Review: Nudge by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein

Why do we make the decisions that we do?  Why do we make a bad choice when a better one is obvious?  Why do we choose a less than optimal course when a superior one is readily available?  How can we influence people to make better choices?  These questions are the subject matter of Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness.

First of all, let me be clear about something.  Nudge is not a book specifically about fitness and physical health.  If you’re looking for a book that will tell you how to work out or what to eat, this isn’t it.  So why am I reviewing it on 60 in 3?  Because better decision making is a vital component of health and fitness.  Too many people make incorrect decisions about their bodies, even when they know better, and this book can help prevent that.

So What’s It All About?

Nudge is about decision making and how it can be influenced.  The authors have come up with various examples of bad decision making by people.  These examples include health, money, environmentalism and even the lottery.  In each one of these situations the authors point out the problems with how we human beings make decisions.  In fact, one of the very first subjects that the authors discuss is the fact that people do not make decisions rationally.

Human Vs. Econs

You make your decisions based on what’s best for you and your goals, right?  That would be the smart thing to do.  In fact, there are many books out there which claims that human beings are rational decision makers, capable of looking at a choice, analyzing the possibilities and then making the right decision.  Unfortunately, that’s simply not true and Nudge provides quite a bit of research on why and how people make irrational decisions.

For me, it was a fascinating look at what goes on in peoples minds as they make decisions and it helped me learn a bit about myself as well.  Why do I make the decisions that I do?  Why do I reach for that bowl of chips even when I know I shouldn’t?  Why do I make the financial decisions that I do?  Again, many if not most of the examples and research in the book are not specific to health, but they all show you how bad and good decisions are made and why.

How Do We Fix Bad Decision Making

Thaler and Sunstein use the latter part of the book to explain how people can be nudged to make better choices, hence the name of the book.  They believe that people should have as many options as possible.  However, they also think that, when possible, people should be nudged towards the right decision.  At first, this sounded a little suspicious to me.  Nudge people towards a good option?  Sounds like the authors are advocating a reduction in free will.  However, as I read the book, I realized this was not true.  The authors point out that people are already being nudged towards decisions by their own habits and weakness.  If so, why not nudge people towards good decisions instead of bad ones?

I’m going to leave the judgment of this approach to the individual reader.  However, I will say that I finished the book with a lot of respect for the authors and what they’re trying to accomplish.  I also finished with quite a bit of information about how to nudge myself towards better decision making, which is why I’m reviewing this book here on 60 in 3.

Should You Pick Up The Book?

If you’re the kind of person who frequently makes bad decisions about your life, then yes.  If you find yourself eating when you shouldn’t, not exercising when you should, paying too much for your groceries or picking the wrong investment for your retirement, then you’ll find good information in Nudge that you can apply directly to your life.

My only complain about the book is that it discusses theory more than practice.  It shows you the biases people have when making decisions but doesn’t offer many useful tips about avoiding them.  Still, if you’re the kind of person who can read the theory and then figure out ways to apply it yourself, then Nudge is a great book for you.

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And here’s another tip I picked up from a different book:

“optimism is good for you”.

So on that note…

Today is going to be a beautiful day full of great things!  I hope that your day ends up being as wonderful as mine.