The undoing project
by Michael Lewis, Dennis Boutsikaris · first published 2016
54% recommend43% neutral3% critical
Why HN recommends it
Accessible joint biography of Kahneman and Tversky that tells the story of their friendship while explaining their work on cognitive bias. Suits readers wanting a gentler backstory to Thinking, Fast and Slow.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Examines the history of behavioral economics, discussing the theory of Israeli psychologists who wrote the original studies undoing assumptions about the decision-making process and the influence it has had on evidence-based regulation.
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Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
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…cleaning up by Marie Kondo <- not life changing but decent and a quick, 2-3 day read. Nassim Taleb books, pretty sure everyone on here read it or plans to so, don't need my description. Halfway through The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis at the moment, it's pretty good, a joint biography of Kahneman and Tversky (of the "Thinking, Fast and Slow", which I guess is another HN classic).
on “Ask HN: What are some good books you have read lately?” ↗…his authoritative tone. After all, he won a Nobel prize in economics which is completely outside his domain expertise. If that is not enough to entice you to give it another go, consider the book, The Undoing Project, by Michael Lewis. Lewis, in his highly researched and using detailed anecdotes describes how Kahnemans and Tversky collaboration initially began as a collaboration around understanding the decision…
on “Thinking Fast and Slow, Deep Learning, and AI [video]” ↗For sure! Our "textbook" was "Influence" by Robert Cialdini. Here's a number of others: -"Thinking Fast and Slow" by Daniel Khaneman -"The Undoing Project" by Michael Lewis -"Fooled by Randomness" and "The Black Swan" by Nassim Nicholas Taleb -"Pre-suasion" by Cialdini -"The Moral Animal" by Robert Wright -"The Most Important Thing" by Howard Marks -"Everybody…
on “How Booking.com manipulates users” ↗For those finding this piece inspiring, I would recommend "The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds" by Michael Lewis [1]. The book is about Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky and their research. In my opinion a very good combination of telling the story of the main…
on ““The effects of lifelong exposure to a perverse contingency” (2002)” ↗Would highly recommend checking out `The Undoing Project` by Michael Lewis. It's a biography (of sorts) about Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman that has excellent stories about their fruitful collaboration in behavioral economics.
on “The Friendship That Made Google Huge” ↗The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds by Michel Lewis. [0] It is about the one of the greatest paternship between Nobel laureate Danny Kahneman and his colleague Amos Tversky. Kahneman and Tversky’s…
on “Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?” ↗…The One Thing by Gary Keller, Jay Papasan. The Mythical Man Month by Frederick P. Brooks. A Dozen Lessons for Entrepreneurs by Tren Griffin. Software Project Survival Guide by Steve Mcconnell. The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis. I Wonder What I'm Thinking About? by Moose Allain. Truth, Lies & Statistics by Lee Baker. On shortness of life by Seneca.
on “Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?” ↗In no particular order: - Factfulness by Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling, Anna Rosling Rönnlund - How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky, Daniel Ziblatt - The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis - Conspiracy by Ryan Holiday - X by Chuck Klosterman
on “Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?” ↗I've been on a bit of a Michael Lewis binge myself recently, just finishing his book "The Undoing Project" - would definitely recommend if you're even tangentially interested in human psychology. It's a great introduction into why we make errors on a cognitive level and is a great follow-up to some of the…
on “The Lonely Work of Moderating Hacker News” ↗If you want an easier introduction I suggest Michael Lewis’s book the Undoing Project.
on “Thinking Fast and Slow, Deep Learning, and AI [video]” ↗You might enjoy Undoing Project by Michael Lewis as well, it's like the backstory of Thinking Fast and Slow.
on “Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?” ↗Possibly tangential, so apologies for that, but I am reminded of the "Linda problem"[1], as posed by Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman. Michael Lewis's book The Undoing Project[2], which in my opinion provides an accessible and informative look into the work of Tversky and Kahneman, is worth a read. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conjunction_fallacy [2} https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Undoing_Project
on “Anti-climate action statements get more visibility in news coverage, study finds” ↗Even if it were real, the bigger problem is assuming anyone knows how to accurately evaluate merit. I’ll point you to any number of books on human biases, but I particularly like The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis. The tech version of this is extremely frustrating, because intelligent people are very good at letting their brains blind their biases and insulate their egos.
on “Meritocracy Is a Myth” ↗If, like me, you're interested in the subject matter of this book, I recommend reading The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis instead.
on “Must-read psychology books” ↗kahneman was such a fascinating personality. Other than "Thinking fast and slow", I highly recommend "The Undoing Project" by Michael Lewis about Kahneman and Tversky's incredible journey changing the standard economic theory. Some interesting talks with Daniel Kahneman - https://www.edge.org/adversarial-collaboration-daniel-kahnem...…
on “Daniel Kahneman has died” ↗