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Thinking, Fast and Slow

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Thinking, Fast and Slow

By: Daniel Kahneman
Narrated by: Patrick Egan
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Daniel Kahneman's pioneering work that tackles questions of intuition and rationality, read by Patrick Egan.


In Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman takes us on a ground-breaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think and make choices. One system is fast, intuitive, and emotional; the other is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. Kahneman exposes the extraordinary capabilities-and also the faults and biases-of fast thinking, and reveals the pervasive influence of intuitive impressions on our thoughts and behaviour. The importance of properly framing risks, the effects of cognitive biases on how we view others, the dangers of prediction, the right ways to develop skills, the pros and cons of fear and optimism, the difference between our experience and memory of events, the real components of happiness-each of these can be understood only by knowing how the two systems work together to shape our judgments and decisions.

Drawing on a lifetime's experimental experience, Kahneman reveals where we can and cannot trust our intuitions and how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking. He offers practical and enlightening insights into how choices are made in both our professional and our personal lives-and how we can use different techniques to guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble. Thinking, Fast and Slow will transform the way you take decisions and experience the world.

© Daniel Kahneman 2011 (P) Penguin Audio 2011

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Critic reviews

There have been many good books on human rationality and irrationality, but only one masterpiece. That masterpiece is Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slowcompulsively readable from beginning to end... this is one of the greatest and most engaging collections of insights into the human mind I have read (William Easterly)
Profound . . . As Copernicus removed the Earth from the centre of the universe and Darwin knocked humans off their biological perch, Mr. Kahneman has shown that we are not the paragons of reason we assume ourselves to be
An astonishingly rich book: lucid, profound, full of intellectual surprises and self-help value. It is consistently entertaining and frequently touching
The godfather of behavioural science... his steely analysis of the human mind and its many flaws remains perhaps the most useful guide to remaining sane and steady (Josh Glancy)
A tour de force of psychological insight, research explication and compelling narrative . . . Thanks to the elegance and force of his ideas, and the robustness of the evidence he offers for them, he has helped us to a new understanding of our divided minds-and our whole selves (Christopher F. Chabris)
Wonderful... To anyone with the slightest interest in the workings of his own mind, it is so rich and fascinating that any summary would seem absurd (Michael Lewis)
This is a landmark book in social thought, in the same league as The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith and The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud (Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan )
Daniel Kahneman is among the most influential psychologists in history and certainly the most important psychologist alive today...The appearance of Thinking, Fast and Slow is a major event (Steven Pinker, author of The Language Instinct )
This book is a tour de force by an intellectual giant; it is readable, wise, and deep. Buy it fast. Read it slowly and repeatedly. It will change the way you think (Richard Thaler, co-author of Nudge )
Daniel Kahneman is one of the most original and interesting thinkers of our time... In this absolutely amazing book, he shares a lifetime's worth of wisdom presented in a manner that is simple and engaging, but nonetheless stunningly profound. This book is a must read for anyone with a curious mind (Steven D. Levitt, co-author of Freakonomics )
All stars
Most relevant

Would you listen to Thinking, Fast and Slow again? Why?

I will definitely listen to this again because I found some parts difficult to understand and I believe a second listen would help me get to grips with them.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The 'econs' because some people I know would perceive themselves as entirely logical beings and it helps highlight the fact that realistically our brains struggle to work in that way.

What about Patrick Egan’s performance did you like?

His voice is well suited to giving lectures because it sounds intelligent and coherent.
I disagree with other reviews that criticise his voice as boring because I think it is more the difficult aspects of the book that make it appear boring.
One day when I'm a Granddad and telling stories to my grand-children, I would like a voice like Patrick Egan's.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

There were some bits that were very interesting and left me thirsty for more information but equally there were other bits that were hard to digest and I felt like I needed a break, if anything just to analyse the information in my own head and let it sink in.

Any additional comments?

Although I think the content is good, I think it has been miss-sold as an audio book because for me the statistical problems are hard to digest if they are being spoken to you in real time, whereas in a paper book you can pause on a problem and let your brain comprehend it which is how I believe this book was designed.
There were also a lot of references to the PDF, which in a paper book would just be illustrations. It defies the point of an audio book if you have to read a PDF!

Difficult but Insightful

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I really enjoyed this book, however I will caution it's dreadfully long and has many chapters that overlap with the book by Thaler called Misbehaving

Thought provoking but similar to misbehaving

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Great but sometimes too technical and repetitive. Makes you more aware of choices made when thinking fast (system 1) or slow (system 2) and their associated biases.

Makes you think about your cognitive biases.

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This is a great book that taught me a lot about the way humans think and what kinds of errors we are prone to, and how best to avoid them.

This book would also be a great accompaniment to 'The Black Swan' by Nasim Taleb, as they overlap on some ideas.

A must read for everyone!

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this was an excellent book with many insights into how and why people think the way they do. this book had a very profound impact on my understanding of the human thinking process.

Excellent book that I found profound

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