Episode · Modern Wisdom · 2022-11-05
Books mentioned on Why Is Thinking Clearly So Difficult? - Tim Harford - #548
Tim Harford is an economist, associate member of Nuffield College, Oxford and an honorary fellow of the Royal Statistical Society, a journalist and an author. Humans need to be able to accurately judge the world around them.
Tim Harford discussed How to Lie with Statistics by Darrell Huff, Everybody Lies by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, The Coming of the Fairies by Arthur Conan Doyle, and Dollars And Sex by Marina Adshade. Chris Williamson recommended Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare by Giles Milton, and discussed Don't Trust Your Gut by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz and Wild Problems by Russ Roberts. Also mentioned: Transport For Humans by Pete Dyson and others.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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How to Lie with Statistics
How to Lie with Statistics by Darrell Huff is a widely read guide that exposes how numerical data can be manipulated, misrepresented, or misconstrued to deceive the public and support biased agendas.
Discussed“you can prove anything with Statistics or this famous book how to lie with Statistics”
Where to get it
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Don't Trust Your Gut
Don't Trust Your Gut by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz is a data-driven self-help book that uses unconventional statistics and digital insights to help readers optimize everyday decisions, from relationships to daily habits.
Discussed“did you read Seth Stevens davidowitz's uh don't trust your gut earlier this year I skimmed it”
Where to get it
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Everybody Lies
Everybody Lies by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz is a fascinating examination of big data, exploring how anonymous internet search queries and digital footprints reveal people's true behaviors, desires, and biases that they would never admit in public, to a therapist, or even to themselves.
Discussed“I enjoyed the his first one which was what everybody lies yes I got I got more out of everybody lives”
Where to get it
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Transport For Humans
Transport For Humans by Pete Dyson and Rory Sutherland is an insightful examination of behavioral economics and human psychology as applied to passenger travel and transport system design.
Recommended“and um his most recent book when he was talking about transport for humans uh and some of the challenges”
Where to get it
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Wild Problems
Wild Problems is a guide by Russ Roberts that explores difficult life decisions which cannot be resolved through standard cost-benefit analysis.
Discussed“Russ Roberts from econ talk was on the show a little while ago in his new book Wild problems is literally all about this”
Where to get it
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The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes
Arthur Conan Doyle's classic detective fiction, presented with extensive commentary in editions like The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, continues to captivate readers and influence modern storytellers.
Discussed“um and he wrote a whole book at the coming of the fairies”
Where to get it
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The Coming of the Fairies
Discussed“um and he wrote a whole book at the coming of the fairies”
Where to get it
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Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare by Giles Milton details the covert operations and unconventional guerilla tactics deployed by Britain during World War II.
Recommended“I got suggested a book this weekend page Churchill's Ministry of ungentlemanly warfare”
Where to get it
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Dollars And Sex
Discussed“she's an economist at British Columbia page University and she's written a book called dollars and page sex if I remember rightly”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (10) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“there was a reflexive skepticism you can prove anything with Statistics or this famous book how to lie with Statistics and just this idea that you seem kind of really clever if you say oh well yeah you can prove anything with it with Statistics but if you're basically just rejecting everything on the grounds that it's got statistics in”
“yeah so my that is a point I made in my most recent book which is called the data detective in the US and it's called how to make the world add up in the UK”
“so my that is a point I made in my most recent book which is called the data detective in the US and it's called how to make the world add up in the UK”
“yeah so my that is a point I made in my most recent book which is called the data detective in the US and it's called how to make the world add up in the UK”
“so my that is a point I made in my most recent book which is called the data detective in the US and it's called how to make the world add up in the UK”
“so there's a discuss some of the evidence for this early on in my book the data detective of how to make the world add up”
“so there's a discuss some of the evidence for this early on in my book the data detective of how to make the world add up”
“and in fact I wrote a whole book called the logic of life which is all about the different ways in which rational Choice Theory could be used”
“I mean there's so many different things that I studied the bicycle for another book of mine called 50 things that made the modern economy”
“I studied the bicycle for another book of mine called 50 things that made the modern economy which also is a podcast series and I just explored different inventions”