Love this book!!! First a few caveats for the people who actually read reviews on Amazon. 1. I had never heard of Russ Roberts until I “accidentally” tripped into him while listening to him on Tim Ferris’s’ podcast last month when the author was doing his book promo rounds. Was looking for something worthwhile while on the Peleton. Also recommend the podcast. 2. I am exactly the same age as the author and have a couple of things in common with him so I may be biased. What those things are is irrelevant, but the book resonated deeply with me. 3. I have a few wild problems of my own right now (who doesn’t?) and I applied some of the ideas and content of the book towards them and I was able to see the problems in a whole new light. The book is written in a plain and simple conversational tone that will immediately pull you into it if you are the type of reader who is curious about life and how to live it or if you are an over-achiever who may be questioning some of your achievements or your self perceived “failures” or if you’re a normal person who is looking for answers or approaches to your own wild problems-the big life stuff, think marriage, career, re-locating, crisis of some sort etc. Roberts’ even puts wild problems into an historical context which is especially useful when you think about how culture, technology, and systems of government have changed over say the last 500 years. Back then life tended to be so structured one just did what one had to do as proscribed by one’s religion, king, family expectations and general survival.
If I can sum the book up in one sentence I would write that it is about how to craft a life well lived. There is a great part about writing list of pros and cons to help with deciding a solution to a wild problem and it’s limitations. Author provides a better approach by quoting other thinkers, writers economists and their methods and the limitations to those methods. The book is particularly useful in light of the times we live in with so many distractions, so much internet based evidence of instant gratification and especially the global crises of war, inflation, climate change, less than perfect careers and the resulting stress we take on. Now I accept that one person’s wild problem might be another’s tame problem, but there are enough problems to go around that new or novel approaches for us to consider in dealing with problems has to be of tremendous value.
The book on any given page can seem spiritual or pragmatic, but I suppose that would depend on the reader. Personally I find spirituality very pragmatic so I felt no contradictions as I read it. Within the book the author provides so many alternative ways of breaking apart a wild problem and so many different ways of thinking about and setting about solving them that the reader should remain very captivated. There is one solution/theme that Robert’s does emphasize in the decision making process when attempting to overcome a wild problem. Not going to tell you, but we’ll worth the price of admission and the time spent reading the book to discover it for yourself.
For sports fans there is a terrific Bill Bellichick analogy which I found very valuable and, for the record, I’m not even a big sports fan. The book is full of valuable advice that your parents, your friends, your spouse and other books you’ve read may not have ever told you. Enjoy! I’ve already ordered it for several people in my life. Especially for my kids-mostly in their 20s- who are in the wild problems phase of their life right now.
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By focusing on what you know about and can imagine, you’re ignoring the full range of choices open to you.Highlighted by 340 Kindle readers- Instead of spending more time trying to make the right decision, I show you that often there is no right decision in the way we usually think of the term.Highlighted by 239 Kindle readers
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Top reviews from other countries
Cristian David Gonzalez
A wonderful reflection on how our choices shape who we are
Reviewed in Mexico on November 27, 2022
An amateur
Listened to it on Audible before bedtime
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 6, 2023