VISIT

www.neuroscientificallychallenged.com
A great website run by neuroscientist Marc Dingman that explains different brain structures and their functions. Useful diagrams and hundreds of short videos and explanations.

https://www.gary-klein.com/
Klein is a recognised expert on decision making, who has focused his work on real-world decision making and how experts apply intuition under pressure. Definitely worth checking out his website – he generously provides free access to a number of his articles.

https://swb24.user.srcf.net/
Don’t visit Simon Blackburn’s website for its aesthetic appeal or snazzy features, but do check it out if you’re interested to learn more about ethics from a smart and funny Cambridge philosophy professor.

Daniel Kahneman – Thinking, Fast and Slow
A definitive work on how our brains make judgements by psychologist and Nobel Prize winner Danny Kahneman. Fascinating and mostly easy to read – as one reviewer wittily remarked ‘Buy it quickly and read it slowly’.

Gary Klein – The Power of Intuition
See above – Klein is another psychologist who studies decision making and challenges the validity of traditional theories of decision making, comparing them with the reality of how experts actually make decisions under pressure. Just don’t expect any discussion of sixth sense – Klein defines intuition as “the way we translate our experience into action”.

Klein addresses similar issues in other books, including;Streetlights & Shadows and Sources of Power.

Barry Schwartz – The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less
An interesting examination of the challenges posed by having too many options, and the benefits of learning to be satisfied with a good choice rather than always trying to optimise our choices. Schwartz writes well – this is an easy read.

Julia Galef – The Scout Mindset
One of Ken’s favourite reads. Galef’s proposition is that we’d have a much better chance of discovering the truth about all kinds of topics if we’d be open minded to testing our beliefs like scouts who are trying to create an accurate map of the terrain. Unfortunately our default setting is often that of the soldier who defends their opinions against all challenges. A great read (or listen if you like audio books).

David A. Reddish – The mind within the brain: how we make decisions and how those decisions go wrong
If you want to understand the science behind how your brain makes decisions (or at least hear what scientists currently know – given how much isn’t yet understood), this is a good book. It does get quite technical in parts, but it’s really interesting.

Lisa Genova – Remember
A fascinating and digestible book about our memories – how they work and how they sometimes let us down. Highly recommended.

Richard H. Thaler & Cass R. Sunstein – Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth & Happiness
Thaler & Sunstein have written a fascinating book that explores the concept of ‘libertarian paternalism’ – the idea that promotes both people’s freedom to choose and the concept that we can also ‘nudge’ people in a positive direction. If you’re interested in public policy decisions, you definitely should read this book.

J. Edward Russo & Paul J. H. Schoemaker – Winning Decisions
There’s a lot to like about this book, but I particularly enjoy the discussions about how we ‘frame’ a decision. For example, if you’re thinking about buying a property, are you looking for a long-term home, an investment or maybe a project that you could renovate? Or is a potential new relationship about finding a partner, a friend or a lover? Our frames reflect our goals and will determine the criteria we use to evaluate the suitability of an option.

Sukhinder Singh Cassidy – Choose Possibility
Cassidy’s book is all about accepting risk in career decisions, moving forward and then adjusting as needed. She says: “The Myth of the Single Choice, as I call it, puts massive pressure on us to make the right choice on a straight shot to glory. It also gives rise to additional, supporting myths that, I posit, are equally unhealthy. Because so much seems to be at stake, we believe we should prepare zealously, as doing so might moderate the risk or perhaps even eliminate it entirely. We strive to engineer the “perfect plan”, which of course seldom materialises.” Instead, she advocates: “Rather than paralysing ourselves by contemplating single large choice, we focus on the act of consistently choosing little or big risks to take in pursuit of our goals. We don’t fool ourselves into thinking that we can achieve our ultimate ambitions in one monumental stroke. We simply seek to start and stay in thoughtful motion, knowing that every choice we make helps unlock the next possibility. We succeed over the long term by tacking our way to our dreams, like sailboats in a shifting wind…” 

Simon Blackburn – Ethics: a very short introduction
A useful book which lives up to the promise of its title – it introduces ethics and is very short. Blackburn is a philosopher and a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and his writing is really accessible for non-philosophers