Reviews for Essays on economic psychology

The average rating for Essays on economic psychology based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-11-17 00:00:00 Tedral Hill I enjoyed this book immensely! The title is very misleading--it is not about economics from a sociology perspective, but about applying rational, logical thinking to everyday (and not so-everyday) situations. In this book, Tyler Cowen describes how one might better enjoy going to an art gallery. In each room in the gallery, pretend to be an art thief--choose the single art object that you would prefer to own yourself, above all others. Think critically about why you would prefer it. Cowen describes how one might better enjoy reading a book, especially a difficult, complex fiction book. He suggests that skipping around in a complex fiction book can actually be beneficial, and help one to understand the story better! Read the first fifty pages three times. And don't feel compelled to finish a book that you don't like. Cowen describes how one might better enjoy music, how to cope best with kidnapping and torture, and a visit to the dentist. If you are a foodie, he offers interesting advice on what dishes to prepare at home vs. what to try at restaurants, and how to find good restaurants. Go to a neighborhood with low rents, or even food stalls that have low overhead. Go to a neighborhood--or a country--with the greatest differential between the wealthiest and the poorest residents. The wealthiest residents are the pickiest eaters, and the poorest residents will be the cooks. How should one contribute to charity? How should one treat beggars on the street? How should one tip at restaurants? How should you attend movies? What sort of gifts should one give? The topics covered in this book do tend to jump around a lot, but the sheer diversity of situations make this book very compelling, even if Cowen's advice is simply his personal opinion. Much of his advice is humorous and non-intuitive, but he backs up his advice with clear, logical explanations.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-09-24 00:00:00 Feg Rfhjgndf Well, I thought this was going to tell me how to use incentives on _myself_ to get me to do the things I should be doing. And it was disappointing in that it did not tell me how to do that. I can't say it really did too much of what the subtitle said either. How to motivate your dentist? Compliment them on a job well done, and give them Christmas presents. I think the author revealed far more about himself than he did about economics. He takes pride in seeing like 40 movies a year, and walking out on most of them. Not because they're bad, per se, but just because he feels his time is better spent elsewhere after he's gotten a feel for what the movie's like. Umm... And he tells you how to get yourself to appreciate art. And where to find the best food. Where he was really starting to lose me was when he started talking about how to get yourself to appreciate fine literature. I'm sorry, but if you have to trick yourself into appreciating a book.. by skipping around, reading the best bits, playing games with yourself, and reading the Cliffsnotes.. then, it's probably not a very good book, is it? Why waste your time at all? You could watch the movie version if you feel culturally deprived. Or, well, you could at least watch _part_ of the movie, and then walk out on it. Working hard to appreciate art, food, music, books, movies? What's the point? Do you feel better about yourself? If it's worth your time to pay attention to, don't take shortcuts! Watch the whole freaking movie. Reading the whole freaking book! He's also got a chapter on 'signaling'. How a programmer could best land a job by signaling he's awesome by _not_ wearing a tie. Is this about signaling? Is this about image? If you do this consciously, seems to me, you're going to fail. The programmer shows up in geeky attire, because that's who he _is_. The only thing he's signaling is 'take me as I am, or I don't want to work for your company'. Not 'I am so super-awesome that I don't have to wear a suit and tie, which will prove to you that I'm super-awesome. If I'd worn a suit and tie, you'd know I wasn't super-awesome'. Anyway.. yea.. I think I could fill blog posts arguing with this author. But, hey, it's not worth my time!