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Making Better Decisions: Decision Theory in Practice
Making Better Decisions introduces readers to some of the principal aspects of decision theory, and examines how these might lead us to make better decisions.
232 pages, Hardcover
First published July 23, 2010
About the author
Itzhak Gilboa
35 books12 followersItzhak Gilboa works in decision theory and other fields in economic theory such as game theory and social choice. His main interest is in decision under uncertainty, focusing on the definition of probability, notions of rationality, non-Bayesian decision models, and related issues.
He is Professor at Eitan Berglas School of Economics, Tel-Aviv University and Professor of Economics and Decision Sciences, HEC, Paris, as well as Fellow of the Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University (part time).
He is Professor at Eitan Berglas School of Economics, Tel-Aviv University and Professor of Economics and Decision Sciences, HEC, Paris, as well as Fellow of the Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University (part time).
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 27, 2018
Reading this book as a reference for my undergraduate course but ended up enjoying this book more than i thought! Easy to read and simple real-life examples in decision making. Really recommended for students and also general reader.
May 10, 2018
It would be hard for me to explain this book without comparing it to other self-help books.
Consider 'The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People' vs 'The Secret. The former lays out "rules" that simply makes sense, while the later one advises you to believe in magic.
Imagine all the self-help books distributed on a spectrum: from the 'based on magic' on the left, and 'based on reason and evidence' on the right. The 7 Habits is somewhere on the right half, while The Secret is on the left corner, along with religious books and books that try to justify a self-help doctrine through quantum mechanics despite the lack of any shred of understanding of quantum mechanics from the part of the author.
Making Better Decisions employs the right corner of this spectrum. It is on the line between being a self-help book and being a textbook in decision theory for beginners.
I didn't stumble upon this book by mistake. I was taking an undergraduate course by Prof. Gilboa about decision theory, which means I had the pleasure and privilege to attend live lectures with him. This book was the textbook for the course.
I've found the lectures not short of mesmerizing. It was the highlight of my week. Tzachi's charisma had flooded the auditorium every week over and over again.
You probably don't have the opportunity to take a course with him (and if you do, go for it!), but you can get find all the material in the book. In fact, I had to study it all from the book anyway, because as enchanting as Tzachi is, he's really good at talking about the material and explaining abstract ideas, in person he's not really good in giving the material structure. In the book everything is laid out very orderly and structured, that's where I actually studied the material, in retrospect I have realized that the live lectures were mainly for fun.
Consider 'The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People' vs 'The Secret. The former lays out "rules" that simply makes sense, while the later one advises you to believe in magic.
Imagine all the self-help books distributed on a spectrum: from the 'based on magic' on the left, and 'based on reason and evidence' on the right. The 7 Habits is somewhere on the right half, while The Secret is on the left corner, along with religious books and books that try to justify a self-help doctrine through quantum mechanics despite the lack of any shred of understanding of quantum mechanics from the part of the author.
Making Better Decisions employs the right corner of this spectrum. It is on the line between being a self-help book and being a textbook in decision theory for beginners.
I didn't stumble upon this book by mistake. I was taking an undergraduate course by Prof. Gilboa about decision theory, which means I had the pleasure and privilege to attend live lectures with him. This book was the textbook for the course.
I've found the lectures not short of mesmerizing. It was the highlight of my week. Tzachi's charisma had flooded the auditorium every week over and over again.
You probably don't have the opportunity to take a course with him (and if you do, go for it!), but you can get find all the material in the book. In fact, I had to study it all from the book anyway, because as enchanting as Tzachi is, he's really good at talking about the material and explaining abstract ideas, in person he's not really good in giving the material structure. In the book everything is laid out very orderly and structured, that's where I actually studied the material, in retrospect I have realized that the live lectures were mainly for fun.
May 26, 2012
Very nice, engaging introductory book on decision making written by an expert scholar in the field. I would strongly recommend it to any undergraduate student in related field, but I would expect any attentive reader interested in these issues to find it useful, illuminating and engaging. Recommended!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews