Thinking

The New Science of Decision-Making, Problem-Solving, and Prediction

By: John Brockman

Narrated by: Tom Perkins

Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

Edited by John Brockman, publisher of Edge.org, Thinking presents original ideas by today's leading psychologists, neuroscientists, and philosophers who are radically expanding our understanding of human thought.

Daniel Kahneman on the power (and pitfalls) of human intuition and "unconscious" thinking.
Daniel Gilbert on desire, prediction, and why getting what we want doesn't always make us happy.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb on the limitations of statistics in guiding decision making.
Vilayanur Ramachandran on the scientific underpinnings of human nature.
Simon Baron-Cohen on the startling effects of testosterone on the brain.
Daniel C. Dennett on decoding the architecture of the "normal" human mind.
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore on mental disorders and the crucial developmental phase of adolescence.
Jonathan Haidt, Sam Harris, and Roy Baumeister on the science of morality, ethics, and the emerging synthesis of evolutionary and biological thinking.
Gerd Gigerenzer on rationality and what informs our choices.

©2013 Edge Foundation, Inc. (P)2015 Tantor

Critic reviews

"[T]his book offers nourishing food for thought." ( Kirkus)

need more...

What did you like best about Thinking? What did you like least?

Heavy on generalities about the contributing fields and the resumes of those leading them, light on "take homes" from the various literatures. A few kernels, that's about it.

evolution is the bias

lots of reasonably known info.

the premise that evolution is a fact is disturbing and has not been proven this making the writer bias if not hypocritical.
Still, a lot of this has been studied and those parts appear to be consistent. Interesting at least

Great Subject Matter

Extraordinary conversations captured and worthy of further consideration. I found the work extremely valuable and my thanks to Mr Brockman for capturing these thoughts.

Disappointing

He has some interesting ideas, but at the expense of sitting through a gratuitous rant about religion, some self aggrandizement about his PhDs, and some basic grammatical errors (singular/plural). I was hoping for more substance on the topic of Thinking.

Delightful

This audiobook is quiet entertaining and enlightening. There is a ton of information regarding the workings of the mind as related to intuition, philosophy, morality, and evolution. Tom Perkins reads effortlessly. As I listened, my mind was packed with new concepts and thoughts that I have never considered.
I would highly recommend this audiobook to anyone interested in the science of the mind.

Compilation of Expert Articles on cognitive scienc

A wide variety of approaches to the topic are covered by experts in a style understandable to educated laypeople.

Political and Religious Bias Ruined It!

Would you try another book from John Brockman and/or Tom Perkins?

It depends on if they make the first few chapters about their own Prejudices in regards to politics and religion. I was very offended by both.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I liked the views about how to solve problems. I got lost on the prediction models and the decision making process was probably more narrowed to an individual ideology or belief system rather than a practice that "all" could use.

Was Thinking worth the listening time?

There is enough good information here that anyone interested in learning more about the title's subject should listen. Avoid the first few chapters though if your not interested in their personal views on politics and religion.

Any additional comments?

Finding a balance in: Decision-Making, Problem-Solving, and Prediction requires one to realize that their audience will have came from many different walks of life and journeys, and the balance of keeping a neutral frame of reference will serve a better purpose. Anyone who has a psychology background, or a discerning ability to know others will no doubt be able to pick up on the biases the author has. In my personal opinion, biases are not places one can do solid research from because they always start from a slant and therefore can never fully produce a "balanced" objective.

A book to make you think!

Very interesting book!
As a neuroscience graduate, I found most of the concepts familiar but now put in an interesting context!

Fascinating Stuff

Any additional comments?

It's hard to imagine the narrator stressing more words incorrectly. I'm not sure if he was a robot or what.

collection of essays that provoke thought

well some of the essays were difficult to get through many very thought-provoking and left me contemplating the message days afterward. I have adopted new views on how my mind works because of them