Blunder: Why Smart People Make Bad Decisions

It was at Stanford that I truly understood that smart people blunder just like everyone else. To be honest, the realization came as something of a surprise during my freshman year.

I was stunned how people much smarter than me were making bad decisions. There was the person that set off the fire alarms the night before finals by overcooking popcorn. And then there was this guy that injured himself from excessive celebration after a ping pong game (he’s never going to live that one down). But perhaps the ultimate story was this woman who ordered one of those “as seen on TV” ab machines-the kind that uses electric stimulation to build muscle passively. She failed to follow directions, and within the first week of use, she burned her stomach.

These experiences have left me with a lifelong interest in the ways that smart people make bad decisions. I love reading about such “cognition traps” which are studied in behavioral economics. But what I was missing was a historical perspective to the problem. And that is why I immediately picked up Zachary Shore’s book Blunder: Why Smart People Make Bad Decisions based on a reader suggestion. It is a fascinating book and worth checking out.

Now I’ll be honest that the book didn’t impress me right away. The book is divided into seven different cognition traps that have awkward sounding names (like causefusion and infomania). The book isn’t really about solving the problems but rather about raising your awareness by describing them through stories. And that is where the book truly shines.

Shore is a historian and has a knack for telling stories. I learned how Edison squandered his financial future by misjudging the work of his student Tesla (who in turn squandered his financial future to Westinghouse). I learned a lot about the Iraq war and the blunders of the Bush administration. And I learned about a blunder George Orwell made before he took on that pen name and became a famous author. It is these kinds of stories that make it an interesting read.

So while the book isn’t the best book I’ve read on decision-making, it is certainly a worthwhile read because the stories find a way to grow on you.