Sarah Novak

I am a research psychologist, so I enjoy reading and listening to a lot of books in the social science genre. I was initially excited about "How We Decide" because of Lehrer's excellent contributions to the incomparable RadioLab, as well as his decent first book, which makes some interesting interdisciplinary connections. However, I was keenly disappointed because of the lack of originality.

Most of the themes, studies, and stories in this book are also featured in other works in the genre (Blink, The Happiness Hypothesis, Predictably Irrational, and Mindless Eating, to name just a few). If there were value added in the re-tellings, Lehrer would seem like less of a hack. Unfortunately, his versions are inferior to all of the sources he draws upon. I guess the most positive thing I can say is that if you don't have the time or motivation to read many social science-based books, "How We Decide" can be your Cliffs Notes summary.