Think Like a Freak: The Authors of Freakonomics Offer to Retrain Your Brain

It is worth the time and the money. The book isn't as earth-shattering as Freakonomics, but it's pretty good. The 4 stars are very well deserved and maybe a little conservative... 5 stars might be a fair rating for the Kindle edition.If you buy the Kindle edition, in addition to the book it comes with a few articles and a Q&A session with the authors. These additions to the Kindle edition do add value. I liked their thoughts and the advice they gave the British Prime Minister on health care. The most interesting, however, was Dubner's interview:"... I think we should treat health and life and death more like a regular good....we need to - it's unfortunate, but we need to - make these horrible choices, where we decide, are going to send our kids to college or are we going to keep great-grandma alive for two more weeks, and the cost might be about the same for those two things. Right now we shy away from those decisions, and we pretend like life has infinite value and we can't make these choices."

Unlike the previous two books, this one seems lightweight. And including a lengthy interview with the authors in which they basically recap much of what's in the book (or in their previous books) seems like filler.Their frequent reference to having fun gives the book a feeling of being written just for the sake of it. There are some ideas here, but some of them don't really qualify as being of value, particularly within the framework of their usual work: tossing a coin to decide whether to give up a relationship or to stop doing something you've worked hard at for a long time? That just seems to trivialize the process.Asking the right questions is a valuable idea, though probably not that original, and knowing that 'I don't know' is the best answer for when you actually don't know, doesn't quite take you further. 'I don't know but I'll do my best to find out,' or 'I don't know, and I'm not sure that anyone does,' might be more helpful. I don't know...Further, you'd kind of expect a couple of authors who talk of research and the detail of data not to make two Biblical mistakes - both of which wouldn't have taken a couple of minutes to check. Adam and Eve didn't sin by eating an apple; the word is 'fruit.' King Solomon 'a young man when he inherited the throne, was eager to prove his judgment was sound' the authors write. But he wasn't eager to 'prove his judgement was sound' at all. In fact it's clear in the Bible that he was given the gift of wisdom from God because of his humility (humility at that time, anyway, if not later). He exercised this gift of wisdom to such an extent that he became known way beyond Israel's borders. The interesting thing is that this story of the two mothers is pretty much the only actual example of his exercising his wisdom. References to his wisdom at other times are either noted by the writer of the book, or by others, such as Queen Sheba. In none of those cases is there an actual example of his wisdom. In the later part of his life, of course, he proved that he'd lost the gift of wisdom when he not only had hundreds of wives and concubines, but married women who worshipped foreign gods. (

Think Like a Freak offers a new perspective for thinking. Thinking is generally done on only one way, but Think Like a Freak offers its readers a new way to think about everyday situation. The truth is that we can’t really predict the future, there IS a medical reason for that condition- not just stress, causality is not caused by correlation, saying “I don’t know” is OK, giving up is sometimes the answer, and thinking like a kid is more beneficial than you think. The authors of Think Like a Freak try to present problems in a way that spin them on their head and force the reader to change their thinking and perspective. Saying “I don’t know” is HARD for most people. It admits defeat in some sort of way and most people don’t want to be wrong or defeated, naturally. But, the authors offer a new way of thinking. Saying “I don’t know” is not defeat, it is the beginning, the jumping off point for new discovery. It also, as the authors say, offers “the power of a good, randomized experiment.” Not knowing is not defeat! As a teacher, the chapter called “What’s Your Problem?” spoke the most to me. It speaks a great deal toward the education problems in the US. Teachers are under enormous strain from almost every angle possible, and Think Like a Freak offers a new perspective for tackling some of those problems. This book is changing my view of what it calls “noisy problems” and making me realize that there are new ways to experiment with learning. Students who come with baggage can be helped if we look at the problem a little differently. We all have barriers that we face out there, it is up to all of us change our perspective.

Q: What is this? A: This is a Reader's Digest version of much bigger books about Epistemology.Q: Who is it for? A: It is not for persons who have spent years reading about Epistemology (like the current writer) but for people who need something that is very light in tone and deliberately made to be very interesting.Q: What are some of the sources that expand on the nature of some of the topics covered in this book? A: 1.  Super Crunchers: Why Thinking-By-Numbers is the New Way To Be Smart . Talks about only finding relationships between variables and not getting too caught up in cause and effects; 2.  Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure . Talks about making failures survivable and how learning what *doesn't* work is just as important as learning what does work; 3. Various books by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. This book talks about the limits of what *can* actually be known.Q: Do I recommend this book? A: Yes. Even for the full price (Kindle). And even for people who know most of all this information, it's good seeing the authors update said information with new and interesting examples and good prose.

A short, neat book which seems to be primarily an inspiration piece, but none the worse for that. Although it does have some "case studies" of actual research, all of which are interesting enough, the purpose of the book is to examine how one might bring economics - and robust stat-based psychology - into thinking about problems, and how to think about how to tackle those problems. Two examples will hopefully illuminate what I mean: firstly, the emphasis on re-framing the question to solve the actual problem, where most problems are actually examined through a framework which already presumes that certain types of solutions will be the ones adopted; secondly, a basic guide to incentives, which get you to think about how incentives actually work and how to think about using the incentives to achieve what you actually want them to, whilst avoiding secondary outcomes you don't. And to re-assure (?) you that any incentive system will be gamed to some degree. Hopefully this gives an indication of the sort of thing that the book is aimed at. Other reviewers have remarked that there is a slight "self-help" feel to the book, both in tone and aim - I'd agree with that.The writing is clear and engaging and avoids off-putting professional jargon. The book is brief enough to attract a very casual reader with some interest in the subject. Recommended.

I'm a big fan of both Freakanomics and Super Freakanomics (and their podcast!). Think like a Freak is another great addition by Dubner and Levitt and explores their reasoning behind why they do the things they do. It provides for some very interesting insight into their process and how it takes real skill to simplify all the complex economics that they're known for.However, if you've listened to a lot of their podcasts and additional material then there's isn't too much there's new here. The cases presented are things they've mentioned before. Nevertheless, that is not the focus of this book as the crux of it is the inspiration behind it. As such, it's still a fascinating read. Dubner has a fantastic writing style that has a real flow to it.If you're a fan of all things freakanomics, it's a great addition to your library!

A very good read, full of the kind of eye-opening stories that readers of Freakonomics and its sequels will expect. This book illustrates the thought process behind the author's approach. It struck me that although the authors do not directly link their approach to strategic thinking, it has useful insights for thinking about all types of strategy as well as public policy.

Another Super Book for the Freakonomics duo. If you subscribe to the Freakonomics podcasts then you will be familiar to many of the anecdotes told in the book. If you are a fan of the material, then this book is not a revelation but more a cheat sheet in good decision theory. The authors are promoters of data driven decisions. They apply economic theory and the scientific method to public policy (and other) decisions. In this book they introduce you to how you can do the same. If you have an influence on public policy decisions you need to read this book. You will read it on the plane (there and back!) There are 9 chapters each with its own message - well illustrated with real stories.The Chapters are [with my summary in brackets]:1) What Does It Mean to Think Like a Freak?[You need data and you need to understand cause and effect]2) The Three Hardest Words in the English Language[I won't spoil it!]3) What's Your Problem?[How you define the problem drives the answer. Lean practitioners and six sigma belts - this will give you some "real" life examples to use]4) Like a Bad Dye Job the Truth Is in the Roots[Address the cause - not the symptoms]5) Think Like a Child[Ask the daft question - Why?]6) Like Giving Candy to a Baby[The Power of Incentives]7) What Do King Solomon and Dave Lee Roth Have in Common?[A clever test... with Game Theory]8) How to Persuade People Who Don't Want to Be Persuaded[The Science of Persuasion]9) The Upside of Quitting[If at first you don't succeed... try something easier instead! - Actually the danger of sunk costs.]I really enjoyed the book - Highly recommended.

There are some interesting stories in the book and anecdotes however there was nothing overtly new that I hadn't read or come across before. Think outside the box sort of aim... with a read, entertaining authors, short chapters, will be something you can take away with you so why not read it..