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Rock Breaks Scissors
A Practical Guide to Outguessing and Outwitting Almost Everybody
Description
A practical guide to outguessing everything, from multiple-choice tests to the office football pool to the stock market.
People are predictable even when they try not to be. William Poundstone demonstrates how to turn this fact to personal advantage in scores of everyday situations, from playing the lottery to buying a home. Rock Breaks Scissors is mind-reading for real life.
Will the next tennis serve go right or left? Will the market go up or down? Most people are poor at that kind of predicting. We are hard-wired to make bum bets on “trends” and “winning streaks” that are illusions. Yet ultimately we’re all in the business of anticipating the actions of others. Poundstone reveals how to overcome the errors and improve the accuracy of your own outguessing. Rock Breaks Scissors is a hands-on guide to turning life’s odds in your favor.
People are predictable even when they try not to be. William Poundstone demonstrates how to turn this fact to personal advantage in scores of everyday situations, from playing the lottery to buying a home. Rock Breaks Scissors is mind-reading for real life.
Will the next tennis serve go right or left? Will the market go up or down? Most people are poor at that kind of predicting. We are hard-wired to make bum bets on “trends” and “winning streaks” that are illusions. Yet ultimately we’re all in the business of anticipating the actions of others. Poundstone reveals how to overcome the errors and improve the accuracy of your own outguessing. Rock Breaks Scissors is a hands-on guide to turning life’s odds in your favor.
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Praise
"An ingenious guide to outsmarting others by predicting their choices when they are trying to be unpredictable." -- Kirkus (Starred Review)
Praise for Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google?
"Delightful, fun, and worth a read." --Seth Godin
"Delightful, fun, and worth a read." --Seth Godin
"Poundstone displays his scientific knowledge, mathematical fluency, and knack for explaining the arcane in playfully precise sentences." --Bloomberg Businessweek
"A smart, engagingly written account of how to capitalize on other peoples' predictability . . . clearly explained and easily accessible to the general reader. An enlightening book."
—Booklist
"Of all of the books I've received for The Post, none has received as much over-the-shoulder reads than ROCK BREAKS SCISSORS."
—Susannah Callahan, The New York Post