Gut Feelings The Intelligence of the Unconscious

by Gigerenzer, Gerd

• ISBN13: 9780670038633
• ISBN10: 0670038636
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781101202418
• Additional ISBN(s): 9780143113768
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-07-05
• Publisher: Viking Adult
• More Book Details
• Purchase Benefits

Summary

An engaging explanation of the science behind Malcolm Gladwell’s bestselling Blink Gerd Gigerenzer is one of the researchers of behavioral intuition responsible for the science behind Malcolm Gladwell’s bestseller Blink. Gladwell showed us how snap decisions often yield better results than careful analysis. Now, Gigerenzer explains why our intuition is such a powerful decision-making tool. Drawing on a decade of research at the Max Plank Institute, Gigerenzer demonstrates that our gut feelings are actually the result of unconscious mental processes—processes that apply rules of thumb that we’ve derived from our environment and prior experiences. The value of these unconscious rules lies precisely in their difference from rational analysis—they take into account only the most useful bits of information rather than attempting to evaluate all possible factors. By examining various decisions we make—how we choose a spouse, a stock, a medical procedure, or the answer to a million-dollar game show question—Gigerenzer shows how gut feelings not only lead to good practical decisions, but also underlie the moral choices that make our society function. In the tradition of Blinkand Freakonomics, Gut Feelingsis an exploration of the myriad influences and factors (nature andnurture) that affect how the mind works, grounded in cutting-edge research and conveyed through compelling real-life examples.

Author Biography

Gerd Gigerenzer is director of the Center for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition at the Max Plank Institute for Human Development in Berlin, Germany. He has won numerous awards, including the AAAS Prize for Behavioral Science Research, and is the author of several books.

Table of Contents

Gut feelings	p. 3
Less is (sometimes) more	p. 20
How intuition works	p. 40
Evolved brains	p. 54
Adapted minds	p. 74
Why good intuitions shouldn't be logical	p. 93
Ever heard of ...?	p. 107
One good reason is enough	p. 134
Less is more in health care	p. 158
Moral behavior	p. 179
Social instincts	p. 207
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.