Title: The Art of Thinking Clearly
Author: Rolf Dobelli
Category: Nonfiction, Psychology
Rating: 4/5
10-word summary: The brain is prone to making errors – try to avoid them.
About The Art of Thinking Clearly
The Art of Thinking Clearly is a book focused on cognitive errors. It includes 99 short chapters, each one presenting an error or bias. In each chapter, the author describes the error and sometimes gives advice on ways to avoid it.
The book is great as an introduction to cognitive errors. It’s also easy to read and the information can be eye-opening. However, because of the format, I think this book may not create enough understanding or habit change on its own.
What I like about The Art of Thinking Clearly
1. The book is a great introduction to cognitive errors
If you have never learned about biases or our irrationality, this book is a good one to start with. It includes many types of biases and they are all presented in a clear, simple way. Reading about all these biases will help you see the ways in which our brains are misleading us more often than we would like. And if you find the topic interesting, you can go on to read more in-depth books about this.
2. It often references research studies or the works of other authors
The book combines simple stories with information taken from studies or from the works of other authors. Since the author referenced research studies and the works of other psychologists and authors, this makes the book more reliable.
3. It’s simple and easy to read
This is the kind of book that anybody could enjoy. It’s very simple, easy to read and it has short chapters (3 pages each).
What I don’t like about The Art of Thinking Clearly
1. It doesn’t really help you understand how we think and why
Because of it short chapters focused on each bias individually, the book does not really help you understand how our brains normally work and why these biases occur. So if you want to gain a deeper understanding of our irrationality, you will need to read other books on the topic.
2. It probably won’t lead to any change in your life
Given the structure and style of this book, I think there’s a small chance that you will make some changes in the way you think and behave. It is possible that it will help you become more aware of your own biases.
Should You Read The Art of Thinking Clearly?
Maybe. Read this book if you are interested in discovering some of our cognitive biases. It might spark your interest and encourage you to learn more about the topic.
However, if you want to understand how we think and why we are irrational, I would recommend looking for other books on the topic.