Think Like a Freak: The Authors of Freakonomics Offer to Retrain Your Brain

by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner Narrated by Stephen J. Dubner

Overview

The New York Times bestselling Freakonomics changed the way we see the world, exposing the hidden side of just about everything. Then came SuperFreakonomics, a documentary film, an award-winning podcast, and more.

Now, with Think Like a Freak, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner have written their most revolutionary book yet. With their trademark blend of captivating storytelling and unconventional analysis, they take us inside their thought process and teach us all to think a bit more productively, more creatively, more rationally-to think, that is, like a Freak.

Levitt and Dubner offer a blueprint for an entirely new way to solve problems, whether your interest lies in minor lifehacks or major global reforms. As always, no topic is off-limits. They range from business to philanthropy to sports to politics, all with the goal of retraining your brain. Along the way, you'll learn the secrets of a Japanese hot-dog-eating champion, the reason an Australian doctor swallowed a batch of dangerous bacteria, and why Nigerian e-mail scammers make a point of saying they're from Nigeria.

Some of the steps toward thinking like a Freak:

• First, put away your moral compass-because it's hard to see a problem clearly if you've already decided what to do about it.
• Learn to say “I don't know”-for until you can admit what you don't yet know, it's virtually impossible to learn what you need to.
• Think like a child-because you'll come up with better ideas and ask better questions.
• Take a master class in incentives-because for better or worse, incentives rule our world.
• Learn to persuade people who don't want to be persuaded-because being right is rarely enough to carry the day.
• Learn to appreciate the upside of quitting-because you can't solve tomorrow's problem if you aren't willing to abandon today's dud.

Levitt and Dubner plainly see the world like no one else. Now you can too. Never before have such iconoclastic thinkers been so revealing-and so much fun to read.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Utterly captivating.” — Malcolm Gladwell, New York Times bestselling author of Blink, The Tipping Point, and David and Goliath

“Over nine entertaining chapters [Levitt and Dubner] demonstrate how not to fall into hackneyed approaches to solving problems and concretely illustrate how to reframe questions.” — New York Daily News

“Compelling and fun.” — New York Post

“This book will change your life.” — Daily Express (London)

“Good ideas... expressed with panache.” — Financial Times

“An interesting and thought-provoking read.” — The Horn

“Their most revolutionary book yet. With their trademark blend of captivating storytelling and unconventional analysis, they take us inside their thought process and teach us all to think a bit more productively, more creatively, more rationally — to think, that is, like a Freak.” — Bookreporter.com

Financial Times

Good ideas... expressed with panache.

New York Daily News

Over nine entertaining chapters [Levitt and Dubner] demonstrate how not to fall into hackneyed approaches to solving problems and concretely illustrate how to reframe questions.

Malcolm Gladwell

Utterly captivating.

New York Post

Compelling and fun.

The Horn

An interesting and thought-provoking read.

Daily Express (London)

This book will change your life.

Bookreporter.com

Their most revolutionary book yet. With their trademark blend of captivating storytelling and unconventional analysis, they take us inside their thought process and teach us all to think a bit more productively, more creatively, more rationally — to think, that is, like a Freak.

Financial Times

Good ideas... expressed with panache.

New York Post

Compelling and fun.

New York Daily News

Over nine entertaining chapters [Levitt and Dubner] demonstrate how not to fall into hackneyed approaches to solving problems and concretely illustrate how to reframe questions.

JULY 2014 - AudioFile

With his confidence and vocal clarity, author/narrator Stephen Dubner sounds like a supremely knowledgeable computer engineer talking to middle school students. But his performance sounds spontaneous and more friendly than know-it-all, and is an inviting way to offer this intelligent, highly entertaining book in audio form. With captivating stories and snappy prose, the book provides fascinating insights about the counterintuitive ways people dupe and misinform each other, and makes intuitive observations on why we cling to conventional wisdom instead of looking at data in more realistic, economic terms. The audio is a sterling example of how a potentially dull book about cognitive processes can be written—and narrated—in a way that grabs and holds attention, provides useful insights, and presents itself as a fun opportunity to understand the world more clearly. T.W. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940160562490
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/12/2014
Edition description:	Unabridged

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