sabato 28 marzo 2015

THINK LIKE A FREAK, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

THINK LIKE A FREAK
(How to think smarter about almost everything)



By Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner


Also this time, the authors of Freakonomics and Super Freakonomics won't miss the chance to let you think quite more intensively than you usually do. Just as the last two books, also "Think like a Freak" is in good part talking about incentives of all kinds. Considering this, this book can be read also independently but you should read the other two either after or before since they are very connected.

This time, their will to make the reader think is more explicit. Their approach sounds pretty much like "ok now take a couple of minutes/hours and think about this" then you may keep reading,  Their bold way to comunicate is the core of this reading, as an added value to the carefully selected cases reported within the 268 pages of the book.

I think that most of the situations described in this reading - most of them accompanied by clear statistics - are to be interpreted at least twice. In fact, they will provide an overview and eventually a solution of a specific problem (be this the security and safety of a concert's stage, or the need to let the entire world believe in what you say etc.),  before applying that problem and that solution to a more general context. They kind of give away life-shortcuts for complex situations that require a lot of thinking efforts. Personally, I loved the paragraph

If you are a curious person, asking yourself too many questions, this book my represent the key to answer some of those questions. Its language is direct and it totally lacks technical words, or at least, whenever one of these words is presented, it is also explained.


Best quotation on my opinion:

None of us want to look stupid, or at least overmatched, by admiting we don't know an answer. The incentives to fake it are simply too strong.

*Talking about: why is it so hard to say I don't know
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I hope you found my post useful and that therefore you'll decide to buy/read this "commercial marvel" which makes you think. Please feel free to write me if you have any question! Keep reading and thinking.

Just in case you are wondering, I do not receive any kind of benefit from any sponsor for writing my reviews.


Following this book:

FREAKONOMICS
by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

THE ALMOST NEARLY PERFECT PEOPLE 
(Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia)
by Michael Booth

sabato 21 marzo 2015

THE POWER OF JUST DOING STUFF - by Rob Hopkins

This is the very first time - and maybe the first of many - I decide to write a post about a book. This does not necesseraly mean that all the books I read in the past were not worth to be commented, but I did never think before about keeping track of my readings by writing a couple of rows on my blog. So beginning from today, I will try to share all of my readings with you. Sometimes the feedback you find on Amazon or on other websites is not exhaustive, so you may decide to read a little bit more before opting for a purchase. If you are looking for some emotional comment on some kind of novels you may prefer skipping my blog, since the books I read are mainly concerned with sociology, economics, politics, environment and pollution and finally also philosophy. Said this, I Hope I will be able to convince some of the readers who end up on my blog to read the same books I read, and why not to start a constructive conversation. Feedback are always welcome.

THE POWER OF JUST DOING STUFF
(How Local Action Can Change the World)

By Rob Hopkins

Rob Hopkins is the founder of the Transition Movement, a successful non-profit organization with some "special attributes". As it is written in the book "you can think of this movement as being an Open Source Software". So that people can just take its general structure, an adapt it to thousend different situations, benefiting from a collective name/branding, which also translates into shared expertising and further rights as member of the movement.

If your life-dream is all about doing something for people, or more generally making our planet a better place, I think this is the book you are looking for. I was not able to identify any type of propaganda within its 157 pages, so that I really think that any word in it may be considered pure. Of course you gan get a message like "you are pretty welcome to join us", but it really seems like the main focus of the book is to convince the reader about his capability to change things.

Since I definetly consider myself a person who would like to change things, this reading was able to clarify my doubts about the advantages and disadvantages of both "going big" and "keeping small" along your "world-changing projects". Personally, I totally reconsidered the option of keeping projects within a local scale - at least at the beginning - pushed by the several advantages which are to be explored in the pages of this book.

Concerning the language, it is smooth and pleasant. After a first part which includes some details, you won't be struggling with technical words. I seriously believe that anybody could read this book and getting the point and the juice of it.

Best Quotation on my opinion:

"At every level, the greatest obstacle to transforming the world is that we lack the clarity and imagination to conceive that it could be different" Roberto Unger

To create a positive, flourishing, nurturing and more resilient world, you'll first need a vision of what that could look like in practice.

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I hope my post was able to finally let you opt for this book, I would be glad if you could comment the post after reading the book, Thank you in advance!

I'm greatful to the author Rob Hopkins for his wise suggestions,

Here the link of the Transition Movement's website if you want do discover more.
https://www.transitionnetwork.org/




Following this book:
Think Like a Freak. by Dubner and Levitt
Freakonomics: by Dubner and Levitt