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  • Wild Problems

  • A Guide to the Decisions That Define Us
  • By: Russ Roberts
  • Narrated by: Mark Deakins
  • Length: 3 hrs and 57 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (32 ratings)
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Wild Problems

By: Russ Roberts
Narrated by: Mark Deakins
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Summary

A guide to making the really big decisions in life.

Algorithms and apps analyze data and tell you how to beat the traffic, what books to buy, what music to listen to, and even who to date—often with great results. But what do you do when you face the big decisions of life—the "wild problems" of who to marry, whether to have children, where to move, how to forge a life well-lived—that can't be solved by measurement or calculation?

In Wild Problems, beloved host of the hugely popular podcast EconTalk Russ Roberts offers puzzled rationalists a way to address these wild problems. He suggests spending less time and energy on the path that promises the most happiness, and more time on figuring out who you actually want to be. He draws on the experience of great artists, writers, and scientists of the past who found creative ways to navigate life's biggest questions. And he lays out strategies for reducing the fear and the loss of control that inevitably come when a wild problem requires a leap in the dark.

Ultimately, Roberts asks us to see ourselves and our lives less as a problem to be solved than a mystery to be experienced. There's no right decision waiting to be uncovered by an app or rational analysis. Reality is harder than that and, perhaps, a little more interesting.

©2022 Russ Roberts (P)2022 Penguin Audio

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A good read.

As an economist (behavioural) - I was attracted because of bounded rationality - I found this book a good philosophical questioning that beyond this there are other ways of decision-making and often it’s not an optimisation problem. Certainly this book shows one that life is not an optimisation problem.

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6 people found this helpful

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A philosophical guide to wild problems

This is a very good book on how to approach decision making for day to day problems. The central idea is when making a decision, think about whether you will flourish or not. However, life may throw some unknowns and you will need to adapt.

While I enjoyed the audiobook, I was getting distracted and mind kept on wandering in different directions. So I will have to get a paperback and read it.

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4 people found this helpful

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PALESTINA

Nice good book like the storied. But i would say it is PALESTINA and always will be

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