This is an iconoclastic volume on the causes and effects of irrational behaviour. Why do doctors, army generals, high-ranking government officials, and other people in positions of power make bad decisions that cause harm to others? On the other hand, why do people insist on sitting through an awful play or film just because the tickets were expensive? Irrational beliefs and behaviour are virtually universal. It is not only gamblers and parapsychologists that fall into simple statistical traps to do with sample sizes or simple assumptions, but experts of all types, selection committees, and everyday people. "Irrationality" is an iconoclastic volume that draws on a mass of intriguing research to examine why we are irrational, the different types of irrationality, the damage it does us, and the possible cures. It also argues that we could significantly reduce irrationality and its effects - but only if we first recognize just how irrational we really are.
Irrationality
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Review
Ben Goldacre, author of Bad Science
Superb! The thinking man's self help book; it left me infinitely wiser, but I know it won't change my behaviour one tiny bit.
Nicholas Lezard, The Guardian
You must buy this book, for every home should have it.
Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion
Extremely gripping and unusually well written.
Oliver Sacks, author of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
Terrifying, sometimes comic, very readable and totally enthralling.
Superb! The thinking man's self help book; it left me infinitely wiser, but I know it won't change my behaviour one tiny bit.
Nicholas Lezard, The Guardian
You must buy this book, for every home should have it.
Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion
Extremely gripping and unusually well written.
Oliver Sacks, author of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
Terrifying, sometimes comic, very readable and totally enthralling.
Book Description
Superb! The thinking man's self help book; it left me infinitely wiser, but I know it won't change my behaviour one tiny bit.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
287 of 294 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a wonderful achievement of science popularisation. Sutherland had a gift for succinctly and non-technically summarising psychology experiments. In this book he surveys more than one hundred and sixty different studies that expose failings of human reasoning and judgement. Overconfidence, conformity, biased assessment of evidence and inconsistency are among the follies given their own chapters. One chapter deals with organizational (bureaucratic) irrationality.
The point is not the banal one that there are stupid people about. It is that we all make systematic errors and biases that can lead to disaster in predictable ways. The example applications include reasoning about medical tests, military disasters, the paranormal, the Rorschach test, gambling and daft purchasing decisions.
If society took the recommendations in this book, we would give up job interviews, stop awarding school prizes, totally reform the procedures for criminal trials and change many of the incentive structures we use to motivate people. Each chapter ends with a set of personal lessons for minimising the damage of one's inevitable human irrationality.
This is a potentially very depressing book, but its humiliating lesson is one that, for a better public life and personal life, we need to learn. You can either learn it from a huge corpus of technical psychology literature or from this little paperback.
The point is not the banal one that there are stupid people about. It is that we all make systematic errors and biases that can lead to disaster in predictable ways. The example applications include reasoning about medical tests, military disasters, the paranormal, the Rorschach test, gambling and daft purchasing decisions.
If society took the recommendations in this book, we would give up job interviews, stop awarding school prizes, totally reform the procedures for criminal trials and change many of the incentive structures we use to motivate people. Each chapter ends with a set of personal lessons for minimising the damage of one's inevitable human irrationality.
This is a potentially very depressing book, but its humiliating lesson is one that, for a better public life and personal life, we need to learn. You can either learn it from a huge corpus of technical psychology literature or from this little paperback.
32 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
We all act on impulse and make quick decisions every day. That may be irrational but if we had to think long and hard about every decision we made then our lives would never get anywhere.
Fortunately, most of our decisions have very limited consequences if they turn out to be wrong, but sometimes a bad decision can cost a lot of money, even human lives. Then it is best to be sure that the decision was the best possible based on all the facts. Even when buying a new home or a new car, one could well save oneself some grief and perhaps a lot of money if the deal was approached in a rational manner.
As this book points out, many lives and lots of money have been lost and many projects have failed because of bad decisions due to pride, prejudice, by misinterpreting facts in ones own favor, by fear of non-conformity and many other irrational reasons.
This book is an excellent tour through a lot of topics, all of which are aspects of irrational behavior. Through many (painfully :-/ ) clear examples the author illustrates the various types of irrational behavior and how they can lead to bad or wrong decisions. For example, the "availability error" where too much emphasis is put on whatever comes first to mind, or the "halo effect" where too much emphasis is put on first impressions. These traps catch us every day and are among the advertisers' best weapons.
If you want to improve you own decision making - in you personal life as well as you professional life - or you just want to know why other people often make such bad decisions this book can give you a lot of insight into how easily people can make flawed decisions and thus what to be wary of the next time you face an important decision.
English is not my first language but I use English a lot.... Read more ›
Fortunately, most of our decisions have very limited consequences if they turn out to be wrong, but sometimes a bad decision can cost a lot of money, even human lives. Then it is best to be sure that the decision was the best possible based on all the facts. Even when buying a new home or a new car, one could well save oneself some grief and perhaps a lot of money if the deal was approached in a rational manner.
As this book points out, many lives and lots of money have been lost and many projects have failed because of bad decisions due to pride, prejudice, by misinterpreting facts in ones own favor, by fear of non-conformity and many other irrational reasons.
This book is an excellent tour through a lot of topics, all of which are aspects of irrational behavior. Through many (painfully :-/ ) clear examples the author illustrates the various types of irrational behavior and how they can lead to bad or wrong decisions. For example, the "availability error" where too much emphasis is put on whatever comes first to mind, or the "halo effect" where too much emphasis is put on first impressions. These traps catch us every day and are among the advertisers' best weapons.
If you want to improve you own decision making - in you personal life as well as you professional life - or you just want to know why other people often make such bad decisions this book can give you a lot of insight into how easily people can make flawed decisions and thus what to be wary of the next time you face an important decision.
English is not my first language but I use English a lot.... Read more ›
121 of 127 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
On reading this book you are a presented with everyday problems and the simply irrational way we make decisions- from leaving the cinema to international travel. This non-technical tale provokes thinking in a way that does not confuse the reader, but keeps them enthralled throughout- always wanting to read the next section.
To give you an idea- here is one of the simple irrationalities presented to us- You've paid to go and see a film, but don't like it- do you leave early? Whilst most people would say no, this book tempts us to say yes and shows us that this the logical way to do things. Essentially do we waste our time and money (and stay in the cinema) or just our money? Surely we should cut our losses and leave, but irrationality shows that in fact we don't we stick around in a way that shows our poor decision making.
Overall, irrationality presents solid arguments in a way thats easy to understand. A fantastic book.
To give you an idea- here is one of the simple irrationalities presented to us- You've paid to go and see a film, but don't like it- do you leave early? Whilst most people would say no, this book tempts us to say yes and shows us that this the logical way to do things. Essentially do we waste our time and money (and stay in the cinema) or just our money? Surely we should cut our losses and leave, but irrationality shows that in fact we don't we stick around in a way that shows our poor decision making.
Overall, irrationality presents solid arguments in a way thats easy to understand. A fantastic book.
109 of 115 people found the following review helpful
By Ali B
Format:Paperback
`Irrationality - the Enemy Within' is essential reading for anyone who is interested in developing their thinking skills by becoming more aware of the numerous traps into which we can all so easily fall. The book presents many conundrums about which readers are invited to reach decisions, and time and again, in my own case at least, the correct, rational solution is surprising and enlightening. The twenty-three chapters comprise topics such as `Ignoring the evidence', `Mistaken connections in medicine', `The paranormal'. Each chapter ends with a brief coda headed `Moral' which summarises, often with wit, the main points we need to learn.
This book is scholarly, educational, extremely well written and continually entertaining. I am sure it will be appreciated by anyone who has enjoyed Dick Taverne's `The March of Unreason' - and vice versa.
This book is scholarly, educational, extremely well written and continually entertaining. I am sure it will be appreciated by anyone who has enjoyed Dick Taverne's `The March of Unreason' - and vice versa.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By T. S. Prince
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Irrationality pulls in information from a vast array of experiments and psychological studies, presenting them in an interesting and easy to understand way. Bullet-point summaries at the end of each chapter provide a useful and sometimes amusing recap of detailed explorations of human fallibility. Sutherland establishes some of the most common causes of irrational behaviour in the first few chapters, allowing them to be referred to throughout.
Towards the latter half of the book he does occasionally drift into territory most would describe as "incorrect" rather than "irrational": I did feel at times that he had lost sight of his original remit, particularly when he was defending his classification of some human errors as irrational. However, for the most part he keeps a good pace and straight course through the subject matter.
Some of the evidence cited is a little thin (very small sample sizes, unpublished papers), but in a pop-science book which covers so much ground a bit of license can arguably be allowed.
Overall a thought-provoking and worthwhile read.
Towards the latter half of the book he does occasionally drift into territory most would describe as "incorrect" rather than "irrational": I did feel at times that he had lost sight of his original remit, particularly when he was defending his classification of some human errors as irrational. However, for the most part he keeps a good pace and straight course through the subject matter.
Some of the evidence cited is a little thin (very small sample sizes, unpublished papers), but in a pop-science book which covers so much ground a bit of license can arguably be allowed.
Overall a thought-provoking and worthwhile read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing
Perhaps the only book I have ever stopped reading mid-way through due to frustration.
The premise of this book is promising but unfortunately it fails to deliver. Read more
The premise of this book is promising but unfortunately it fails to deliver. Read more
Published 17 months ago by T_RRed
4.0 out of 5 stars
Readable and Informative
In a very enjoyable read, Sutherland takes us through the many examples of irrationality in everyday life. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Naomi Linton
5.0 out of 5 stars
Shockingly Revealing
This book is one of the best researched and put-together books I've read in a very long time. I've always thought of myself as a rational and scientific. Well, I was wrong! Read more
Published on 11 April 2011 by Shakir
2.0 out of 5 stars
Becomes more irrational the more you read
Having read the reccommendations and the Amazon sample of the book, I was excited after having downloaded the Kindle version. Read more
Published on 25 Mar 2011 by M. R. Watts
5.0 out of 5 stars
Required Reading
This book should be Required Reading for all politicians, Educators, Religious Leaders (as if)...... in fact anyone who makes decisions that affect the lives of others. Read more
Published on 22 Jan 2011 by Vipera
2.0 out of 5 stars
Too rigid a view on decision-making
The book's premise to highlight the irrationality in day-to-day decisions could make for a very interesting read. Read more
Published on 14 Sep 2010 by MrKievits
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting, but too long winded and repetitive
The first few chapters outline common examples of irrational thinking and attempt to explain why people reach such conclusions, even in the face of evidence to the contrary. Read more
Published on 13 Sep 2010 by G. Robertson
5.0 out of 5 stars
each time this book is opened adds value
I have read and re-read this book on several occasions - each time I marvel at its clarity - the simple ways which the author makes me question my own cognitive skills. Read more
Published on 30 Aug 2010 by P. Buss
2.0 out of 5 stars
Maybe I am too irrational
I am surprised at so many positive reviews of this book. Maybe like at least one other reviewer here the "halo effect" is working on me too. Read more
Published on 21 Aug 2010 by Polly P
4.0 out of 5 stars
nice book
I recieved it very quick. (The first time I haven't got my order but Amazon resent the new one for me. I'm very impressed with the service.) The quality of the book is good. Read more
Published on 19 Jun 2010 by Black rabbit
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