#31 The Art of Clear Thinking | Book Review

The Art of Clear Thinking by Rudolf Flesch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Context & Why I read this book
For 2021 I set myself the theme "a year of ratio & will"; so I am reading mostly on the topics of critical thinking, rationality, discipline, and willpower. Quite late I stumbled upon Flesch's "The Art of Clear Thinking" via the reference section of another book; a no-brainer to be added to my reading list for the year.

What is the book about as a whole?
As the title of this psychological self-help work suggests, Flesch explores what clear thinking is and how it can be achieved. He thereby takes you on an unexpected ride, touching the scientific fields of psychology, linguistics, anthropology, neurology, sociology, history, probability theory, and more.

The book's structure
The book has 21 chapters that are meant to be read in sequence:
1. Robots, Apes, and You
2. Nerves and Thoughts
3. Do You See What I See?
4. Of Thingummies and Whatchamacallits
5. Danger! Language at Work
6. The pursuit of Translation
7. First aid for word trouble
8. The Rise and Fall of Formal Logic
9. How Not to Be Bamboozled
10. Why argue?
11. Legal rules and Lively cases
12. Enter a bright idea
13. How to Solve a Puzzle
14. Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral
15. The More or Less Scientific Method
16. The Harnessing of Chance
17. How Not to Rack Your Brain
18. The Three R's— A Refresher Course
19. Thinking Begins at Home
20. The Mind From Nine to Five
21. Freedom from Error?

One lesson
Flesch presents a tactic intended to solve ordinary-life problems like buying a family home; he calls it "Twenty Questions" since it simply means asking as many as 20 questions from different perspectives before starting to work on the problem. Asking such questions seems like a very suitable kick-off procedure for most of my growth projects or personal goals I set up. So I'll add his examples questions to my goal template:
- What am I trying to accomplish?
- Have I done this sort of thing before? How?
- Could I do this some other way?
- How did other people tackle this?
- What kind of person or persons am I dealing with?
- How can this situation be changed to fit me?
- How can I adapt myself to this situation?
- How about using more? Less? All of it? Only a portion? One only? Two? Several?
- How about using something else? Something older? Something newer? Something more expensive? Something cheaper?
- How near? How far? In what direction?
- How soon? How often? Since when? For how long?
- Could I do this in combination? With whom? With what?
- How about doing the opposite?
- What would happen if I did nothing?

Reading Recommendation / Who should read this?
This book is a 7 out of 10 (⭑⭑⭑⭑) for me. It's a good read, despite minor weaknesses (like that it is a little dated by now) I would generally recommend this book to most people.

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#21 Tools of Critical Thinking | Book Review

Tools of Critical Thinking: Metathoughts for Psychology by David A. Levy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Context & Why I read this book
In 2021 I am on a quest to read everything I can about rationality. "Critical thinking" was a perfect fit.

What is the book about as a whole?
"Tools of Critical Thinking" is about improving one's thinking using metathoughts("thoughts about thought"). The author presents at least 25 of these metathoughts in the form of tools and techniques to aid critical thinking and improve ones study, inquiry, and problem solving.

The book's structure
The book has a carefully thought-out structure. It has 5 main parts; each consists of chapters, which present one meta thought. The parts cluster the metathoughts into a common perspective:
1. Conceputalizing Phenomena
2. Explaning Phenomena
3. Common Misattributions
4. Investigating Phenomena
5. Other Biases and Fallacies in Thinking
Every chapter provides vivid examples, poses practical exercises to complete and ends with a quick summary, notes & references and even relevant glossary terms for the chapter. Additionally, several appendices (for more detailed examples, exercise "solutions", ....), a big glossary of terms uses, an even bigger reference section, a subject index, and a separate name index are provided.

One lesson
There are so many lessons that it's impossible to pinpoint the biggest one; so I just pick a random one related to the **Attribution Bias** (we tend to overemphasize the impact of the environment when analyzing our own behavior and discount it when interpreting other peoples behavior). So as of the author's suggestion, I will try to remember that at any given time, how people behave depends both on what they bring to the situation ("who" they are), as well as the situation itself ("where" they are).

Reading Recommendation / Who should read this?
I didn't have high expectations when I bought this book. I anticipated it to be yet another book that boringly lists some vague "biases"; like many did before. But I was really positively surprised by how well and easily digestible this book is written. It includes extremely helpful examples. So if today you were to ask me for a book recommendation on cognitive biases, mental fallacies and our shortcomings in rationality I would very likely refer you to this book and this book only! A 7 out of 10(⭑⭑⭑⭑) on my personal scale.

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#15 Pragmatic Thinking and Learning | Book Review

Pragmatic Thinking and Learning: Refactor Your Wetware by Andy Hunt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Context & Why I read this book
I work as a software developer aiming for mastery in this domain. Furthermore, I am currently conducting a "year of ratio & will" where I try to learn all about rationality and willpower.

What is the book about as a whole?
This is a book about learning and thinking pramatically, mostly but not exclusive to the context of software development, whereby pramatism is defined as "to do what works (for oneself)". The book touches on the areas of learning, expertise, creativity, personal knowledge management, productivity, and more...

The book's structure
The book is divided into 9 more or less linear chapters:
1. Introduction
2. Journey from Novice to Expert
3. This is Your Brain
4. Get in Your Right Mind
5. Debug Your Mind
6. Learn Deliberately
7. Gain Experience
8. Manage Focus
9. Beyond Expertise

However, the author is a proponent of non-linear thinking in the form of mind-maps and also provides a mind-maps of the book's content as an addition to the table of contents. He also provides some "Next Action" tasks at the end of important sections and chapters of the book.

The author further summarises his ideas in a collection of 20 tips throughout the book:
1. Always consider the context.
2. Use rules for novices, intuition for experts.
3. Know what you don't know.
4. Learn by watching and imitating.
5. Keep practicing in order to remain expert.
6. Avoid formal methods if you need creative, intuition, or inventiveness.
7. Learn the skill of learning.
8. Capture all ideas to get more of them.
9. Learn by synthesis.
10. Strive for good design; it really works better.
11. Rewire your brain with belief and constant practices.
12. Add sensory experience to engage more of you brain.
13. Lead with R-mode, follow with L-mode.
14. Use metaphor as the meeting place between L-mode and R-mode.
15. Cultivate humour to build stronger metaphors.
16. Step away from the keyboard to solve hard problems.
17. Change your viewpoint to solve the problem.
18. Watch the outlines: "rarely" doesn't mean "never".
19. Be comfortable with uncertainty.
20. Trust ink over memory; every mental read is a write.

One lesson
I really appreciated the author's presentation of the Dreyfus model of skill acquisition. It is a per-skill model with five stages: Novice (1), Advanced Beginners (2), Competent (3), Proficient (4), Expert (5). So going forward I will try to use this model for evaluating my skill levels in various areas.

Reading Recommendation / Who should read this?
I was slightly disappointed in this book since the author is renowned in the industry and I hoped this book would go more in-depth into how to actually get better at thinking and learning in the context of software development. But unfortunately, scientific studies, best practices of the community, and personal anecdotes and experiences of the author are intermixed and presented in a rather broad and shallow manner. In all of these topics, the author himself is no expert and therefore he cannot provide convincing and cutting edge content. Moreover, the author heavily relies on metaphors, often taking them too far to be taken seriously. On the other side, the book has a decent bibliography, an index and a summary of the "20 tips", all of which I appreciate.
So in sum, I give this a 6 out of 10 on my personal rating scale which means OK; the average read. Tangible weaknesses, but recommended with some reservations.

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#14 Predictably Irrational | Book Review

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Context & Why I read this book
2021 is my "year of ratio & will" which means I am trying to learn all I can about rationality and willpower. Therefore, this popular book was kind of a must-read.

What is the book about as a whole?
This is your classic book on human irrationality, biases, and mental fallacies. Each chapter presents one of them and decorates it with some background information, references, and relatable stories.

The book's structure
The book is comprised of 15 chapters, each of which focuses on a different mental bias:
1. The Truth about Relativity — why all our evaluations are relative rather than objective.
2. The Fallacy of Supply and Demand — why "free" products don't follow the rules of the market.
3. The Cost of Zero — Why we often pay too much when we pay nothing.
4. The Cost of Social Norms — Why getting paid for something will make you loath doing it.
5. The Power of a Free Cookie — Why "free" can make us less selfish.
6. The Influence of Arousal — Why Sex sells...
7. The Problem of Procrastination and Self-Control — Why you cannot make yourself do what you want to do.
8. The High Price of Ownership — Why we overvalue what we have.
9. Keeping Doors Open — Why too many options distract us from our main objective.
10. The Effect of Expectations — Why your expectations can change everything.
11. The Power of Price — Why placebos work.
12. The Cycle of Distrust — Why distrust ripples through markets.
13. The Context of our Character, Part 1 — Why all of us are a little dishonest.
14. The Context of our Character, Part 2 — Why dealing with cash makes us more honest.
15. Beer and Free Lunches — Why you should pay the whole bill at the restaurant once in a while.

One lesson
There are many interesting tidbits in this book. One that I personally found of value it the distinction between social norms and market norms. The author says that we live in two worlds: one where social norms prevail and another one where the market makes the rules. Social norms are wrapped up in our social nature and our need for community. They include the friendly requests that people make of one another. Could you help me move that couch? Could you help me change this tire?. Market norms are sharp-edged: wages, prices, rents, interests. When you are in this realm, you get what you pay for. The recommendation now is to keep them precisely separated since mixing them always causes trouble. Going forward I will try to adhere to this.

Reading Recommendation / Who should read this?
The book was OK-ish. A lot I had heard before, some things were new for me as the social vs. market norms distinction. On the positive side, the book is written by a scientist who conducted many experiments in the field himself. So the content is as close to "primary literature" as you will get without reading the scientific studies themselves. Also, references and additional reading are provided. But on the other side, the book provides nothing new; it merely presents some science in a digestible manner. Unfortunately in a way that drags on and which makes it longer than it needs to be. Further, no index is provided. In total, this is a 6 out of 10 on my personal rating scale which means OK; the average read. Tangible weaknesses, but recommended with some reservations.

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#2 The Enigma Of Reason | Book Review

The Enigma of Reason by Hugo Mercier
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Why I read this book
This was my second read of 2021 and part of my challenging 52-book challenge that complements my slogan for this year: "A Year of Ratio & Will".
While my motivation to read this book was to think, become, and act more "rational" it turned out to make me question the function and utility of "reasoning" in the first place.

What the book is about
In this highly thought-provoking book the authors put forth a new theory of rationality which they have been developing for over a decade. They argue, that reason, counter to classical thoughts, has two main purposes:
(1) to produce justifications for protecting one's social reputation
(2) to produce arguments to convince others of one's own views.
With this, they reject classical philosophies on rationality and argue, that biases and laziness are actually no flaws of the human mind, but a highly valuable feature to support human communication and coordination.

One lesson I am taking from it
This is not an easy read and a highly theoretical book. Still, I want to take one practical lesson with me. Namely, that in order to improve my "rationality" I should try to reduce solitary reasoning and instead more often engage in argumentative reasoning with other people.

Reading Recommendation / Who should read this?
I cannot recommend this book enough; especially if you bought into / are convinced by the prominent work of Daniel Kahneman (Thinking, Fast and Slow). The author's theory may then represent quite a paradigm shift for you. I am a layman, but wouldn't be surprised to see this treatise have a huge impact in scientific circles.

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#1 A Guide to Rational Living | Book Review

A New Guide to Rational Living by Albert Ellis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Context / Why I read this book?
I just finished reading this as 1st book of my 52-books reading challenge that complements my slogan for 2021: "A Year of Ratio & Will".
So my motivation to read "the Guide" was to think, become, and act more "rational" while starting with not even knowing what that term means.

What it is about / is it any good?
To my surprise, the book doesn't focus on logic, mental pitfalls, or cognitive biases. Instead, it addresses so-called irrational believes (IBs) of which we may possess more or less. Believes, which may cause neurosis (self-destructive blaming & damning) and eventually lead to "irrational" behavior.

10 specific such believes are addressed in the book:
1) I MUST have love or approval from all significant people in my life (A dire need for approval)
2) I MUST be competent, adequate, and achieving (A dire fear of failure)
3) All people MUST not act obnoxiously and unfairly all the time (Blaming and Damning)
4) Things in life can be AWFUL, TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, and CATASTROPHIC (Feeling depressed or enraged)
5) If I counter difficult experiences I MUST feel disturbed (Feeling miserable)
6) I MUST obsess about fearsome things and frantically try to escape them (Anxiety and panic)
7) I can avoid difficulties & self-responsibilities and still live a fulfilling life (Lack of will & discipline_)
8) Attachment to the past (If something once strongly influenced my life it HAS to keep affecting my life today)
9) Failing to accept the grim facts of life (People & things MUST be better than they are and it is HORRIBLE if I cannot change them)
10) I can achieve maximum human happiness by inaction and passively enjoying myself (Inertia)

One specific lesson I am taking from it
The book advocates several self-help strategies and practices which I did not try for myself yet. Though they seem very promising since they are based on the author's many years of clinical and empirical experience. So while I surely will return to this book in the future, one specific thing I try to take with me right now is to avoid absolutistic and dogmatic thinking. Since nothing in life is absolute. No definitive MUSTs, SHOULDs, the OUGHTs are warranted to exist in my thinking. And if I ever feel upset for acting self-defeating I will set out to seek hidden musts and similar dogmatic demands in my thinking and try to rid myself of them.

Reading Recommendation / Who should read this?
All in all, this is old but gold! A highly recommended read, no matter your current state of affairs. Even if you are doing fine right now; somewhere down the line you might find yourself developing irrational behavior that may threaten your survival and happiness.

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