Eyes Wide Open: How to Make Smart Decisions in a Confusing World
Written by Noreena Hertz
Narrated by Noreena Hertz
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
This game-changing book empowers readers to become confident, independent, wise decision-makers— savvy to how our emotions, moods, and habits can trip us up.
An investor wonders whether to put his money into the stock market or to keep it in a savings account. A patient is torn between opting for surgery and trying an experimental drug therapy. A college-bound student questions whether to take on debt to attend an Ivy League school or to choose a public institution with low tuition.
We face momentous decisions with important consequences throughout our lives. We have never had better access to information and expertise, yet this data deluge has become a double-edged sword. Which sources of information are credible? How can we separate the signal from the noise? Whose advice can we trust?
All of these questions are reasons for us to become empowered decision-makers capable of making high-stakes choices ourselves. Whether you are a politician, a businessperson, a professional, or a parent, now is the time to take a radically different approach. In Eyes Wide Open, the bestselling author and visionary thinker Noreena Hertz shares insights from the latest research along with practical advice, including
- why looking at information in black and white rather than in color can lead to better decisions
- why it's smart to be skeptical about experts' pronouncements, and how to identify the best among them
- why it's crucial to carve out time to think, even in moments of crisis
- how and why you should regulate your emotional thermostat to make smart decisions
- why you need to shake up your social network if you don't want only to reinforce what you already know and amplify the beliefs you already have
It's time to make decisions with our eyes wide open—for the sake of our health, our wealth, and our future security.
Noreena Hertz
Noreena Hertz is a bestselling author, academic, and thinker. She has provided keynote addresses at TED and the World Economic Forum, sits on the board of Warner Music Group, and advises a range of major corporations. She is an honorary professor at the Centre for the Study of Decision-Making Uncertainty at University College London.
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Reviews for Eyes Wide Open
4 ratings1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Eyes Wide Open: How to make smart decisions in a confusing world. An important book, one that should be read by everyone, and then kept handy as a reference.A word about me: I consistently test out in the 99th percentile for logic and analytic reasoning ability and made a concerted effort to raise my children as thoughtful skeptics. I learned a great deal from this gem of a book and found it an enjoyable read. It's written in plain enough prose to make it easy for anyone to grasp the principles presented.The author presents many documented examples as she explains the difficulties we face in making decisions, whether considering our health, our work, our money, our security, or a hundred other things, as well as the peril that can accompany faulty decisions. The section on digital information is amazing, giving lots of help in learning how to evaluate the enormous number of disparate voices and ideas. Most people will find the maths section illuminating, especially if they've struggled with maths concepts or feel anxiety just thinking about math (don't worry, you don't need to learn everything about math, but you'll learn how to see, often at a glance, if someone is trying to pull the wool over your eyes). Throughout, the author gives useful tips on what to watch for, what to be suspicious of, and how to confirm what seems to be true.Each chapter has a list of "Quick Tips" that not only summarize what she has just explained, but provide a great reference as well as a checklist. She discusses basics from a human body standpoint: how eating, sleeping, and emotions alter our decision-making abilities, and how we can manage them to make better decisions. All in all, she pares down what seems overwhelming to almost everyone living today to much more manageable terms. I can safely promise that this book will give you greater expertise and confidence in facing the multitude of decisions of modern data-overload life.