Summary: Think Like a Freak E-Book

BusinessNews Publishing

• Herausgeber: Business Book Summaries
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 35

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Beschreibung

The must-read summary of Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner's book: "Think Like a Freak: The Authors of Freakonomics Offer to Retrain Your Brain".

This complete summary of the ideas from Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner's book "Think Like A Freak" states how economic theories can also be applied to problems in society. This is the concept of Freakonomics. Freakonomics basically means thinking for yourself and acknowledging the facts. Learning to ‘think like a freak’ means you can tackle the difficult problems that other people ignore. According to Levitt and Dubner, there are eight steps to ‘thinking like a freak’, such as putting away your moral compass, admitting what you don't know and thinking like a child. By applying these principles to your own thinking, you will be ready to tackle bigger problems strategically.

Added-value of this summary:
• Save time
• Learn how to ‘think like a freak’
• Tackle the really difficult problems

To learn more, read “Think Like A Freak” and follow the eight steps to start solving real problems!

Leseprobe

Book Presentation: Think Like A Freak by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner

Summary of Think Like A Freak (Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner)

Book Presentation: Think Like A Freak by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner

Book Abstract

"Freakanomics" is both a well-known expression and an ideology which was introduced to the world in two bestsellers titled Freakanomics (2005) and SuperFreakanomics (2009). These two books have now sold more than 7 million copies worldwide in 35 languages.

The essence of Freakanomics is that the theories economists develop and use can be applied to problems in society at large with equal relevance and effectiveness. Economists insist on letting the data speak for itself rather than applying their own hunches, preferences or ideologies.

Put another way, Freakanomics is the art and science of thinking for yourself and letting the facts speak for themselves. I f you can apply Freakanomics consistently well – or in other words if you can learn to "Think Like a Freak" – you stand a better chance of solving the really difficult problems other people generally ignore and hope they will go away.

“The fact is that solving problems is hard. If a given problem still exists, you can bet that a lot of people have already come along and failed to solve it. Easy problems evaporate; it is the hard ones that linger. Furthermore, it takes a lot of time to track down, organize, and analyze the data to answer even one small question well. We’d like to bury the idea that there’s a right way and a wrong way, a smart way and a foolish way, a red way and a blue way. The modern world demands that we all think a bit more productively, more creatively, more rationally; that we think from a different angle, with a different set of muscles, with a different set of expectations; that we think with neither fear nor favor, with neither blind optimism nor sour skepticism. That we think like—ahem—a Freak.”

- Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner

About the Author

STEVEN LEVITT is professor of economics at the University of Chicago and a founding partner in The Greater Good, a consulting firm. He has won numerous awards as a teacher including the John Bates Medal for the most outstanding economist in America under the age of 40. In 2006, Time magazine named Dr. Levitt as one of the 100 PeopleWhoShape Our World. Heis a graduate of Harvard University and M.I.T. Dr. Levitt and Stephen Dubner are the co-authors of three books including Freakanomics and SuperFreakanomics.

STEPHEN DUBNER is a journalist and TV and radio personality. He is author of several books including Turbulent Souls and Confessions of a Hero-Worshiper. His journalistic works have been published in the New York Times, The New Yorker and Time magazine. He is a graduate of Columbia University where he also taught English.

Important Note About This Ebook

This is a summary and not a critique or a review of the book. It does not offer judgment or opinion on the content of the book.  This summary may not be organized chapter-wise but is an overview of the main ideas, viewpoints and arguments from the book as a whole. This means that the organization of this summary is not a representation of the book.

Summary of Think Like A Freak (Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner)

1. A primer in Freakanomics

Freakanomics as a philosophy is based on four reasonably simple ideas:

Incentives are the cornerstone of modern life – and if you decipher them accurately, the way to get people to act will be simple to see.If you know what to measure and how to measure it, you can make a complicated world less so – especially when dealing with highly emotional topics.The conventional wisdom about most things is wrong – and if you go with the herd you'll pretty much always have problems.Correlation does not equal causality – and therefore you should not assume just because two items travel together one must cause the other. Most often, that will not be the case.