The Art of Thinking Clearly: By Rolf Dobelli

1. Author Rolf Dobelli's major claim was that simple errors we make in our day-to-day thinking can be avoided. Dobelli lists 99 short chapters of how to address these daily problems.

Three daily problems that are addressed are the following:

"We are more sensitive to negative than to positive things... We remember bad behavior longer than good-- except, of course, when it comes to ourselves" (97).

"If you happen to work in an industry where [auctions] are inevitable, set a maximum price and deduct 20 percent from this to offset the winner's curse" (106).

"C'est le ton qui fait la musique: it's not what you say but how you say it" (125).

The first problem addressed-- being "more sensitive to negative rather than to positive things" -- should not be frowned upon as being impossible to resolve. We should be focused on how something will help us dodge the disadvantages. Such a situation exists when the fear of losing something motivates people more than gaining something of equal value. Customers purchase insulation products after being told of how much money they are losing without insulation rather than how much money they would save with insulation. Although this theory can also cause harm to us, we should always focus on the benefits of this theory.

The second quotation, said by Warren Buffet, advises investors to "set a maximum price and deduct 20 percent from this" in order to prevent any formation in deficit. Buffet's advice is beneficial because it addresses a common error done by many of us-- overpaying for a product. His method will eliminate any chance of overpaying and will perhaps help us earn money.

The French phrase stated above really presents a common error we all face-- the presentation of an idea. The presentation of an idea affects how one can perceive the idea, making the role of sales people important. They have the prime roles of selling products in such a convincing way in order for consumers to be willing to purchase the products. A prime example is shown on the BravoTV real-estate show Million Dollar Listing New York. The show chronicles three superb real estate brokers who sell multi-million dollar condos, townhouses, and houses to their customers. The method these real estate developers employ to sell the houses is magical. These real estate brokers are set apart from every other real estate broker because of their charisma and charm to sell their products. Not everyone can harness that ability to sell products, showing that "it's not what you say but how you say it."

2. The reading is related to our class because we have been studying about the nervous system in class. Even if we had not ventured in discussing the rationale behind human thinking, there are parts of our nervous system that affect the way we think. The cerebrum, for example, plays a huge role in controlling voluntary movements and providing reasoning. This large part of the brain is a large part of understanding the rationale behind human thinking.

An overall message that was mentioned in the book and class lectures is that there is more to the human brain than we can perceive. In class, we mentioned the four major parts of the brain -the cerebrum, the diencephalon, the brain stem, and the cerebellum- and the division of labor in the brain's two hemispheres. We learned that the left hemisphere controls symbolic thinking, detail, and literal meaning; and the right hemisphere controls the spatial reception, the overall picture, and context & metaphor. In those hemispheres, however, there is more to our brains than those specific characteristics mentioned in our lecture notes. "Why do we prefer the wrong map compared to none? Why do we not bow down to authority? Do we give lame excuses as a sense of justification?" All of these questions cannot be discerned by a simple answer; the many responses to these questions justify that our brains are almost too complex to perceive.

3. Two questions I would ask the author about the reading are the following:

What inspired you to write this book about our day-to-day thinking?

How long did it take you to gather all the information needed to write this book?

4. The reading is purely credible because Dobelli provides circumstances which any reader can relate to. A circumstance which I fully believe is the fact that humans automatically regard good-looking people as more pleasant, honest, and intelligent. The reason we come to that conclusion is because of the halo effect. The halo effect is that a single quality produces a positive or negative impression that outshines everything else. In the attractive humans' circumstance, we assume that they have such positive qualities because of their physical characteristics, making us disregard any of their negative characteristics. The halo effect is omnipresent in our lives, making it purely impossible to think negatively of good-looking people or any good character traits in people. Although the halo effect is not my favorite theory, the theory does apply to my life and I have to be willing to accept the fact that it exists.

The availability bias also poses as a theory which applies to many circumstances. The availability status is using statements that pertain to one individual to prove something that pertains to many individuals. When using the availability bias, we do not address to all situations when solving a problem. Instead, we use one situation to validate the answer to the problem.

Doctors often fall victim to the availability status. They have their favorite treatments which they use for all possible cases. More appropriate treatments for certain diseases may exist; however, doctors practice what they know.

Many people, including myself, tend to use the availability bias theory to solve any problem. For me, the availability theory became an important explanation for thinking about only one possible solution rather than more. I tend to use the most familiar method in solving the problem and discarding any harder methods to solve the problem. For example, after coming home from school, I typically eat unhealthy snacks before starting my homework because of the quickness of preparing the food. Eating unhealthy snacks became part of my routine and eating more healthy snacks has not entered my mind because those snacks take too long to prepare. Call me lazy, but I was simply using the availability theory subconsciously. 

5. The implications of this work are intended to help anyone make better decisions in varying circumstances and to explain the rationale behind humans' thinking. Dobelli's book, although exploring into the theoretical sense, explains more circumstances in a practical sense. He explores into the practical sense by explaining a realistic example of human beings being peer pressured. A simple experiment was carried out in the 1950s in which the subject was given an original line and three other lines. The subject was supposed to indicate the line that resembles the original line the most. When the subject was alone in the room, he gave the correct answer; however, when five other people entered the room and gave wrong answers, the subject gave the wrong answer. The reason for us acting like this is because following others was a good survival strategy back in the cave-man era. Humans still tend to implement this survival strategy unconsciously, as shown by the subject's choices in the 1950s experiment. In present-day, however, we are tending to stray away from using this survival strategy, making us becoming more independent.