new state and although the pluses outweighed the negatives it was still a tough time.

I am only about 50 pages in, but hopefully I could gain some serious ground on this book this weekend. Not always, but generally speaking science books take me much longer to say that say fiction. But I'll pop in here during next month. :)

Great book, it gets a little technical at times. Solid Econ 101 background is suggested. I felt that Kahneman tried to write an autobiography based on the steps of his lifetime work, I cannot blame him for that, since prospect theory and cognitive biases are his legacy to us all.
It took me almost a month to read it, I enjoyed the rigour of his thinking and his sugestions for real life. Experimental works in economics are rare, debunking long-held beliefs on how humans make economic decisions is something that you won't learn at college.
Take this book and use it as a companion to any econ course you take.