Think Like a Freak: Secrets of the Rogue Economist - Softcover

Levitt, Steven D.; Dubner, Stephen J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0141980079 ISBN 13: 9780141980072

Publisher: Penguin, 2015

Synopsis

The Freakonomics books have come to stand for challenging conventional wisdom; using data rather than emotion to answer questions. Now Levitt and Dubner have turned what they've learned into a readable and practical toolkit for thinking smarter, harder, and different - thinking, that is, like a Freak. Think Like a Freak offers rules like 'Put Your Moral Compass in Your Pocket,' 'The Upside of Quitting,' 'Just Because You're Great at Something Doesn't Mean You're Good at Everything,' and 'If You Have No Talent, Follow Levitt's Path to Success.'

About this title

About the Author

Steven D. Levitt, a professor of economics at the University of Chicago, was awarded the John Bates Clark medal, given to the most influential American economist under the age of forty. He is also a founder of The Greatest Good, which applies Freakonomics-style thinking to business and philanthropy.

Stephen J. Dubner is an award-winning author, journalist, and radio and TV personality. He quit his first career-as an almost-rock-star-to become a writer. He has worked for The New York Times and published three non-Freakonomics books. He lives with his family in New York City.

From the Back Cover

The authors of the "Freakonomics" books on using data over emotion to answer questions have turned what they've learned into a readable and practical toolkit for thinking smarter, harder and different.

From the Inside Flap

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."

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0141980079
• ISBN 13: 9780141980072
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288