Iris Bohnet, Professor and Academic Dean Harvard Kennedy School, Director of the Harvard Decision Science Laboratory)

This book is the dead tree equivalent of a BuzzFeed post. Its title could be “I Got 99 Cognitive Biases But a Psychology Degree Ain’t One.” Or maybe not. The Art of Thinking Clearly can help you make better decisions in countless aspects of your life, every single day, whatever it is you do. Do you find it difficult to remember the five items on the shopping list you composed only ten minutes ago, yet have no trouble at all remembering the intricate details of the plot of the movie you saw last week? In 2013 Rolf Dobelli stood in front of a room full of journalists and proclaimed that he did not read the news. It caused a riot. Now he finally sets down his philosophy in detail. And he practices what he preaches: he hasn’t read the news for a decade. For example, studies have shown that 84 percent of Frenchmen consider themselves to be above-average lovers. In reality, it’s only possible for 50 percent to be considered “above average,” since, statistically speaking, 50 percent should rank higher and the other half should rank lower.Affect heuristic: We’re not in control of our actions. Our emotions are. You might think that you’re a reasonable person. That your decisions are based on carefully calculated data that’s analyzed in your brain but in most of the cases small things like, the weather outside, can hugely influence your judgment. So, instead of asking yourself, “What do I think about this?” use, “How do I feel about this?” I recommend this book to everyone because all of us suffer from biases in some form or another, and it's nearly impossible to get rid of all of them. But we can be self-aware of them, and try to minimize their effects. Dobelli examines our most common decision-making failings with engaging eloquence and describes how to counter them with instructive good sense.” (Robert Cialdini, author of Influence) A book based on the realization that we systematically fail to think clearly. After meeting Nassim Taleb, a desire to understand heuristics and biases boomed in the author’s mind and lead to a transition. From a novelist, Rolf Dobelli became a student of social and cognitive psychology. This book is a compilation of 99 systematic cognitive errors (thinking errors) that aim to give you the upper hand in any given situation. The Core Idea: But with short chapters and clear explanations that use simple, real world examples to illustrate the point, you can easily decide which to investigate further and which not to.

One more thing if you decide to get the book: You don’t have to read the book from start to finish. Jump around. Read the thinking concepts you find most intriguing. The sections of the book aren’t connected to each other. Now I understood why it has become so popular. Frankly, the author has done a great job here by surveying the wide field of thinking errors. Even though some of the information is already known, there are still some issues highlighted that are very important to us that we avoid or try not to perceive most of the time. I think there is a lot to learn from this book. I will definitely read it a second time in a few months. Decision-making reduces your strength of will, especially when you have too many options to choose from.

Still curious?

Perhaps the question to be answered here isn’t the ‘what’ you were thinking. Rather, it is ‘how’ you were thinking. We all like to believe that we know what we are doing. That every action we take, every conclusion we come to, every decision of ours, is based on sound facts, logic, and reason. But that isn’t always the case. Despite our efforts, our decisions are quite often the result of emotions and certain biases mixed with a bit of logic – which we again subconsciously tamper to suit our biases. We see that all around us as well. Immediately recognizing the flaw in someone else’s thinking. But somehow, not in our own.

nature will never mind whether your decision is perfect or not, as long as we can maneuver what the life has given. but, identify the error thinking, i think, is a must, for at least showing us now in the right place, at least for now. Finally, this is 2021, you know all those fallacies already. If you want more in-depth stuff, it's out there. And if you want this book, you'll get the some content on wikipedia. In today’s world we face limitless choices about products and lifestyle. Be it finding the right wine or the best university, you are bombarded with options. For most people it’s difficult or even impossible to manage this cornucopia.Bruno S. Frey, Professor of Economics, University of Basel, and founder of the field of economic happiness research