Thinking, Fast and Slow

By: Daniel Kahneman

Narrated by: Patrick Egan

Length: 20 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

The guru to the gurus at last shares his knowledge with the rest of us. Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman's seminal studies in behavioral psychology, behavioral economics, and happiness studies have influenced numerous other authors, including Steven Pinker and Malcolm Gladwell. In Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman at last offers his own, first book for the general public. It is a lucid and enlightening summary of his life's work. It will change the way you think about thinking.

Two systems drive the way we think and make choices, Kahneman explains: System One is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System Two is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. Examining how both systems function within the mind, Kahneman exposes the extraordinary capabilities as well as the biases of fast thinking and the pervasive influence of intuitive impressions on our thoughts and our choices. Engaging the reader in a lively conversation about how we think, he shows where we can trust our intuitions and how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking, contrasting the two-system view of the mind with the standard model of the rational economic agent.

Kahneman's singularly influential work has transformed cognitive psychology and launched the new fields of behavioral economics and happiness studies. In this path-breaking book, Kahneman shows how the mind works, and offers practical and enlightening insights into how choices are made in both our business and personal lives - and how we can guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2011 Daniel Kahneman (P)2011 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“A tour de force... Kahneman’s book is a must read for anyone interested in either human behavior or investing. He clearly shows that while we like to think of ourselves as rational in our decision making, the truth is we are subject to many biases. At least being aware of them will give you a better chance of avoiding them, or at least making fewer of them.” (Larry Swedroe, CBS News)

“A major intellectual event... The work of Kahneman and Tversky was a crucial pivot point in the way we see ourselves.” (David Brooks, The New York Times)

“[Thinking, Fast and Slow] is wonderful, of course. To anyone with the slightest interest in the workings of his own mind, it is so rich and fascinating that any summary would seem absurd.” (Michael Lewis, Vanity Fair)

Great compendium on two modes of thinking

Required reading for anyone that wants to understand how they make decisions using their left (slow) and right (fast) mode of thinking.

Intellectual but not just for academics

Enlightening... The book is strong from cover to cover. it is very insightful. I walked away with a better understanding of decision theory and the human mind.

Slow listen for fast thinkers

Any additional comments?

The information within this book is useful and easy to absorb. I listened to this book on a long car drive and found it to be slow and difficult to stay interested in. It may be an easier book to actually sit down and read. The author often repeats the same phrases and I finally had to stop listening because I was tired of hearing the reader continuously say "system 1 thinking" or "system 2 thinking". I may come back to this book and listen to it at a faster speed, or skip over some of it.

Great insight even if wrong sometimes

I have listened to a lot of audiobooks on behavioral economics and this one stands out in a few ways. There is definitely some new insights that I have never picked up anywhere else. I only have two complaints. First, he expresses a few simple conclusions that are flat out wrong. They are not necessary for his content so it is not a big deal but it is annoying. My second complaint is the number of hours of listening required. I would have preferred an abridged version.

Audio format is missing accompanying pdf

Need pdf to go with. Where is it? Seven words remain to complete this review.

Classic Kahneman read very nicely

Daniel Kahneman's work is truly provocative and thoughtful. And this book makes his work exceptionally accessible.

Even though I read a lot of business-related books (and even wrote one), I don't often enjoy them as much as I did this one.

While the reading is quite good, as business books go, I did wish for a little more modulation and enthusiasm in the reader's voice. Good, not awesome. Since the content is so good, it wasn't an issue at all. I'm just a fan of improving the quality and interest of the reading in these sorts of books.

You don't have to agree but you should understand

I thought the author did a good job of explaining the various factors that influence decision making from the big decisions to our every day choices. Although not all the specific experiments may stand the test of time (as some of them have already been debunked) the overall theoretical foundation makes a solid point that humans are not as rational and logical as we would like to think we are. The book is a bit long, and the author does have an air of pedantic academic authority, but its main contribution is making you think about the way you think, and that kind if introspection is valuable for anyone. The narration fits the tone of the book well (I personally listened at 2x).

Required Reading for Humans

You are not to be considered fully adult before you have the knowledge of how your brain functions which is provided here in this book. Not that this book is the only requirement, but in many ways it is the foundation of humility that will motivate and enable you to go on and acquire the skills to look for and deal with the inmate failings of the human intellect and perception

Good book, maybe a Little bit long...

Good book, maybe a Little bit long... but I liked it. You should read it!

Very Interesting Book

I really liked the discussion in the first half of the book on system 1 and system 2 thinking. It seemed to me the second half of the book drifted from this and was harder to follow in a listening format. All in all however, this is an important piece of work that is impressive in scope and thinking.