Think Life a Freak Book Club Discussion Points
date
Sep 4, 2020
slug
think-like-a-freak
status
Published
tags
Book
summary
type
Post
1. how would you describe what it means to “think Like a Freak”? Do you think like a Freak? Would you encourage others to think like a Freak?
2. Why do Levitt and Dubner want you to “put away your moral compass”? How do you think your best friend would react if you encouraged her to put away her moral compass? How would you respond?
3. Describe the broad lessons that you learned from Kobi’s experience as a world famous hotdog-eating champion. How would you apply these lessons to a situation that you are currently facing
4. Problems are more likely to be resolved when causes, not symptoms, are addressed. Can you provide an example from your community that highlights a situation when symptoms are being targeted instead addressing root causes.
5. The authors ask, “Why is it so important to have fun?” Thinking like a Freak, what would your answer to this question be?
6. Do you believe you can persuade someone who doesn’t want to be persuaded? Think about someone who holds a different opinion than you about politics, the environment, taxes, or any other issue. What approach would you use to try to change his or her viewpoint?
7. Effectively using incentives means understanding what they are. Can you give some examples of financial, social, moral, legal or other kinds of incentives and describe how they might work in one setting and backfire in another.
8. This book introduces the concepts of declared preferences and revealed preferences. Explain the difference between these and offer examples of these two types of preferences that you have observed in your own experience.
9. Why do the authors advise a would-be persuader to steer clear of anecdotes? Do you agree with them? What is the problem with anecdotes?
10. The authors describe themselves as happy, serial quitters. What ventures or activities have you quit early and do you regret it?