Jon Glatfelter
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THINK LIKE A FREAK

9/18/2018

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"The first step is to not be embarrassed by how much you don't yet know..." 

​— Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner, Think Like a Freak
Maybe it was the eternal skeptic in me, or the bright orange cover and punchy font, or the fact that a Penguin Publishing scout passed me a free copy at a conference way back when—I'm not really sure. But from the get-go, I was spellbound by Think Like a Freak. It was an unexpectedly vitalizing mash-up of psychology and economics with outlandish examples and iconoclastic humor. This book is anything but dry and a fascinating portrait of odd-bird people, cultures, and situations across the globe: 
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  • How to catch a cheating sumo wrestler
  • Winston Churchill's quitting attitude
  • The pros and cons of breastfeeding
  • Ping-pong diplomacy
  • Gut science
  • And more

The authors' "Freak" mindsets as "rogue economists" to solve these head-scratchers is on full display throughout their afternoon-sized read—a mindset they contend that's completely learnable. Taught through nine, self-contained chapters, thinking like a freak, definitely involves some unoriginal conclusions (learning to say 'I don't know,' and 'I quit,' and respecting the relationship between human behavior and incentives), but the unconventional analysis of unheard-of examples is so compelling that it is for all intents-and-purposes new—it's alive; a perspective that sharpens your vision after setting the book down. Can't wait to crack open their debut, Freakonomics, also a runaway success.

​Let's get freaky. [JG]

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner are "rogue economists" and bestselling authors of Freakonomics, Super Freakonomics, and When To Rob a Bank. I especially appreciated this talk above of the Stephens' key note at Microsoft about their work and 'Freak' mindset. 
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"Quitting is a highly underrated activity." 

​— Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner, Think Like a Freak
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I've been reading a book a week for 15+ years. On here, I share my favorites, fiction and nonfiction alike, as well as interviews with authors, artists, and entrepreneurs I admire. If you'd like to join a family of 5,000+ creatives, subscribe for the Reading List, a monthly email round-up for plenty of leads on your next read.