The Art of Choosing

De: Sheena Iyengar

Narrado por: Orlagh Cassidy

Every day we make choices. Coke or Pepsi? Save or spend? Stay or go?

Whether mundane or life-altering, these choices define us and shape our lives. Sheena Iyengar asks the difficult questions about how and why we choose: Is the desire for choice innate or bound by culture? Why do we sometimes choose against our best interests? How much control do we really have over what we choose? Sheena Iyengar's award-winning research reveals that the answers are surprising and profound.

In our world of shifting political and cultural forces, technological revolution, and interconnected commerce, our decisions have far-reaching consequences. Use The Art of Choosing as your companion and guide for the many challenges ahead.

©2010 Sheena Iyengar (P)2010 Hachette

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Iyengar writes in a lucid, catchy style, very much in the Malcolm Gladwell vein of pop psychology–cum–social commentary, but with more rigor. The result is a delightful, astonishing take on the pitfalls of making up one's mind." ( Publishers Weekly)

Good Book

An interesting book. It is true that some experiments the author quotes are quite dated, and known, but for the general public is a good read. I didn't understand till the end that the author is blind, and that made me appreciate even more her effort, and the determination with which she chose to live her life and become a PhD! She is a great positive example to keep in mind, someone who was able to triumph no matter the adversities. Still her book doesn't answer how is possible that someone like her becomes such a worthy member of society, no matter the adversities, and someone else, who didn't have hard challenges in life like the author, just becomes a meth addict. I'm impressed by this woman, and eventually I will buy any future book she will write, because she does give a lot of good ideas to ponder upon.

Re pill, blue pill; whose choice is it anyway?

You are looking at this review, and those from others, that you hope will help you decide whether or not to read this book. That’s a choice. But before that you had to choose that you wanted to read something related to this topic or the author perhaps. And before that you had to choose to learn how to read so that the letters and words on this page would just be a jumbled mess. Where does choice begin? Or end?

I came to reading this book after already knowing about Sheena Iyengar and her work. The first encounter being her now famous TED talk; google it is you haven’t watched, it is a glimpse into Sheena’s world of choice.

I had also read a small amount of literature published by some of the authors that Sheena talks about in this book. But I didn’t need to have know Sheena or have read other material before picking up this book.

The Art of Choosing is a practical book. She uses many relatable examples in real world settings you are likely to have experienced yourself or know someone who has. But being an academic she doesn’t leave you hanging with the thought that perhaps these are just opinions. Her work is grounded in many experiments and scientific studies.

To me this book is like a primer on something we do daily and take for granted but not really understanding why and how the parts come together. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand why we make the choices we do. And why this is really an art. Something that you alone as an artist can produce but where the colours and canvas may be chosen for you. The conversational tone throughout the book makes it so much easy to absorb what can otherwise be dry and abstract material. It’s Sheena’s style and I loved it. The book was well narrated too. I actually listen at a slightly speedier pace to remain fully engaged.

There are some people who I think shouldn’t read this book. Do not read this book:
* if you have a fixed mindset believing that whether you make a choice or not is irrelevant to determining the outcome;
* if you have all decisions are made for you and you do not want to understand the effects this has on your life; or
* if you have no interest in knowing when a decision may have already been made for you but the illusion of choice makes you feel like you have some control.

Choose well.

An Awakening

I absolutely loved this book. when I first downloaded this book I was a little disappointed because I wanted the author to read the book and the fact that it wasn't just broke my heart because her voice is so soothing. I buy a little down the down the book she starts being interviewed and she speaks deeply from within on why she started writing this book and why was important and it is just an Awakening it is delightful and informative and just an all-around amazing book to have in your collection or to recommend to others it allows you to see things in ways that you once didn't and that to me is a gift and I thank her for publishing this.

Choosing 'The Art of Choosing'

I decided to read Sheena Iyengar's new book, The Art of Choosing, after watching her TED Talk.

The opportunity to give a TED Talk must rank just below inclusion in the Oprah book club. Does anyone know just how big the book selling boost is for authors appearing on TED?
Sheena Iyengar is best known for her jam experiment. This is the experiment that Barry Schwartz made famous in his 2004 book, The Paradox of Choice. In the experiment,
Iyengar found that shoppers were much less likely to purchase a jar of jam when presented with many choices (at a tasting booth), in comparison with shoppers who were invited to sample only a few varieties. The conventional wisdom that more choice is always beneficial does not always seem to hold true.

Iyenagar's choice research has been influential in my world of course design and learning technology. We understand that it is often preferable to limit the number of tools available to faculty in a learning management system, as installing every extension or building block may cause instructors to choose to entirely forgo the use of any tool (such as discussion boards or wikis). As the learning management system has ballooned into a central campus portal, the need to constantly "edit down" non-core learning functions continues to grow. An increasing number of campus stakeholders may request links in the LMS (everything from events to athletics), requests that we need to weigh against the costs of diminishing the utilization of tools that promote active learning.

The Art of Choosing fits nicely into a growing body of behavior economics, brain research, and cognitive psychology that explores the limits of our own decision making abilities. Dan Ariely and Jonah Lehrer have written some of the best books in this tradition. One of my big take-aways from The Art of Choosing is that we may be poor decision makers, but our difficulties in choosing are often culturally influenced. Iyengar is much better at conducting cross-cultural studies on choice and behavior than other researchers in this field, perhaps a result of her growing up as a child of immigrants.
What factors would convince you to choose to take the time to watch Iyengar's TED Talk?

Have any of you made the choice to read The Art of Choosing?

Collectivism versus the individual

Good book, but her collectivist bias comes through too strong.

When discussing the religious as compared to the non-religious she says the religious have had their choices taken away. Seems trivial in context, but had she said something to the effect that the religious have chosen to live by certain strictures of faith, she would have been both more accurate, and objective (she was examining American adults who had the ability to walk away from their chosen faith).

She also makes a series of value statements concerning the superiority of the collective versus the individual without actually making a case as to why the collectivist is superior. Populist language that highlights the seeming humility of the collectivist and the ego of the individual passes as evidence instead.

History shows us that the more collectivist cultures are more easily led, and less likely to resist dictators. Germany in WW1 and WW2, Imperial Japan, Soviet Russia, the tragedy of Communist China, Pol Pot, and so on. They were all made possible, by the same collectivist cultures that she seeks to portray as superior here.

Still, a good book for the research, and I would recommend it, but it needs to be approached with a wary eye.

Read something else on decision making

I am an avid "reader" of audiobooks on sociology and marketing. This was one of the few that I couldn't even make it through the first 3 hours. This seems to be more of a story about this person's life than something that will help explain why people make certain choices.

Too long for too little.

Great intention; messy story; weak point of view. The author takes us in monotone carnival of well-known experiments for those interested in game theory and behavioral economics without ever reaching a climax or conclusion, leaving the promise of the book up to the reader to define. Is the art (of choosing) in the eye of the beholder? But seriously, the book could have been a great reference if it were much shorter and packed the story into a method to find own's method right from the beginning.

Lots of left wing slant

There are a few interesting anecdotes and insights on choice. Then a heavy dose of how capitalism free markets and most systems associated with America are less good than socialism.

At one point the author goes on at length on how many folks want to go back to the “safe controlled economies and systems” of government of Russia and other eastern block totalitarian socialist orders. I’m sorry but I know people who starved and suffered in those utopias so you have lost touch with the world I’m familiar with suggesting everyone there is pining for the return to rationing and starvation because they could equally starve together, except the part elites. Also there is over repeated the statement the author is not judging between free markets and socialism but let’s just tell you why socialism is the super victor and free markets are the devil. I’m okay if you want to attack free markets or capitalism or any other system which has some sound benefits, but don’t say your not judging and trashing it while repeatedly attacking it. In summary if your not politically left of Biden you might find the book hard to listen to as more than weak propaganda for the left. The irony is the author talks about the importance of understanding people and seeing things from their best light then does the opposite sets up pathetic straw men for theories she does not favor just to make them appear ridiculous.