Think Like a Freak

Think Like a Freak is a nonfiction book published in 2014 by Steven D. Levitt, a professor of economics at the University of Chicago, and Stephen J. Dubner, a journalist based in New York City. It is a follow-up to the authors’ successful books Freakonomics (2005) and SuperFreakonomics (2009), and ties in with their blog and podcast, which can be found at freakonomics.com. A fourth book in the series, When to Rob a Bank, was published in 2015. The popularity of the authors’ brand with this series has roughly corresponded with the use of big data in research, which gained prominence in the 2000s.

Summary

In the first chapter the authors explain their purpose for writing this book. Their two previous books provided explanations to specific questions and problems, which prompted lots of questions from readers looking for solutions to new problems. However, solving problems is not easy, especially not those problems that remain after many people have attempted to solve them. So instead of using the same approach for their third book, they decided to teach readers how to think “like a Freak” themselves, revealing how to use their tools to approach problems.

Chapter 2 discusses why it is so difficult for people to admit they don’t know something, even though that’s the case much of the time. It also examines why people keep making predictions when, time and again, they are wrong. Chapter 3 reviews the importance of properly defining problems and asking the right questions to solve them. A solution will always be elusive if the problem is defined incorrectly. Along the same lines, Chapter 4 emphasizes the need to find and address root causes of an issue rather than merely its symptoms. Both of these chapters examine framing an issue as the first step to solving it.

Chapter 5 then describes the need to think like a child: keep your focus limited to small things, and don’t avoid obvious aspects that may be right in front of you. Chapter 6 explains how incentives work to shape behavior—and warns how they can backfire. The key is finding what someone’s true incentive is, not what they say it is. It’s also important not to impose your own beliefs and incentives on the process, but rather to take the world at face value. In Chapter 7 the authors introduce game theory and its importance in identifying people who want to remain hidden.

Chapter 8 discusses aspects of persuasion. The authors give six pieces of advice to keep in mind when trying to persuade someone of something—but also explain why it’s next to impossible to do so. Finally, Chapter 9 examines quitting, including why it’s frowned on in society, what barriers prevent doing it, and why more people should go ahead and do it.