Thinking, Fast and Slow BY DANIEL KAHNEMAN

In Forex Books Reviews by

About the book

Psychologist Daniel Kahneman takes the readers to a tour of the human mind, where he differentiates the two systems of thinking. These two systems are the (1) emotional and (2) logical, which, as claimed by Kahneman, determines how we strategize, decide, and plan. He discusses how these core aspects of the human mind can help determine how we decide when we are in the market.

He delves into an engaging and informative discussion about how humans think and how we can use our intuitions into the things we can benefit from. The book is filled with insights and practical advice into techniques of how to better decide both in financial and actual lives. 

Review

Although the author did a good job of discussing how the human mind functions as he perceives it does, the book takes too much effort into convincing the readers that the information presented to them is correct. The first parts of the book were almost nothing more than a bunch of journals put together by the author to support his claims about the processes of thinking of the human mind. Too many case studies are included in the book that was not incorporated smoothly. The book can read like it was feeding redundant information about one concept. 

Even if the book is an interactive and engaging read where some people could perceive the content as new and fresh, the book is complicated, and much of the statements remain to need further discussion and support.

About the Author

DANIEL KAHNEMAN is Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs Emeritus at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He is also Eugene Higgins Professor of Psychology Emeritus at Princeton University. He won the Novel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2002 for his revolutionary work on decision-making with Amos Tversky.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

PART I. TWO SYSTEMS

  1. THE CHARACTERS OF THE STORY
  2. ATTENTION AND EFFORT
  3. THE LAZY CONTROLLER
  4. THE ASSOCIATIVE MACHINE
  5. COGNITIVE EASE
  6. NORMS, SURPRISES. AMD CAUSES
  7. A MACHINE FOR JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS
  8. HOW JUDGMENTS HAPPEN
  9. ANSWERING AN EASIER QUESTION

PART II. HEURISTICS AND BIASES

  1. THE LAW OF SMALL NUMBERS
  2. ANCHORS
  3. THE SCIENCE OF AVAILABILITY
  4. AVAILABILITY, EMOTION, AND RISK
  5. TOM W’S SPECIALTY
  6. LINDA: LESS IS MORE
  7. CAUSES TRUMP STATISTICS
  8. REGRESSION TO THE MEAN
  9. TAMING INTUITIVE PREDICTIONS

PART III. OVERCONFIDENCE

  1. THE ILLUSION OF UNDERSTANDING
  2. THE ILLUSION OF VALIDITY
  3. INTUITIONS VS. FORMULAS
  4. EXPERT INTUITION: WHEN CAN WE TRUST IT?
  5. THE OUTSIDE VIEW
  6. THE ENGINE OF CAPITALISM

PART IV. CHOICES

  1. BERNOULLI’S ERRORS
  2. PROSPECT THEORY
  3. THE ENDOWMENT EFFECT
  4. BAD EVENTS
  5. THE FOURFOLD PATTERN
  6. RARE EVENTS
  7. RISK POLICIES
  8. KEEPING SCORE
  9. REVERSALS
  10. FRAMES AND REALITY

PART V. TWO SELVES

  1. TWO SELVES
  2. LIFE AS A STORY
  3. EXPERIENCED WELL-BEING
  4. THINKING ABOUT LIFE

CONCLUSIONS