Everything Is Obvious: How Common Sense Fails Us (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780307951793)

By understanding how and when common sense fails, we can improve our understanding of the present and better plan for the future.

Drawing on the latest scientific research, along with a wealth of historical and contemporary examples, Watts shows how common sense reasoning and history conspire to mislead us into believing that we understand more about the world of human behavior than we do; and in turn, why attempts to predict, manage, or manipulate social and economic systems so often go awry.

It seems obvious, for example, that people respond to incentives; yet policy makers and managers alike frequently fail to anticipate how people will respond to the incentives they create. Social trends often seem to be driven by certain influential people; yet marketers have been unable to identify these "influencers" in advance. And although successful products or companies always seem in retrospect to have succeeded because of their unique qualities, predicting the qualities of the next hit product or hot company is notoriously difficult even for experienced professionals.

Watts' argument has important implications in politics, business, and marketing, as well as in science and everyday life.

Author: Duncan J. Watts
ISBN-10: 0307951790
ISBN-13: 9780307951793
Publisher: Crown Currency
Language: English
Published: 06/26/2012
Pages: 368
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.62lbs
Size: 8.04h x 5.25w x 0.89d

Review Citation(s):
New York Times Book Review 07/01/2012 pg. 28