Big Data has become a buzzword for the last couple of years. But two Israeli psychologists – Kahneman and Tverskey – identified the importance of relying on data over instincts nearly 40 years ago. The Undoing Project is their story. Instincts are important, but they are like hazy fog that can trick you into seeing things that are not really their, cloud your judgement or force biased decisions based on your past experiences. On the other hand, numbers and right algorithms do not have to bear the weight of these human fallacies of perception.
Michaels Lweis is the author of Bestselling books like The Big Short, The Blind Side, and Moneyball. THe financial thrillers explored the miscalculations that experts made that landed them in grave crises. Now, with The Undoing Project, Michael Lewis digs deeper into the psyche of the experts and common folk to find out what goes on in our minds while making these disastrous decision.
The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds
Author: Michael Lewis
Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1 edition (December 6, 2016)
ISBN: 0393254593, 978-0393254594
The Undoing Project Summary
Kahneman and Tversky were an odd team. One extremely introvert and doubtful, the other a confident, Type-A personality who commanded attention in any room. But these two came together to work and publish on one of the defining topics that lead to the birth of Behavioral Economics. The showed the world that humans – experts or novices – are bound to make mistakes when forced to make decision in uncertain conditions. Dr. Kahneman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic, though he was a psychologist. This fact in itself should be enough to peak anyone’s interest in knowing more about his work and man himself.
With The Undoing Project, Michael Lewis creates another wonderful story as he did with The Blind Side. The book explores the lives of these two academic heroes and their research that changed our view of looking for solution to some of the most important problems. The book is their story, but the author also takes a deep look at the research published by the two psychologists and readers may want to skip some portions to stay on the story. However, for those who love to understand how the mind works, it is will be a fascinating read.
The extraordinary pair though had its share of problems. The almost perfect academic partnership became rocky as Tversky began to get more credit for their work. The book captures the various shades of this relationship and how it bloomed in spite of the emotional setbacks.
The Undoing Project Reviews
“At its peak, the book combines intellectual rigor with complex portraiture. During its final pages, I was blinking back tears . . .” ~ Jennifer Senior, The New York Times
“We still rely on skilled writers to tell us stories we need and want to hear. The Undoing Project is one of those stories.” ~ Investing.com
“Lewis’s book, while it is a brilliant and moving biography of two remarkable men, also continues this unfortunate tradition.(of ignoring critique of the duos work)” ~Steven Poole, The Spectator