The Undoing Project - Michael Lewis

[dcollon]

[amazonsearch]The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds[/amazonsearch]

 

The Undoing Project is a new book by Michael Lewis that I have recently really enjoyed.  He provides a great history of the relationship between Kahneman and Tversky. 

 

I would highly recommend the book. 

[Liberty]

Good review of it by Rational Walk:

 

http://www.rationalwalk.com/?p=15450

 

Also a podcast interview with Michael Lewis about it (mostly anecdotes about Kahneman and Tversky, but some good ones):

 

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/161212a-kwr-lewis/

[Phaceliacapital]

I liked the book, sole comment is that I would have appreciated more focus on the story than on the principles they discovered/wrote about. I am saying that because I already read their work and books and was treating this as a bedtime book which proved difficult at some times.

[tede02]

I'm surprised this book hasn't received more accolades on the board.  I just finished listening to the audio version.  The ideas are enormously powerful for the purposes of decision making in virtually all areas of life.  I bought the actual book and intend on going through it again.  If you are interested in building mental models or checklists to improve your decision making, this book is a necessity.

[deadspace]

I'm surprised this book hasn't received more accolades on the board.  I just finished listening to the audio version.  The ideas are enormously powerful for the purposes of decision making in virtually all areas of life.  I bought the actual book and intend on going through it again.  If you are interested in building mental models or checklists to improve your decision making, this book is a necessity.

 

I'd be interested in whether there was more to offer in that area of mental models  as opposed to "thinking. Fast and slow"  which is a very good book

[Scuttlebutt Plunger]

I'm going to sound like a real jerk here, but oh well.  Personally, I thought the book was crap.  It was a total rip off of 'thinking, fast and slow.'  Some citations were verbatim from Kahnemann's studies.  Lewis' book certainly is easy but lacks the depth. Was previously a M Lewis fan.  Lost faith.

[matts]

I'm going to sound like a real jerk here, but oh well.  Personally, I thought the book was crap.  It was a total rip off of 'thinking, fast and slow.'  Some citations were verbatim from Kahnemann's studies.  Lewis' book certainly is easy but lacks the depth. Was previously a M Lewis fan.  Lost faith.

 

Nah, you're on point. I would also add that this book was very dry. Not nearly as readable as his other stuff. It's like he didn't bother to make sure the stories were engaging before putting them in the book.

[augustabound]

I'm going to sound like a real jerk here, but oh well.  Personally, I thought the book was crap.  It was a total rip off of 'thinking, fast and slow.'  Some citations were verbatim from Kahnemann's studies.  Lewis' book certainly is easy but lacks the depth. Was previously a M Lewis fan.  Lost faith.

 

Nah, you're on point. I would also add that this book was very dry. Not nearly as readable as his other stuff. It's like he didn't bother to make sure the stories were engaging before putting them in the book.

 

I remember reading something a while back about popular writers (books and movies). They write a really successful book and the publisher signs a contract outlining more at regular intervals. So all of a sudden the person who wrote a great book on his or her terms has to write on a schedule. But in the case of people like Michael Lewis, Malcolm Gladwell etc., they may need to find something to actually write about since they may have put everything they had into those one or two really good books.

[tede02]

I think it depends on what you're looking for.  I have Kahnemann's book.  I've only made it through the first few chapters.  No surprise, it is much more intellectual.  If that is what you prefer, no doubt Kahnemann's book is for you.  If you learn well through stories, or like biographies, you'd probably be better off with Lewis' book. 

[KCLarkin]

I'm going to sound like a real jerk here, but oh well.  Personally, I thought the book was crap.  It was a total rip off of 'thinking, fast and slow.'  Some citations were verbatim from Kahnemann's studies.  Lewis' book certainly is easy but lacks the depth. Was previously a M Lewis fan.  Lost faith.

 

I think you are way off. The psychological content was taken from Tversky and Kahnemann. Of course. They invented the field. But that isn't the story in this book. It is really the biography of Tversky and Kahnemann. And their relationship.

 

That story is very interesting. But I agree that the book was less engaging than previous Lewis books. Perhaps because Kahnemann is so private and Tversky is dead, Lewis struggled to get more interesting anecdotes.

[CorpRaider]

I liked it, very much.  Obviously most of us have been previously exposed to their work but the story of the two and their personal background was 100% worth the read.

[Liberty]

Finally got around to reading it this week. Excellent book about fascinating people and important ideas. I find it always worth it to refresh my memory about these biases and heuristics, and I learned new things about T and K's lives.

 

It's still worth reading the primary sources, though, but it's a nice addition.

[dwy000]

This was a decent book but not what I've come to expect from Michael Lewis.  I found I had to force myself to pick it up and keep plugging through and normally with a Michael Lewis book I have to force myself to put it down.

[Liberty]

This was a decent book but not what I've come to expect from Michael Lewis.  I found I had to force myself to pick it up and keep plugging through and normally with a Michael Lewis book I have to force myself to put it down.

 

If I had to guess, I'd say it's because he's writing about mostly events that took place a long time ago, and about two people, one of which is dead. He's usually writing about more current things that he can follow in real time and with people he can talk to (mostly).