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Available
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Series
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Publication
Allen Lane (2014)
Description
Business. Psychology. Self-Improvement. Nonfiction. HTML: The New York Times bestselling Freakonomics changed the way we see the world, exposing the hidden side of just about everything. Then came SuperFreakonomics, a documentary film, an award-winning podcast, and more. Now, with Think Like a Freak, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner have written their most revolutionary book yet. With their trademark blend of captivating storytelling and unconventional analysis, they take us inside their thought process and teach us all to think a bit more productively, more creatively, more rationally�??to think, that is, like a Freak. Levitt and Dubner offer a blueprint for an entirely new way to solve problems, whether your interest lies in minor lifehacks or major global reforms. As always, no topic is off-limits. They range from business to philanthropy to sports to politics, all with the goal of retraining your brain. Along the way, you'll learn the secrets of a Japanese hot-dog-eating champion, the reason an Australian doctor swallowed a batch of dangerous bacteria, and why Nigerian e-mail scammers make a point of saying they're from Nigeria. Some of the steps toward thinking like a Freak: First, put away your moral compass�??because it's hard to see a problem clearly if you've already decided what to do about it. Learn to say "I don't know"�??for until you can admit what you don't yet know, it's virtually impossible to learn what you need to. Think like a child�??because you'll come up with better ideas and ask better questions. Take a master class in incentives�??because for better or worse, incentives rule our world. Learn to persuade people who don't want to be persuaded�??because being right is rarely enough to carry the day. Learn to appreciate the upside of quitting�??because you can't solve tomorrow's problem if you aren't willing to abandon today's dud. Levitt and Dubner plainly see the world like no one else. Now you can too. Never before have such iconoclastic thinkers been so revealing�??and s… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member nbmars
Levitt and Dubner’s earlier two books, Freakonomics and Superfreakonomics were smashing successes because they came up with innovative insights to make sense of phenomena that were rather mysterious, such as an explanation for the drop in the crime rate over the last decade.
Hoping to find
This book contains a few surprises, but overall it seems like a slap-dash production intended to cash in on the success of their previous enterprises. As such, it is somewhat duller reading. There are a few interesting analyses, like about the rationale for the popular email extortion scam based in Nigeria, or how a love of "fun" might be harnessed to encourage people to save more money.
For the most part, however, the chapters read like filler material. They include platitudinous management suggestions that make common sense but not compelling reading, such as in the chapter on “How to Persuade People Who Don’t Want to Be Persuaded," and “revelations” about phenomena ranging from the etiology of ulcers to the causes of obesity that made the rounds of popular magazines years ago.
Using the examples of King Solomon and rock singer David Lee Roth to provide examples of game theory may have been cute, but it felt like the authors were reaching for the lowest common denominator. In fact, it seemed more like a chapter on the meta subject of How to Expand Your Potential Reading Audience.
The last chapter of the book discusses when it is advisable to quit whatever is it you have been doing for too long. Maybe the authors should take their own advice and call it a day.
Evaluation: This book is mildly entertaining, but not up the standards set in the first two. Gone are the "economics" of the earlier books; more challenging content has been replaced with bromidic bullet points and stories I read a long time ago in doctor's waiting room periodicals.
Hoping to find
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similar out-of-the-box proposals, I was eager to try their third book, Think Like A Freak. This book contains a few surprises, but overall it seems like a slap-dash production intended to cash in on the success of their previous enterprises. As such, it is somewhat duller reading. There are a few interesting analyses, like about the rationale for the popular email extortion scam based in Nigeria, or how a love of "fun" might be harnessed to encourage people to save more money.
For the most part, however, the chapters read like filler material. They include platitudinous management suggestions that make common sense but not compelling reading, such as in the chapter on “How to Persuade People Who Don’t Want to Be Persuaded," and “revelations” about phenomena ranging from the etiology of ulcers to the causes of obesity that made the rounds of popular magazines years ago.
Using the examples of King Solomon and rock singer David Lee Roth to provide examples of game theory may have been cute, but it felt like the authors were reaching for the lowest common denominator. In fact, it seemed more like a chapter on the meta subject of How to Expand Your Potential Reading Audience.
The last chapter of the book discusses when it is advisable to quit whatever is it you have been doing for too long. Maybe the authors should take their own advice and call it a day.
Evaluation: This book is mildly entertaining, but not up the standards set in the first two. Gone are the "economics" of the earlier books; more challenging content has been replaced with bromidic bullet points and stories I read a long time ago in doctor's waiting room periodicals.
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LibraryThing member tjsjohanna
One of the best things about books by Levitt and Dubner is that they are so very readable. In this latest book, the authors describe the strategies they use to look at problems with a fresh eye and come up with different solutions. One of the most interesting ideas to me is the one where you have
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to acknowledge that you don't know something in order to find an answer - seems like common sense, but it is true that when we think we know something, it does get in the way of finding new ways of looking at a problem. Show Less
LibraryThing member Sunrhyze
This is a fun and informative, quick read. I almost hate to say this since I'm real fans of these guys, but if you've been listening to their podcast you would have heard all these stories already, for free, and in addition they actually interviewed many of the people written about here, so you get
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to hear their stories in their own voices. So, if you're a podcast subscriber you don't really need the book. I checked it out from the library, but if I'd bought the book I might have been a little upset that there was nothing in here I hadn't already heard. Show Less
LibraryThing member EowynA
Building on the Freakonomics book franchise, this has advice that helps the reader approach problems with an attitude similar to that shown by the authors. They back up their advice with data based on various studies, footnoted at length. But don't let the extensive notes at the back put you off -
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it is a very readable book with common-sense advice you've probably seen or heard before. Show Less
LibraryThing member knightlight777
I have read all the freak books and always got the impression I was being worked over by goofy logic. This one I liked better because aside from some goofy things dwelt on like hot dog eating contests it did make some good points. The one lesson I came away with was thinking about just about
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anything has many more facets and additional questions that went really dug into exposes our biases and misconceptions. Good stuff here to really ponder. Show Less
LibraryThing member sdunford
It turns out that applying common sense to many of society's issues, may not actually make sense.
With 30 years experience working with government and non-profits dependent on others for financial support, I knew before reading this book, that regardless of intent, in the long run, the most
This very readable book, confirms that, but also shows why and how it happens, and how to avoid at least some of that. Well done!
With 30 years experience working with government and non-profits dependent on others for financial support, I knew before reading this book, that regardless of intent, in the long run, the most
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important law is actually the "Law of Unintended Consequences". This very readable book, confirms that, but also shows why and how it happens, and how to avoid at least some of that. Well done!
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LibraryThing member debnance
Why are the Freak books so refreshing? Maybe they tap into that part of us as humans that reminds us that we really don't have everything all figured out, that sometimes people and things act in unexpected ways. Maybe we like that. I don't know, but I do know that I loved reading this book.
LibraryThing member mojomomma
More "freakonomics." Very readable. Purports to teach us to turn things upside down and think about things differently. The connections, the cause and effect, are not always as we imagine.
LibraryThing member St.CroixSue
With their trademark blend of captivating storytelling and unconventional analysis, the authors take us inside their thought process and offer a blueprint for an entirely new way to solve problems. The goal of the book is to introduce techniques to think in the way that has become the author’s
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creative trademark way of analysis and problem solving. The audio also introduces the listener to several of their . Show Less
LibraryThing member Rachabake
Think Like a Freak brings up some essential themes for looking at social sciences research in a new light, the most important being how people respond to incentives.
If you're looking for a quick book to inspire some new and cool research ideas, thumb though Think Like a Freak, but don't expect to
A better choice is Mostly Harmless Econometrics. This one not only guides you through the basics of the econometric techniques you need for real research, but it also helps you formulate a research plan with FAQ you can ask to come up with creative new methods for causal identification.
If you're looking for a quick book to inspire some new and cool research ideas, thumb though Think Like a Freak, but don't expect to
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get too much from it. You may be impressed by the cool and interesting identification techniques that Levitt used in his economics research, but they are unlikely to help your creativity. Plus, if you've read Freakonomics or Superfreakonomics, you already know almost all of the interesting identification techniques Levitt has used. Unfortunately, not much new material is introduced in this book.A better choice is Mostly Harmless Econometrics. This one not only guides you through the basics of the econometric techniques you need for real research, but it also helps you formulate a research plan with FAQ you can ask to come up with creative new methods for causal identification.
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LibraryThing member VGAHarris
Like Levitt's previous works, it is entertaining and thought-provoking, thus worth the reading effort. Some of the material has been covered previously in several sources and is a rehash, but enough new stuff that makes it worthwhile.
LibraryThing member Cecilturtle
With their usual wit and clear, concise writing, Levitt and Dubner explain in layman terms the methodology that they used for their now famed Freakenomics series. Illustrated with curious yet compelling examples, it reveals basically two elements: you need lots of data and you need to be curious.
Their conclusions are not great ones, but they are well formulated, sound... and an entertaining read if nothing else!
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Experimentation, long relegated to the sphere of "hard" sciences can, and should, be applied to social sciences. In this book, the authors debunk some of the steadfast assumptions that we hold and challenge the reader to reframe and reset filters and world views.Their conclusions are not great ones, but they are well formulated, sound... and an entertaining read if nothing else!
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LibraryThing member Cecilturtle
With their usual wit and clear, concise writing, Levitt and Dubner explain in layman terms the methodology that they used for their now famed Freakenomics series. Illustrated with curious yet compelling examples, it reveals basically two elements: you need lots of data and you need to be curious.
Their conclusions are not great ones, but they are well formulated, sound... and an entertaining read if nothing else!
Show More
Experimentation, long relegated to the sphere of "hard" sciences can, and should, be applied to social sciences. In this book, the authors debunk some of the steadfast assumptions that we hold and challenge the reader to reframe and reset filters and world views.Their conclusions are not great ones, but they are well formulated, sound... and an entertaining read if nothing else!
Show Less
LibraryThing member KamGeb
This book was very similar to their other books Freakonomics and Superfreakonomics. I know the premise was that they would teach you to retrain your brain. But I felt like I didn't learn any new tricks in this book that weren't in the two previous books. However, saying all of that I enjoyed the
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book because just like Freakonomics and Superfreakonomics it contained interesting stories. Show Less
LibraryThing member rivkat
Free review copy. Breezy and readable version of the authors’ standard schtick: incentives matter; try asking different questions than other people are asking; don’t be afraid to quit when things aren’t working out. Did you know that a penalty kick in soccer is 7% more likely to succeed
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kicked down the middle than to either side, because the goalie is jumping away? But people worry about looking dumb so they don't do it much. There’s some good advice in here about asking new and unusual questions, but I still can’t get over the authors’ unwillingness to look beyond the US when it comes to health care—they insist that the only way to keep costs down is for people to have to pay for their own health care, as if the rest of the world didn’t exist. It’s a bizarre sort of unwillingness to ask questions in defiance of their own rules. Show Less
LibraryThing member fuzzy_patters
As a high school economics teachers, I loved this book. It lays out how to think like an economics with a lot of fascinating stories and examples about everything from self-driving cars to David Lee Roth. I marked several passages as examples to share with my students. It makes the dismal science
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much less dismal. Show Less
LibraryThing member lbeaumont
This is a quick and fun read. Talented storytelling brings alive well-tested techniques for problem solving in this third book in the Freakonomics series.
The Freakonomics team, Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner are well known for their unusual approach to analyzing and solving rather quirky
Memorable stories illustrate each step in the process. We learn the best strategy for winning a soccer penalty kick, the value of feedback from field experiments, the dangers of dogmatism, how to win a hot dog eating contest, the power of M&M’s , the impact of drinking bacteria, and the value of fun.
Several stories about the price of wine, the power of advertising, and paying workers less show us how Freaks use evidence to debunk ideology.
Once revealed and understood, their process for solving problems is rather ordinary: 1) admit you don’t know the answer, 2) define the correct problem, 3) dig deeply to uncover the root cause, 4) think like a child to explore new viewpoints, 5) understand how incentives motivate, 6) use clever game theory approaches to “get your garden to weed itself” if you can. Additional chapters describe research from the Cultural Cognition Project on persuasion, and highlight the benefits of quitting.
The stories are fun to read, fun to know and fun to retell. The stories help make the process steps easier to understand and remember. Reading this book may make you a better problem solver.
The Freakonomics team, Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner are well known for their unusual approach to analyzing and solving rather quirky
Show More
problems. They enjoy challenging conventional wisdom and discovering surprising results. This book is dedicated to teaching us their problem solving approach rather than solving more problems. Learning to think like a freak may provide a fresh outlook on your own life.Memorable stories illustrate each step in the process. We learn the best strategy for winning a soccer penalty kick, the value of feedback from field experiments, the dangers of dogmatism, how to win a hot dog eating contest, the power of M&M’s , the impact of drinking bacteria, and the value of fun.
Several stories about the price of wine, the power of advertising, and paying workers less show us how Freaks use evidence to debunk ideology.
Once revealed and understood, their process for solving problems is rather ordinary: 1) admit you don’t know the answer, 2) define the correct problem, 3) dig deeply to uncover the root cause, 4) think like a child to explore new viewpoints, 5) understand how incentives motivate, 6) use clever game theory approaches to “get your garden to weed itself” if you can. Additional chapters describe research from the Cultural Cognition Project on persuasion, and highlight the benefits of quitting.
The stories are fun to read, fun to know and fun to retell. The stories help make the process steps easier to understand and remember. Reading this book may make you a better problem solver.
Show Less
LibraryThing member ehousewright
This book ends with a “what if” sort of statement about how this might be the last book on the subject of Freaks. I have not read all of the previous books, although I did read and enjoy the initial one, and I agree things may be getting a bit thin. That said, these enthusiastic authors will
Show More
continue to see the world through the prism that they invented (found?) and examples will continue to pour in that will surely give them additional insights to pass along. And once you have read those insights, along with the stories that make them so engaging, you really do begin to think a bit differently about some things you may have found obvious before. It’s a quick read, so go ahead, enjoy it! Show Less
LibraryThing member rivkat
Free review copy. Breezy and readable version of the authors’ standard schtick: incentives matter; try asking different questions than other people are asking; don’t be afraid to quit when things aren’t working out. Did you know that a penalty kick in soccer is 7% more likely to succeed
Show More
kicked down the middle than to either side, because the goalie is jumping away? But people worry about looking dumb so they don't do it much. There’s some good advice in here about asking new and unusual questions, but I still can’t get over the authors’ unwillingness to look beyond the US when it comes to health care—they insist that the only way to keep costs down is for people to have to pay for their own health care, as if the rest of the world didn’t exist. It’s a bizarre sort of unwillingness to ask questions in defiance of their own rules. Show Less
LibraryThing member fuzzy_patters
As a high school economics teachers, I loved this book. It lays out how to think like an economics with a lot of fascinating stories and examples about everything from self-driving cars to David Lee Roth. I marked several passages as examples to share with my students. It makes the dismal science
Show More
much less dismal. Show Less
LibraryThing member lbeaumont
This is a quick and fun read. Talented storytelling brings alive well-tested techniques for problem solving in this third book in the Freakonomics series.
The Freakonomics team, Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner are well known for their unusual approach to analyzing and solving rather quirky
Memorable stories illustrate each step in the process. We learn the best strategy for winning a soccer penalty kick, the value of feedback from field experiments, the dangers of dogmatism, how to win a hot dog eating contest, the power of M&M’s , the impact of drinking bacteria, and the value of fun.
Several stories about the price of wine, the power of advertising, and paying workers less show us how Freaks use evidence to debunk ideology.
Once revealed and understood, their process for solving problems is rather ordinary: 1) admit you don’t know the answer, 2) define the correct problem, 3) dig deeply to uncover the root cause, 4) think like a child to explore new viewpoints, 5) understand how incentives motivate, 6) use clever game theory approaches to “get your garden to weed itself” if you can. Additional chapters describe research from the Cultural Cognition Project on persuasion, and highlight the benefits of quitting.
The stories are fun to read, fun to know and fun to retell. The stories help make the process steps easier to understand and remember. Reading this book may make you a better problem solver.
The Freakonomics team, Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner are well known for their unusual approach to analyzing and solving rather quirky
Show More
problems. They enjoy challenging conventional wisdom and discovering surprising results. This book is dedicated to teaching us their problem solving approach rather than solving more problems. Learning to think like a freak may provide a fresh outlook on your own life.Memorable stories illustrate each step in the process. We learn the best strategy for winning a soccer penalty kick, the value of feedback from field experiments, the dangers of dogmatism, how to win a hot dog eating contest, the power of M&M’s , the impact of drinking bacteria, and the value of fun.
Several stories about the price of wine, the power of advertising, and paying workers less show us how Freaks use evidence to debunk ideology.
Once revealed and understood, their process for solving problems is rather ordinary: 1) admit you don’t know the answer, 2) define the correct problem, 3) dig deeply to uncover the root cause, 4) think like a child to explore new viewpoints, 5) understand how incentives motivate, 6) use clever game theory approaches to “get your garden to weed itself” if you can. Additional chapters describe research from the Cultural Cognition Project on persuasion, and highlight the benefits of quitting.
The stories are fun to read, fun to know and fun to retell. The stories help make the process steps easier to understand and remember. Reading this book may make you a better problem solver.
Show Less
LibraryThing member ehousewright
This book ends with a “what if” sort of statement about how this might be the last book on the subject of Freaks. I have not read all of the previous books, although I did read and enjoy the initial one, and I agree things may be getting a bit thin. That said, these enthusiastic authors will
Show More
continue to see the world through the prism that they invented (found?) and examples will continue to pour in that will surely give them additional insights to pass along. And once you have read those insights, along with the stories that make them so engaging, you really do begin to think a bit differently about some things you may have found obvious before. It’s a quick read, so go ahead, enjoy it! Show Less
LibraryThing member JeffV
The third volume in their delightful Freakonomics series, Levitt and Dubner are back at it again, this time with a twist. The focus of this book is using "outside of the box" thinking to achieve a goal, however daunting or mundane. We are entertained with case studies such as young Kobiyashi
One of my favorite anecdotes from this book involves the rock band Van Halen and their eccentric lead singer, David Lee Roth. I head the first part of this story before: the band demanded a bowl of M&Ms in their room, but there could be no brown M&Ms. When this story got out, I, like most people, considered it to be self-indulgent rock stars going over the top. There was, however, method behind this madness. The facility requirements for the lavish stage show were quite complex, much more so than other bands. Buried in the 56 page document was the comment about the M&Ms. If the band found this requirement was ignored, they would suspect the rest of the document wasn't followed very closely and had to carefully inspect the set for safety reasons.
The audiobook version concludes with an hour or so of Freakonomics podcasts from their website; a nice extra that might drive me to the website to subscribe some day. It doesn't appear the authors are tired of writing these books, and I look forward to reading the next.
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deciding he would be the world champion hot dog eater -- and how he breaks down the challenge and comes up with an overall strategy that obliterates the competition. One of my favorite anecdotes from this book involves the rock band Van Halen and their eccentric lead singer, David Lee Roth. I head the first part of this story before: the band demanded a bowl of M&Ms in their room, but there could be no brown M&Ms. When this story got out, I, like most people, considered it to be self-indulgent rock stars going over the top. There was, however, method behind this madness. The facility requirements for the lavish stage show were quite complex, much more so than other bands. Buried in the 56 page document was the comment about the M&Ms. If the band found this requirement was ignored, they would suspect the rest of the document wasn't followed very closely and had to carefully inspect the set for safety reasons.
The audiobook version concludes with an hour or so of Freakonomics podcasts from their website; a nice extra that might drive me to the website to subscribe some day. It doesn't appear the authors are tired of writing these books, and I look forward to reading the next.
Show Less
LibraryThing member dkcampbell
"Think Like a Freak" is a fun and easy read even for those who have not read any of the other books by the authors. Because it is chock-full of stories, I sometimes lost track of the subject at hand until it was summarized in the last paragraphs of each chapter. I felt like the main two takeaways I
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had from the book was the concept of sunk cost and digging for the root cause of the situation at hand, even if it meant thinking like a child and asking overlooked or "trivial" questions. Because it was a quick read, perhaps I should read it again in order to get more out of the topics discussed. It would still be enjoyable a second time, however, since I feel like I need to reread it to get the full effect, perhaps the attention-grabbing stories pulls you in too much to the point where you lose focus on what you are trying to learn in order to "think like a freak." Show Less
LibraryThing member nomadreader
The backstory: Think Like a Freak is the latest book collaboration of Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. I've previously adored Freakonomics (read before this blog) and Superfreakonomics (my review.)
The basics: Think Like a Freak is a glimpse into a different way of thinking. What it lacks in
My thoughts: In many ways, Think Like a Freak is somewhat of a departure from the first two Levitt and Dubner books. It's written in a very similar style, and as I read I felt as though I was privy to a casual conversation between the two. The book itself is broken up into chapters, each with a different lesson of how to think like a freak.
While this book lacked many of the wow moments I so loved about the first Freakonomics, it's lessons are wise and interesting. I read this book quickly (in only a few hours), and I was fascinated as I compulsively read. Even a few days later, however, I'm struck by how few specific tidbits have stuck with me. Part of this result stems from the fact that some of these lessons of thinking like a freak are evident from having read their first two books, reading their blog and listening to the podcast over the years. In some ways, this book lacks the newness of the first two books. Instead it excels at putting a lot of wisdom in one place. It's likely not a coincidence that the book's release coincides nicely with graduation season. This book would make a wonderful gift for new graduates.
The verdict: While I prefer to read about freakonomics in action more, Think Like a Freak was a fascinating glimpse into the thinking processes behind freakonomics. It has many worthy lessons and quite a few memorable tidbits to satisfy those, like me, who are hungry for more freakonomics.
The basics: Think Like a Freak is a glimpse into a different way of thinking. What it lacks in
Show More
extensive statistical evaluation, it makes up for in terms of anecdotes and process.My thoughts: In many ways, Think Like a Freak is somewhat of a departure from the first two Levitt and Dubner books. It's written in a very similar style, and as I read I felt as though I was privy to a casual conversation between the two. The book itself is broken up into chapters, each with a different lesson of how to think like a freak.
While this book lacked many of the wow moments I so loved about the first Freakonomics, it's lessons are wise and interesting. I read this book quickly (in only a few hours), and I was fascinated as I compulsively read. Even a few days later, however, I'm struck by how few specific tidbits have stuck with me. Part of this result stems from the fact that some of these lessons of thinking like a freak are evident from having read their first two books, reading their blog and listening to the podcast over the years. In some ways, this book lacks the newness of the first two books. Instead it excels at putting a lot of wisdom in one place. It's likely not a coincidence that the book's release coincides nicely with graduation season. This book would make a wonderful gift for new graduates.
The verdict: While I prefer to read about freakonomics in action more, Think Like a Freak was a fascinating glimpse into the thinking processes behind freakonomics. It has many worthy lessons and quite a few memorable tidbits to satisfy those, like me, who are hungry for more freakonomics.
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Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2014-05-12
Physical description
5.67 inches
ISBN
1846147557 / 9781846147555
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DDC/MDS
| 153.43 |