Features
- Cover Type: Hard Cover with 272 pages
- Published by: Random House
- Edition: 1st Edition January 15, 2008
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 1400066425
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-1400066421
-
Book Dimensions:
9.4 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
- Weighs: 1.1 pounds
Product Review
A Message to Amazon Readers from Author Tim Harford Give yourself a pat on the back. You're not as stupid as everyone says you are, and now there's a book that proves it.
When I first conceived of
The Logic of Life, my aim was to show that a world full of smart people--people like you, that is--doesnt necessarily look logical on the surface. We eat too much and worry about being fat; drink too much and cringe when we remember; spend too much at Christmas and worry about the bills in New Year. And thats just the small stuff: what about crime, racial segregation, divorce, big-money politics?
And yet underneath it all there is a hidden logic. It isnt always pretty, but its there if you know how to see it. That is what
The Logic of Life is all about.
But when I'd finished the first draft, my editor told me that he didn't think that people were as logical as I'd said. He wanted me to prove my point.
At first, I thought it was my editor thinks people are illogical because he works in the publishing business. Of course life looks illogical if you do that. (In fact, life looks crazy in most offices: see "Why Your Boss is Overpaid," chapter four.) But then I realised he was right. I'd left the most important step out.
So I went back and made sure that I laid out all the amazing evidence. I looked at single women hitting the dating scene in American cities; I looked at juvenile delinquents across the US; I looked at Mexican prostitutes; I looked at traders at a convention in Disney World; I looked at professional poker players in Las Vegas and professional soccer players in Europe. I looked at violent spouses, alcoholics, and school bullies.
In every case I discovered a story of hidden incentives and unexpected logic. And through the process of writing--and living--the book, I discovered that this crazy world of ours makes more sense than you might think.
From Publishers Weekly
F
inancial Times and Slate.com columnist Harford (
The Undercover Economist) provides an entertaining and provocative look at the logic behind the seemingly irrational. Arguing that rational behavior is more widespread than most people expect, Harford uses economic principles to draw forth the rational elements of gambling, the teenage oral sex craze, crime and other supposedly illogical behaviors to illustrate his greater point. Utilizing John von Neumann and Thomas Schelling's conceptions of game theory, Harford applies their approach to a multitude of arenas, including marriage, the workplace and racism. Contrarily, he also shows that individual rational behavior doesn't always lead to socially desired outcomes. Harford concludes with how to apply this thinking on an even bigger scale, showing how rational behavior shapes cities, politics and the entire history of human civilization. Well-written with highly engaging stories and examples, this book will be of great interest to
Freakonomics and
Blink fans as well as anyone interested in the psychology of human behavior.
(Feb.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Reader Reviews
"Logic" may be 270 pages, but it feels more like seventy. If you have the vaguest experience with behavioral economics -- e.g., from reading Dubner and Leavitt's "Freakonomics" columns in the New York Times -- a lot of the background will seem very familiar and a lot of the "gosh-wow" that Harford tries to generate will seem a little forced. Indeed, quite a few of Harford's central pieces have already appeared in the popular press -- e.g., the material on pacific islands and economic growth as a function of when they were colonized. There is a real "factoid" quality to the book. The various chapters, on sexual behavior and AIDS, game theory and poker, racial discrimination, CEO pay, and the role of cities and legal systems (I think I got them all) seems strung together with no overriding theme beyond the kind of "gee-whiz" factor of applying economics to social issues. The weakest parts come near the end, where the summaries of research begin to be overwhelmed by anecdote and story. I was left without a clear idea, for example, why Harford considered it self-evident that cities would remain centers of the information economy. Since "Freakonomics", the bar has been set a little higher for these kinds of books. Vague popularizations of other people's research studies are fine for a New York Times article or blog post, but really can't sustain a book. If you look -- as I do -- for the author to make some kind of larger point, you'll do so in vain; what larger points he does make are a bit evident (everyone behaving rationally can lead to horrible social consequences -- tragedy of the commons or the voter's paradox, anyone? These are hardly new discoveries!) One interesting avenue to examine -- looking at the arguments of those who consider the field to be a bit overblown in its claims, or putting the field in a larger context -- goes mostly untouched. Discussion of Malthus is pretty bare, and what Harford marshals in response is really thin and poorly argued; in general, this really is another "random walk" through the literature. I'm sure the book will sell well; it's a good airplane read (but it won't last you longer than a four-hour flight at most.) The market for these books is new and there are still plenty of people who will be amused and surprised to see what Harford has to report from the "field." But those looking for a more sustained performance, with deeper intellectual engagement with the fascinating issues that economics raises for the social and human sciences, will have to look elsewhere.
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