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The cover of The Undoing Project

The Undoing Project

Michael Lewis, 2016

Israeli psychologists Danny Kahneman and Amos Tversky spent years showing how the mind misjudges chance and risk; their ideas reached basketball, medicine and economics before their partnership came apart.

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14 parts, about 30 minutes to read.

Why read it

  • Tells the story of the two psychologists whose partnership exposed the rules of thumb that lead human judgment astray
  • Helps you recognize biases like representativeness, availability, anchoring and loss aversion in experts, doctors and yourself
  • Reads as a portrait of a friendship, showing how ideas like prospect theory grew from argument, war and rivalry

Who it is for

  • Readers who enjoyed popular books on decision making
  • Doctors, scouts and analysts who judge under uncertainty
  • People curious how creative partnerships form and fall apart

What the summary covers

  1. The Problem That Never Goes Away2 min
  2. Man Boobs2 min
  3. The Outsider2 min
  4. The Insider2 min
  5. Errors2 min
  6. The Collision3 min
  7. The Mind's Rules3 min
  8. The Rules of Prediction2 min
  9. Going Viral2 min
  10. Birth of the Warrior Psychologist2 min
  11. The Isolation Effect2 min
  12. The Rules of Undoing2 min
  13. This Cloud of Possibility2 min
  14. Coda: Bora Bora2 min

Recommended by

  • Richard ThalerBehavioral economist, University of Chicago
    Fascinating stories about intriguing people.
  • Cass SunsteinLegal scholar, Harvard University
    Fascinating stories about intriguing people.
  • Samantha PowerAuthor and former US ambassador to the UN
    Hugely important.
  • William EasterlyEconomist, New York University
    Brilliant. . . . Lewis has given us a spectacular account of two great men who faced up to uncertainty and the limits of human reason.
  • Gustav AlmqvistResearcher, Stockholm School of Economics

About the author

  • Michael LewisAmerican author and financial journalist; former Salomon Brothers bond salesman
    • Born 15 October 1960 in New Orleans
    • MSc in economics 1985
    • Bond salesman at Salomon Brothers in London
    • Liar's Poker (1989) described his Salomon experience
    • Vanity Fair contributing editor 2009 to 2026

Read it alongside

  • Puts it into practiceNoise: A Flaw in Human Judgment

    Michael Lewis describes Danny Kahneman scoring recruits trait by trait; Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony and Cass Sunstein extend structured scoring to interview panels, requiring independent ratings before discussion.

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