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The Art of Thinking Clearly Kindle Edition
A world-class thinker counts the 100 ways in which humans behave irrationally, showing us what we can do to recognize and minimize these “thinking errors” to make better decisions and have a better life
Despite the best of intentions, humans are notoriously bad—that is, irrational—when it comes to making decisions and assessing risks and tradeoffs. Psychologists and neuroscientists refer to these distinctly human foibles, biases, and thinking traps as “cognitive errors.” Cognitive errors are systematic deviances from rationality, from optimized, logical, rational thinking and behavior. We make these errors all the time, in all sorts of situations, for problems big and small: whether to choose the apple or the cupcake; whether to keep retirement funds in the stock market when the Dow tanks, or whether to take the advice of a friend over a stranger.
The “behavioral turn” in neuroscience and economics in the past twenty years has increased our understanding of how we think and how we make decisions. It shows how systematic errors mar our thinking and under which conditions our thought processes work best and worst. Evolutionary psychology delivers convincing theories about why our thinking is, in fact, marred. The neurosciences can pinpoint with increasing precision what exactly happens when we think clearly and when we don’t.
Drawing on this wide body of research, The Art of Thinking Clearly is an entertaining presentation of these known systematic thinking errors--offering guidance and insight into everything why you shouldn’t accept a free drink to why you SHOULD walk out of a movie you don’t like it to why it’s so hard to predict the future to why shouldn’t watch the news. The book is organized into 100 short chapters, each covering a single cognitive error, bias, or heuristic. Examples of these concepts include: Reciprocity, Confirmation Bias, The It-Gets-Better-Before-It-Gets-Worse Trap, and the Man-With-A-Hammer Tendency. In engaging prose and with real-world examples and anecdotes, The Art of Thinking Clearly helps solve the puzzle of human reasoning.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHarper Paperbacks
- Publication dateMay 6, 2014
- File size640 KB
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Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
Review
“…easy-going prose…what [Dobelli] does is pinpoint exactly the assumptions, bias and illusions that shape our thinking and decision-making processes in both business and personal relationships that can cost us dearly as individuals and as a society.” (Financial Times)
“Dobelli examines our most common decision-making failings with engaging eloquence and describes how to counter them with instructive good sense.” (Robert Cialdini, author of Influence)
“A fireworks show of insights into how our minds work. If you want to avoid tripping on cognitive errors, read this book.” (Iris Bohnet, Professor and Academic Dean, Harvard Kennedy School, Director of the Harvard Decision Science Laboratory)
From the Back Cover
We are all guilty of cognitive biases, simple errors we make in day-to-day thinking. But by knowing what they are and how to identify them, we can avoid them and make better choices. The Art of Thinking Clearly shows that in order to lead happier, more prosperous lives, we don't need extra cunning, new ideas, shiny gadgets, or more frantic activity—all we need is less irrationality. Simple, clear, and always surprising, this book will change the way you think and transform your decision making. From why you should not accept a free drink to why you should walk out of a movie you don't like, from why it's so hard to predict the future to why you shouldn't watch the news, The Art of Thinking Clearly helps solve the puzzle of human reasoning.
About the Author
Rolf Dobelli is a bestselling writer and entrepreneur. He is the founder of Zurich.Minds, a community of some of the world's most famed and distinguished thinkers, scientists, artists, and entrepreneurs, and a cofounder of getAbstract, the world's largest publisher of compressed knowledge. He lives in Lucerne, Switzerland.
Product details
- ASIN : B00IZP6EVQ
- Publisher : Harper Paperbacks
- Accessibility : Learn more
- Publication date : May 6, 2014
- Edition : Reprint
- Language : English
- File size : 640 KB
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 389 pages
- ISBN-13 : 978-0062359803
- Page Flip : Enabled
- Best Sellers Rank: #7,577 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #6 in Cognitive Psychology (Kindle Store)
- #18 in Happiness
- #19 in Success eBooks
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

ROLF DOBELLI, born in 1966, is a Swiss novelist, writer and thinker. He received his PhD from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. He is the founder of WORLD.MINDS, an international community of the leading personalities in science, business, geopolitics, and the arts. His books have been translated in 47 languages. Rolf Dobelli lives in Switzerland. He is married to the novelist Clara Maria Bagus. They have two children.
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book insightful, with one review noting the author's beautiful explanations of various thinking problems, and appreciate its easy-to-read format with clear examples. The book features short chapters (1-100) and dry humor throughout. While some customers consider it worth the money, others find it disappointing.
AI Generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book insightful, appreciating its logical thinking improvement topics and interesting concepts that provide perspective on life.
"...of all, this is a guy who continually makes fun of himself and tells many stories about his own "stupidity" -- subtly teaching us he's caught on to..." Read more
"...The value of this book is that the information is in one place. Readability Light --+-- Serious Insights High --+-- Low..." Read more
"...everyone to read this book to enhance thinking and take decisions more rationally, which can lead us to rationality." Read more
"...The chapters are not very long but provide enough understanding of each of the biases, in addition to some examples that one can relate to...." Read more
Customers find the book enjoyable and well-presented, with one customer noting it's a must-read for everyone.
"...This book is a “must read!” We cannot do enough to protect ourselves from our thinking errors and the author sites 99 such errors...." Read more
"...This book is well worth the read." Read more
"...This is a very good book if you are looking to improve yourself or at least be aware of what you and every other person must struggle with each day..." Read more
"...At the end the book is a good read. But the practical use of such lists is quite limited. It is a database, but not an algorithm." Read more
Customers find the book easy to read, appreciating its concise and highly readable format with clear examples.
"...NOT a self help tome, in fact he makes great fun of self helpers, showing them the covariate mirror where they ignored their own genetics and luck..." Read more
"I have read several books on biases and I think this is the most complete one so far. It was a joy to read...." Read more
"Written to be read quickly, whenever and wherever. Short chapters 1-100 that breakdown different ways to process thoughts and have clear outcomes...." Read more
"...The author did a great job in researching, summarizing, and putting all content together...." Read more
Customers appreciate the book's format, with its 100 short chapters that are easily digestible and can be read one at a time.
"...Wow, no comparison. Dobelli uses short, punchy "chapters" that are almost just a few paragraphs to explain, define, exemplify and illustrate each..." Read more
"Written to be read quickly, whenever and wherever. Short chapters 1-100 that breakdown different ways to process thoughts and have clear outcomes...." Read more
"...It was a joy to read. The chapters are not very long but provide enough understanding of each of the biases, in addition to some examples that one..." Read more
"...I enjoyed the book immensly. The chapters are short, the language is clean and the examples illuminating...." Read more
Customers find the book entertaining, with its dry humor being everywhere throughout the text. One customer describes it as an eye-opening joy ride, while another notes how the author continually makes fun of himself.
"...The humor is dry but everywhere, especially his many "aha" insights about how these errors helped us keep from being killed as cave folk but do us..." Read more
"...Dobelli has gathered 99 errors common to us all. He provides short, amusing and pithy insights into their form and causes...." Read more
"...Made difficult concepts easier to grasp. Funny. Good for people with modest attention spans." Read more
"...gives tips on how to make decisions before investing, it is good to refresh our habit of how we owe to think about life in general." Read more
Customers have mixed opinions about the book's value for money, with some finding it worth the purchase while others consider it disappointing.
"...Sunk Cost Fallacy The film was awful. After an hour, Dobelli whispered to his wife: ‘Come on, let’s go home.’ She replied : ‘No way...." Read more
"...This book is worth the money to buy and the time to read it more than once." Read more
"...But personally (as in my opinion) this book really wasn’t worth it...." Read more
"...I haven't finished this book because I find it both boring and poorly written...." Read more
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Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2013Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseMany know that Wikipedia has a "mistake" list of potential cognitive errors and biases that links to nearly infinite mistakes these poor brains can make! This is like the little book of 100 things that can go right vs. the 2,000 page book of clinical maladies that can descend upon us each unsuspecting day.
This read is truly an eye-opening joy ride! Even though the author claims happiness is genetic and not to expect too much, hey, get this, it's enlightening AND entertaining! How is it better than the plethora of error books and self help sites out there, as well as Wiki's extensive list? Wow, no comparison. Dobelli uses short, punchy "chapters" that are almost just a few paragraphs to explain, define, exemplify and illustrate each cognitive trap, error and bias-- astonishing. The humor is dry but everywhere, especially his many "aha" insights about how these errors helped us keep from being killed as cave folk but do us disservice now. He wryly shares that the guy who questioned the herd mentality probably didn't contribute to the gene pool if he did so while all his buddies were running from a lion! This author's sense of humor is too contagious.
As you get through the first few "chapters" your mind will be reeling with the insights-- they really are more subtle than the fun tone suggests at first. Then, you look at the 300 pages that remain and realize how PACKED this book is with eye opening insights-- wow. This is one of those rare books after which you never look at the world, your life, or your relationships the same, EVER again!
Even if you've studied these mistakes and biases for years, or are an expert in the field (an "authority?" oh, oh), Rolf's "multiple angle" style of illustration, story telling, examples, descriptions and taxonomy really drives the trap home in deeply understandable, gut ways you might not have experienced with other authors. A dry topic like exit barriers is generalized with an error about sunk costs, and examples given for everything from relationships to habits, never mind investments! Though he is a friend of Taleb's, don't believe the hype that this is a "business" or investing book-- its examples and applications range much farther than that universe, down to our daily unconscious choices and patterns.
Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys seemingly light page turners that turn out to be much deeper and life changing. NOT a self help tome, in fact he makes great fun of self helpers, showing them the covariate mirror where they ignored their own genetics and luck to get there, having nothing to do at all with the "techniques" they are now espousing and promoting. Best of all, this is a guy who continually makes fun of himself and tells many stories about his own "stupidity" -- subtly teaching us he's caught on to the subtlest trickster of all-- ego.
Library Picks reviews only for the benefit of Amazon shoppers and has nothing to do with Amazon, the authors, manufacturers or publishers of the items we review. We always buy the items we review for the sake of objectivity, and although we search for gems, are not shy about trashing an item if it's a waste of time or money for Amazon shoppers. If the reviewer identifies herself, her job or her field, it is only as a point of reference to help you gauge the background and any biases.
- Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2017In the 1960s psychologists began to examine scientifically, how people think, decide and take action. The result, explains the author of this book, Rolf Dobelli, was a “theory of irrationality that states: thinking is in itself not pure, but prone to error.” This, they found, was true of all people, including the highly intelligent, resulting in everyone falling into the same cognitive errors.
More interestingly, it appears we all “systematically err in the same direction.” If this is indeed true, it means we all make predictable mistakes. If it is true, and it appears to be, we should be able to fix at least some of them and avoid making these errors in our lives.
Dobelli has gathered 99 errors common to us all. He provides short, amusing and pithy insights into their form and causes. This has not made his life error free, he reports. However, “to make things simple, I have set myself the following rules: in situations where the possible consequences are large, I try to be as reasonable and rational as possible when choosing… In situations where the consequences are small I forget about rational optimisation and let my intuition take over.”
This book is a useful compendium of error. Reading this book will certainly increase one’s awareness of possible errors, which will lead to better decisions. To illustrate, I have chosen five errors of the Dobelli’s 99.
Social Proof
You are roaming the Serengeti some 50,000 years ago, and your hunter-gather companions suddenly break into a desperate run away from some disturbance. What should you do? Mindlessly follow, or consider the possibility that it is a gazelle rather than a predator. Having seen a thoughtful companion become some animal’s lunch you run with the crowd.
“Social proof” is the legacy of this herd instinct that dictates that individuals are behaving correctly when they act the same as other people. Social proof is behind stock market bubbles, as well as stock market stampedes. It is no different in the worlds of fashion, management techniques, and diets.
Social proof informs even simple decision such as selecting a restaurant in an area with which you are unfamiliar. It seems sensible to choose the one that is full over a poorly patronised one.
Novelist W. Somerset Maugham put the error of social proof succinctly: ‘If 50 million people say something foolish, it is still foolish.’
Sunk Cost Fallacy
The film was awful. After an hour, Dobelli whispered to his wife: ‘Come on, let’s go home.’ She replied : ‘No way. We’re not throwing away $ 30.’ The $ 30 is not reason to stay, that would be a thinking error. The money was been spent, and will not be returned. This is an example of the sunk cost error.
So often in business, there is the sense that having invested so much, it would be wrong to stop now. Stopping now, makes the investment seem a mistake. The sunk cost fallacy is most dangerous when we have invested time, money, energy, commitment or love in something.
The need for consistency drives this type of irrational behaviour. Deciding to cancel the project before it is completed is to admit that we had made a mistake.
Sometimes the consequences of this thinking error costs lives as when America extended their involvement in the Vietnam War. Their thinking: ‘We’ve already sacrificed so much for this war; it would be a mistake to give up now.’
Reciprocity
Psychologist Robert Cialdini has studied the phenomenon of reciprocity and concluded that people have discomfort feeling they are indebted to another person.
Dobelli offers this example: “A supplier of screws invites a potential customer to join him at a big sports game. A month later, it’s time to order screws. The desire not to be in debt is so strong that the buyer gives in and places an order with his new friend.”
This phenomenon has a long history. When primitive man’s food supplies were subject to high fluctuations, he needed others to share their food with him. When he killed an animal too large to eat in one day, he would share the meat with others in his group. Doing this would ensure that they share their meat with him when he is short.
When approached in the supermarket, with an offer of a taste of wine, a chunk of cheese or a handful of olives, Dobelli advises to refuse the offer. The error of reciprocity has led many to ending up a pantry full of goods they do not even like.
Contrast Effect
We judge something to be beautiful, expensive or large only if we have something ugly, cheap or small to compare it to.
Experiments indicate that people will walk an extra ten minutes to save $ 10 on food. The same people, however would not walk ten minutes to save $ 10 on a $ 1,000 suit. The whole category of discount business is only viable because of this error, Dobelli claims.
In the investment arena, the error leads people to believe a share is good value because it is 50% below the peak price. The share price is what it is, and comparison is irrelevant. All that matters is whether the share goes up or down in the future.
The contrast effect also plays out in the social arena. If you are dating it is not prudent to double date with your supermodel friend. This makes you appear less attractive than you really are!
Chauffeur Knowledge
According to Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s business partner, there are two types of knowledge. “Real knowledge” is what people have when they have invested time and effort to understanding a topic. “Chauffeur knowledge” is the result of learning how to put on a show. Warren Buffett uses the phrase, ‘circle of competence’ to avoid this error. ‘You have to stick within what I call your circle of competence. You have to know what you understand and what you don’t understand. It’s not terribly important how big the circle is. But it is terribly important that you know where the perimeter is.’
It is so easy to not confuse the company spokesperson, the newscaster, and the cliché generator with those who possess true knowledge. You can recognize the difference because the true experts know what they know and what they do not know.
This book is a “must read!” We cannot do enough to protect ourselves from our thinking errors and the author sites 99 such errors. Much of the material in this book can be found scattered elsewhere. The value of this book is that the information is in one place.
Readability Light --+-- Serious
Insights High --+-- Low
Practical High --+-- Low
*Ian Mann of Gateways consults internationally on leadership and strategy and is the author of Strategy that Works.
- Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2025Format: KindleVerified PurchaseI would recommend everyone to read this book to enhance thinking and take decisions more rationally, which can lead us to rationality.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2025Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseEveryone needs to clear they head every now and then. This book is well worth the read.
- Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2024Format: KindleVerified PurchaseI have read several books on biases and I think this is the most complete one so far. It was a joy to read. The chapters are not very long but provide enough understanding of each of the biases, in addition to some examples that one can relate to. This is a very good book if you are looking to improve yourself or at least be aware of what you and every other person must struggle with each day and we are unaware of.
Top reviews from other countries
- NASReviewed in Belgium on January 1, 2025
1.0 out of 5 stars Overthinking
Not for anyone I guess
- PramodReviewed in India on March 7, 2025
5.0 out of 5 stars Worthy book with intermittently read.
Very useful when it's time of decision. We always think and go upto decision. After reading this book I found, how I was poor thinking. Best book of this year. Who change life.
- HaniReviewed in the United Arab Emirates on September 24, 2020
5.0 out of 5 stars A nice summary
Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseThe book is like a nice summary of many great ideas and mental models.
- Aled BallReviewed in Australia on May 30, 2020
5.0 out of 5 stars Bite size chapters of knowledge
Great read.
Bite size chapters for gradual understanding and implementation into your every day life.
It’s sorta like a self help book, with a daily dose of knowledge and insight into... ya!
- JadenReviewed in Canada on May 27, 2025
5.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good
Format: KindleVerified PurchaseI own the physical copy and really like it, so I got the digital version lol