Think Like A Freak
Ashleen Quirke
Mr. Homa
4 December 2014
Period 3
Think Like a Freak
Chapter 1: What Does It Mean to Think Like a Freak?
Most people do not truly know what makes them happy. A great example given on page 9 was that married people are demonstrably happier than single people, but this does not mean that marriage creates happiness. In reality, generally happy people get married, and unhappy people do not get married, in order to become happy. The thoughts in this book are mainly inspired by economic approach. This approach relies on data in order to understand how the world works, how people fail and succeed, and what type of obstacles prevents most from important resources. Thinking like a freak is simple enough for everyone to do it, but not all do. The reason for this is because most people let their biases change their view of the world. A large majority of people “run with the herd” and adopt the views of our peers, making it quick to embrace the status quo.
Chapter 2: The Three Hardest Words in The Human Language
The title of this chapter, “The Three Hardest Words in the English Language”, foreshadows what lies ahead. If you were to ask someone what the 3 hardest words in the English harder language are, most people would say the words “I love you”. In reality, it is much for most people to say, “I don’t know”. On page 20, the author explained how a group of academic researchers gave a quiz with two easy questions and then three very hard questions to a bunch of British schoolchildren. For the hard questions, each child completely guessed because they didn’t know the answer. Instead of admitting that they did not know the answer, they decided to guess hoping that their prediction would be correct. This proves that admitting that we do not know everything is one of the hardest things to admit for humans. There are different categories of knowledge. “Known facts” and “beliefs” are two categories listed in this book. Known facts are
Mr. Homa
4 December 2014
Period 3
Think Like a Freak
Chapter 1: What Does It Mean to Think Like a Freak?
Most people do not truly know what makes them happy. A great example given on page 9 was that married people are demonstrably happier than single people, but this does not mean that marriage creates happiness. In reality, generally happy people get married, and unhappy people do not get married, in order to become happy. The thoughts in this book are mainly inspired by economic approach. This approach relies on data in order to understand how the world works, how people fail and succeed, and what type of obstacles prevents most from important resources. Thinking like a freak is simple enough for everyone to do it, but not all do. The reason for this is because most people let their biases change their view of the world. A large majority of people “run with the herd” and adopt the views of our peers, making it quick to embrace the status quo.
Chapter 2: The Three Hardest Words in The Human Language
The title of this chapter, “The Three Hardest Words in the English Language”, foreshadows what lies ahead. If you were to ask someone what the 3 hardest words in the English harder language are, most people would say the words “I love you”. In reality, it is much for most people to say, “I don’t know”. On page 20, the author explained how a group of academic researchers gave a quiz with two easy questions and then three very hard questions to a bunch of British schoolchildren. For the hard questions, each child completely guessed because they didn’t know the answer. Instead of admitting that they did not know the answer, they decided to guess hoping that their prediction would be correct. This proves that admitting that we do not know everything is one of the hardest things to admit for humans. There are different categories of knowledge. “Known facts” and “beliefs” are two categories listed in this book. Known facts are