Thinking, Fast and Slow

By: Daniel Kahneman

Narrated by: Patrick Egan

Length: 20 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

The unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman's pioneering work that tackles questions of intuition and rationality. Read by the actor Patrick Egan.

Daniel Kahneman, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his seminal work in psychology challenging the rational model of judgment and decision making, is one of the world's most important thinkers. His ideas have had a profound impact on many fields - including business, medicine, and politics - but until now, he has never brought together his many years of research in one book.

In Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think and make choices. One system is fast, intuitive, and emotional; the other is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. Kahneman exposes the extraordinary capabilities-and also the faults and biases-of fast thinking, and reveals the pervasive influence of intuitive impressions on our thoughts and behaviour. The importance of properly framing risks, the effects of cognitive biases on how we view others, the dangers of prediction, the right ways to develop skills, the pros and cons of fear and optimism, the difference between our experience and memory of events, the real components of happiness-each of these can be understood only by knowing how the two systems work together to shape our judgments and decisions.

Drawing on a lifetime's experimental experience, Kahneman reveals where we can and cannot trust our intuitions and how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking. He offers practical and enlightening insights into how choices are made in both our professional and our personal lives-and how we can use different techniques to guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble. Thinking, Fast and Slow will transform the way you take decisions and experience the world.

©2011 Daniel Kahneman (P)2011 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"There have been many good books on human rationality and irrationality, but only one masterpiece. That masterpiece is Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow. Kahneman, a winner of the Nobel Prize for economics, distils a lifetime of research into an encyclopedic coverage of both the surprising miracles and the equally surprising mistakes of our conscious and unconscious thinking. He achieves an even greater miracle by weaving his insights into an engaging narrative that is compulsively readable from beginning to end. My main problem in doing this review was preventing family members and friends from stealing my copy of the book to read it for themselves... this is one of the greatest and most engaging collections of insights into the human mind I have read." (William Easterly, Financial Times)

"Absorbing, intriguing...By making us aware of our minds' tricks, Kahneman hopes to inspire individuals and organisations to identify strategies to outwit them" (Jenni Russell, Sunday Times)

"Profound ... As Copernicus removed the Earth from the centre of the universe and Darwin knocked humans off their biological perch, Mr. Kahneman has shown that we are not the paragons of reason we assume ourselves to be." ( The Economist)

read this book (not for listenings)

What did you love best about Thinking, Fast and Slow?

Audio books are meant to be listened. In your car, while jogging, biking (that's what I do). This book constantly requires you to look at figures in the addendum, worse, some parts go on forever with just numbers, like 99% - value1, 98%, value2, 97% value3. Probably a better read than a listen

Comprehensively brilliant

The most useful explanation of our problems processing decisions in a rational way. Not a self help book but a text allowing insight and reflection on an individual and organisational basis. Unifies or compliments many of the other books I have read; Dawkins, Haidt, Pinker, Harris, Dennet and Robert Wright. Essential to download PDF file and stop the car if referring to it.

Best book on Human behavior.

Any body looking for self growth, this book is an eye opener. Daniel Kanheman is an master in Human psychology.

Read the last chapter first

This book is very dense, even for someone like myself who has a graduate degree in psychology! The end chapter is especially useful for business owners.

Complex yet engaging, worth the time invested.

This is not an audiobook to listen to in the background - best suited for a long rail commute or just some quiet hours over a couple of weeks, the ideas presented deserve your full attention.

Patrick Egan's narration is clear and consistent and serves the tone of the book perfectly. Although the audio refers to data and graphs that may not be readily at hand, it's not totally necessary to view all of the facts and figures to visualise the points being made. The text itself is highly approachable; a mixture of interesting anecdotes and fascinating research.

I highly recommend this ebook if you prefer listening over reading and you have the time to devote to focus entirely on this terrific book.

Life Changing / Paradox Shifting

What did you love best about Thinking, Fast and Slow?

At the start of the book I was disappointed but as soon as I understood where the author is going, I realized that this is no ordinary book.
I'm listening to it again back to back to absorb as much as I can

What did you like best about this story?

In detailed examples of mental errors and errors in judgement

Which scene was your favorite?

First one hour of the book I was completely lost and I didn't know what this book is all about. I thought it is about statistics but then it all switched to all my logic errors.

What insight do you think you’ll apply from Thinking, Fast and Slow?

Investment

Any additional comments?

I don't know if anyone is reading me review but if you are don't miss out on this one.
A book from a winner of a Nobel prize, worth reading (listening to in this case).

At times monotonous, but still thought provoking

Thought provoking, with real life applications that you can put to test on your own. The narrator was monotonous at times .

Brain 2 is trying to catch up

Makes me step back and question my responses while understanding why gut feel answer is often correct workwise while totally off in other errors.

Lost me a bit with the statistics in the middle but enough meat either side. A good read.

Fascinating and instructive

I found myself implementing useful learnings from the book, one example being to do the most fun thing at the end of any event or holiday as it provides the strongest associative memory of that experience.

Brilliant! Should be taught at schools

What did you love best about Thinking, Fast and Slow?

It's brilliant - complex concepts explained plainly with detail to underpin the conclusions

What was one of the most memorable moments of Thinking, Fast and Slow?

There are so many - The power of system 1 - especially that we are blind to our own blindness! That we think we will step in and help a stranger but we won't - that is quite scary.

What about Patrick Egan’s performance did you like?

He gave the book life! I didn't want to stop listening.

What’s an idea from the book that you will remember?

How gullible we are … we need to take responsibility for what we accept for truth and what we question - we need to question a lot more!