The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds

In Chapter 1 Lewis describes how former NBA player and current TV personality Charles Barkley lambasted team executives who relied on data to inform their front office decisions. Barkley’s main critique was simply that these executives hadn’t played at the highest level of basketball and that this lack of experience jeopardized their credibility. Discuss the impact of “outsiders” in any industry. Cite examples and ideas from the book to support your arguments.

Throughout the book Lewis alludes to the idea that “experts” are not always guided by the most effective decision-making processes. Given Lewis’s findings on Kahneman and Tversky’s research, what then is the role of the expert in any given field?

Although vastly different in temperament, Kahneman and Tversky maintained a close friendship for over a decade. What can their example teach us about the nature of friendship and how differences in personality may actually strengthen a bond between two friends?

Both Kahneman and Tversky found themselves discrediting—and at times were even repulsed by—many of the premises of clinical psychology. However, following the rise of mental health awareness in modern society, clinical psychology has become a vital component of treating mental health. Given their arguments about the human mind, is there a place for contemporary clinical psychology within Kahneman and Tversky’s line of argumentation? Why or why not?

Lewis repeatedly demonstrates how Kahneman and Tversky’s research held massive implications that could potentially incite significant paradigm shifts across the world in relation to decision making. Why hasn’t their work made even more of an impact on the ways we understand the choices we make?

Discuss how Kahneman and Tversky’s work intertwines the roles of both logic and intuition within the scope of human experience. Use examples from the book to support your arguments.

Lewis opens his book with a Voltaire quote: “Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is an absurd one.” Considering his findings on Kahneman and Tversky’s work, discuss why Lewis opened the book with this particular quote.

Discuss how Kahneman and Tversky addressed the notion of an average person’s perception of reality. What are these perceptions predominantly influenced by? What are the implications of these influences?