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Title details for Sway by Ori Brafman - Available

Sway

The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior

by Ori Brafman
John Apicella
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available
Like the bestsellers Blink and Freakonomics, this lively narrative is a fresh view of the world, explaining the previously inexplicable and revealing hidden influences on human decision-making. A Harvard Business School student pays over $200 for a $20 bill. Washington, DC, commuters ignore a free subway concert by a violin prodigy. A veteran airline pilot attempts to take off without control tower clearance and collides with another plane on the runway. Why do we do the wildly irrational things we sometimes do? Drawing on cutting-edge research from the fields of social psychology, behavioral economics, and organizational behavior, brothers Ori and Rom Brafman reveal the dynamic forces that act on us repeatedly over time, affecting nearly every aspect of our personal and business lives. They show how we are sabotaged by loss aversion (going to great lengths to avoid perceived losses), the diagnosis bias (ignoring evidence that contradicts our initial take on a person or situation), and commitment (even when a plan isn't working, we are reluctant to change course). Weaving together colorful stories-about dot-com millionaires, game show audiences, NBA coaches, and the US Supreme Court-Sway tours the flip side of reason and points us toward a more rational life.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    June 17, 2008

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781598876307
      • File size: 140406 KB
      • Duration: 04:52:30

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Why do we cling to a strategy long after we know it's not working? How can an expert throw away years of experience in a single, terrible decision? Ori and Rom Brafman explore questions like these in their engaging and insightful look at the reasons why humans behave irrationally in their professional, personal, and financial lives. Actor John Apicella, a newcomer to audiobook narration, has a welcoming voice, and while his pacing is a tad slow, it does give the listener a chance to absorb and consider the Brafmans' compelling ideas. Apicella's phrasing falters occasionally--too often he sounds like he's self-consciously reading, as opposed to narrating--but his performance is strong enough that we'll likely be hearing more from him. D.B. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      April 7, 2008
      Recently we have seen plenty of irrational behavior, whether in politics or the world of finance. What makes people act irrationally? In a timely but thin collection of anecdotes and empirical research, the Brafman brothers—Ari (The Starfish and the Spire
      ), a business expert, and Rom, a psychologist—look at “sway,†the submerged mental drives that undermine rational action, from the desire to avoid loss to a failure to consider all the evidence or to perceive a person or situation beyond the initial impression and the reluctance to alter a plan that isn't working. To drive home their points, the authors use contemporary examples, such as the pivotal decisions of presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and George W. Bush, coach Steve Spurrier and his Gators football team, and a sudden apparent epidemic of bipolar disorder in children (which may be due more to flawed thinking by doctors making the diagnoses). The stories are revealing, but focused on a few common causes of irrational behavior, the book doesn't delve deeply into the psychological demons that can devastate a person's life and those around him.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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