How We Decide

From the acclaimed author of Proust Was a
Neuroscientist, a fascinating look at the new science
of decision-making--and how it can help us make
better choices
Since Plato, philosophers have described the decisionmaking
process as either rational or emotional: we
carefully deliberate or we "blink" and go with our gut. But
as scientists break open the mind's black box with the latest
tools of neuroscience, they're discovering that this is not how
the mind works.Our best decisions are a finely tuned blend
of both feeling and reason--and the precise mix depends on
the situation.When buying a house, for example, it's best to
let our unconscious mull over the many variables. But when
we're picking a stock, intuition often leads us astray.The
trick is to determine when to lean on which part of the brain,
and to do this, we need to think harder (and smarter) about
how we think.
Jonah Lehrer arms us with the tools we need, drawing
on cutting-edge research by Daniel Kahneman, Colin
Camerer, and others, as well as the real-world experiences of
a wide range of "deciders"--from airplane pilots and hedge
fund investors to serial killers and poker players. Lehrer
shows how people are taking advantage of the new science to
make better television shows, win more football games, and
improve military intelligence.His goal is to answer two questions
that are of interest to just about anyone, from CEOs to
firefighters: How does the human mind make decisions?
And how can we make those decisions better?