Rate this book

The Art Of Choosing (2010)

by Sheena Iyengar(Favorite Author)

3.81 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0446504106 (ISBN13: 9780446504102)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Twelve

review 1: I honestly forgot already what this book is all about. I started reading it for I myself is slow at making choices. What I find in this book is the history of choices, the factors affecting our choices, and the effect of our choices. In the end, no choice is the right or the wrong and I am still slow at choosing. But the research the author done to compile this book is amazing. It's like reading a thesis, a fun one.
review 2: I seldom write a long critique on a book because i) I choose the book because it is my decision ii) whatever I write should not alter other people POV iii) to back up with ii), hopefully providing a more neutral ground for other readers to decide to buy, to borrow, to read or just to read the review...Decisions, decisions, decisions..many ... moredecisions to be made in the modern days..author is, new to me, since I have not exposed too much to the reading field of decision making. Author is very well known in the research field on "choosing" which is very interesting to me as my interests is focus on consumer behavior...which choosing is the foundations towards service marketing, advertising, consumptions, reckless consumptions, environmental wastes, etc...to refer to the Chinese translation I picked up, I am going to pick out on specific pages because these are the interesting aspects. To move forward a bit, this book was good to read at first, but then, the focus of the book got dispersed, and started to be less interesting and it seems that author has used a lot of research backings at the first half of the book, then it became the personal opinion on her moral standings about decision making which is ok, but not perfect. In the Chinese translation version: i) Page 35: Author points out that it is important that people feel they must have a decision choice to control, it does not matter whether they have the actual power to control..again..as long as they "FEEL" they have the power. (advertisers, HMO, etc later mentioned they have use this technique to undermine consumers and the public)ii) page 76: explaining American athletes are often describing their successes as personal journey rather than as a group back, supports to the betterment. Author did not go into the details of the culture aspects..American family often use the low language which relate to their overall culture and upbringings..(You are on your own), and the language is very direct (low)..and no grey area. Rather, a Japanese family and the culture are high language based which grey area are often used..American (individualism) vs Japanese (collectivism). iii) page 82: Author mentions Erich Fromm's Escape from Freedom: has two aspects: Freedom from and Freedom to. To me: freedom is much more than explaining this in absolute literal term. Freedom is when one has the rights "not to", "refrain from" doing what he/she wants to. (Self Control). Everyone wants to do what he/she wants is not freedom..because some want to kill, some want to hurt, some want to protect..the prior and often use expression do not cover every aspects nor cover the exact meaning of freedom. iv) page 85: explaining why the eastern bloc patients would rather have fewer doctors to choose because too many choices may not be good. And everyone has the same doctor will provide the "feeling" that equality is implemented. And it explains to some that less is more and decision without deciding may be better in life v) page 89 greatly reflects what author believes that America is a land of free..and she points out that "only" if you work hard and pursuit for your dream..but the best line Brad Pitt on "Killing Them Softly" movie: Jefferson was great because he created a best quote: All Men are created Equal. and Brad further cited that Jefferson is nothing more than a slave owner and at the end of the day, he would do the nasty with his slaves because he is rich..and in America, freedom has a price tag, you work hard, you get paid and that is all as realistic as it gets. America ain't free at all. vi) author points out that "everyone wants" to be different. Page 110 mentions "better than average effect"..actually everyone is the same. To me: I have a better expression: what you think has already became the history of what other think. vii) self intimacy is described on page 112. viii) page 122 mentions the importance of "importance of job" vs "importance of family time"..ix) page 125 almost mentions the theory of Similarity..(Similar people love to get together with similar people with the same interests or opposite interests may be?)..x) the THEME of this book: Logic vs Emotional decision. We are driven by emotional first, then logic kicks in later. The emotional drive is the automatic system embedded within ourselves. xi) great mentioning of we often think we are in a comfortable position and often we do not do anything about it..pg 148 xii) pg150. Shiller Case Index xiii) great mentioning of Confirmation Biases (pg 151) on interviews. Companies are too centric to look for someone who are already in their minds. xiv) mere exposure effect explaining when we are exposed to something that we feel neutral at the beginning, soon, we will becoming more in love with. pg177. And this is exactly what advertisers are using: to control the choices, then show the choices. xv) author further elaborates on pg195: our thinking system has 2 modes: Logic/thinking and subconscious/automatic.xvi) Priming: Instigating thoughts pg198 xvii) pg200-203: on election. whatever gets the vote ballot number 1: gets more vote. and yes, if looks can kill xviii) p. 232: Multiple/various choices often make us choosing the "best choices"..because it has gotten one too many. But it is important to provide many choices, so at least people CAN make at least/some best choices. xix) pg243-244: sometimes more different selections/less volume can provide consumers a comfortable choosing feel. and at times, fewer selections at the beginning can provide easing environment first and easier to choose when more items are added on. xx) Red Button Syndrome: the things that are more restricted tend to create the most curiosity. Reactance as called it. But reactance can draw backfire..eg: high tax on cigarettes will create black market and crime. xxi) Akrasia is mentioned as lack of self control and finally Camus's The Myth of Sisphus's theme is enjoy your ride even though it sucks and provide discomfort. But you still do it..xxii) Author provides a general guideline for choosing: a) reduce the volume b) built self confidence/self efficacy c) categorize d) self adjust. less

Download links for: The Art of Choosing

Advertising