The Art of Thinking Clearly Critical Review
Colby Wallace
Northern Alberta Institute of Technology

Abstract
This paper is a critical review on Rolf Dobelli’s novel, The Art of Thinking Clearly. It is composed of a literature review and a critical analysis. The literature review section will be a composition of research gathered to: have a better understanding of the books sources, test for sloppy reasoning and get a good understanding of how the book is perceived through reviews. All research will be done through the novel itself, N.A.I.Ts library database and reputable online sources. The information found in the literature review will then be evidence used to determine the answers to the seven key critical questions: 1. What is the source of the article? 2. What kind of publication is it for what audience? 3. What is the main point (thesis) of the article? 4. Are there any new insights about the topic that you did not have before reading it? 5. Do you agree or disagree with its position and evaluation of the topic? 6. How reliable is this particular source as a guide to the truth of the topic? 7. Also, which, if any, of the sloppy reasoning errors can be found in the article?
The paper will close with a conclusion that reiterates the papers key points.

The Art of Thinking Clearly Critical Review

Dobelli, R. (2013). The Art of Thinking Clearly. London: Sceptre. The Art of Thinking Clearly (TAOTC) takes a philosophical look at 99 cognitive biases that currently muddle today’s world and fog people from making sound judgements and rational decisions. Delivered in 99 bite-sized chapters, Rolf Dobelli utilizes a skillful blend of scenarios and explanations that not only illuminate each fallacy, but provoke thought in the reader.
Rolf Dobelli supplies a good introduction that will certainly enlighten newcomers to the subject of cognitive behaviour. Despite the title, the novel is more of an unearthing of irrationalities, than an instructional how-to; leaving the reader with merely a better awareness to irrational thinking. The entire book is just Dobelli’s paraphrased writing of other’s work, unoriginal and merely articulated for the general public.
This paper will perform a critical analysis of TAOTC based on an in-depth look at the book itself, and research collected via online academic and commercial sources.
Literature Review
About the Author and Publisher Rolf Dobelli is a Swiss born businessman who earned an M.B.A. and Ph.D. in economic philosophy from the University of St. Gallen in 1995 (Rolf Dobelli, 2015). He is the cofounder of getAbstract.com; the world’s largest publisher of compressed business books which offers its members a 5 page abstract that summarizes the key ideas from a business book (How It Works). He is also the founder of ZURICH.MINDS; a non-profit foundation that aspires to bridge the science, business and cultural communities together and whose members include some of the world’s top intellects (Zurich.Minds, 2015). ZURICH.MINDS goal “is to improve the quality of our decisions as private individuals, as role models and as citizens of this planet – and to inspire others to do so” (ZurichMinds).
In 2002, Rolf began writing non-fiction business books and has 6 published to date that were all published in German with TAOTC being the only book translated into English (Rolf Dobelli, 2015). Since his other works were published only in German, all the reviews I found for them were in German as well. I was able to find one summary of his writings, as an author for Paperbackswap noted “he is best known for his philosophical view on business and primarily writes on the search for meaning in the workplace, success and the role of randomness in life” (Search - List of Books by Rolf Dobelli).
Spectre is an imprint of Hodder and Stoughton, which in turn is an imprint of Hachette, the leading publisher in the United Kingdom (Hodder & Stoughton, 2015). Spectre publishes both fiction and non-fiction books with the aim of picking ones that are thought-provoking, entertaining and superbly written; “The kind that cast fresh light on the human experience and are not easily forgotten” (About Sceptre).
Content and Layout
“The Art of” metaphorically suggests that thinking clearly is a refined, delicate and polished rehearsal; leading the reader to assume that they will be more cultured and intelligent after reading it The novel itself is very easy to read with a convenient lay out. Dobelli writes with a transparent tone as evident in the prologue by informing the reader of three important things that should be kept in mind: this is not a complete list of fallacies, the majority of the fallacies are related and he is merely a translator of research completed by others in terms the majority can understand (pg. 4). Dobelli also points out that his wish is that through recognizing some of the biggest errors in thinking; we can experience a leap in prosperity through a reduced amount of irrationality (pg4). Each fallacy is trimly delivered within three-page chapters and allotted metaphorical titles, like “Don’t Take News Anchors Seriously” (pg.51), to help bear correspondence to each bias. Dobelli introduces each fallacy by describing a scenario prefacing example,
Suppose you’re on a bus with forty-nine other people. At the next stop, the heaviest person in America gets on. Question: by how much has the average weight of the passengers increased? Four per cent? Five? Something like that. Suppose the bus stops again, and on gets Bill Gates. This time we are not concerned about weight. Question: by how much has the average wealth risen? Four per cent? Five? Far from it! (pg.169)
In addition to scenarios like this, Dobelli also uses a copious amount of examples from research studies, personal experiences, and referencing from other literature; all to aid the reader in understanding what each bias is and where they may encounter it.
Dobelli most frequently uses business examples relatable to stock market, investment and management decisions,
The company lacks the necessary impetus to fully realise and implement ideas from the development team. Management is made up of experienced industry professionals; however, hints of bureaucratisation are noticeable. A look at the profit and loss statement clearly shows that savings can be made. We advise the company to focus even more closely on emerging economies to secure future market share.’ Sounds about right, no? (pg.198)
Although Dobelli uses many different examples that are relatable with the general population, the reader must have a higher level of acumen for business and finance to truly understand the majority of the cases Dobelli uses. At the end of each fallacy, Dobelli gives a conclusion to tie up all the examples and tips for the reader to elude the fallacy, “Only in few areas can we count on few probabilities” (pg.246). He also lists the biases and page numbers relatable to that fallacy at the end of the chapters. In the epilogue, Dobelli concludes by giving biological history on how our thoughts have ended up being so diverted stating parallels like “our brains are designed to reproduce rather than search for truth” (pg. 309). He then ends his conclusion by giving his personal suggestion that we all have a circle of competence to which we can allow rational thoughts but anything outside that requires rational thinking (pg. 311).
In the back of the book, Dobelli again mentions that all of the material is based off of hundreds of studies performed over the last thirty years. He then provides a web page for a full reference listing and recommended readings (pg.316). Although the site is no longer operational, I was able to track down the list online which provided me with list 2-3 references for each fallacy; ranging from published studies to novels .
Reviews
Reviews for TAOC were mixed and centred around three primary opinions: it was insightful and easy to read, just a plagiarised summary of others work and not well received by certain audiences.
My search for academic reviews led me to linked reviews from Kirkus Reviews, The Wall Street Journal, and The Guardian.
The first review I found was via Kirkus Reviews. The unnamed author gives a brief summary of the book as well as their likes and dislikes. They enjoyed the material but found the solutions too short sighted as evident in their summary, “a mostly valuable compendium of irrational thinking, with a handful of blanket corrective maneuvers” (The Art of Thinking Clearly, 2013).
The next two reviews were written by journalists. Dobelli makes a few references to how journalists fall prey to a few of the biases, such as for the salience effect bias where Dobelli notes “the salience effect ensures that outstanding features receive much more attention than they deserve” (pg.254). He then uses journalism as an example. This did not sit well with Philip Broughton, a Harvard MBA graduate and Oxford alumni (Philip Delves Broughton GoodReads Author, 2015) , and Oliver Burkeman, a Cambridge graduate (Oliver Burkeman, 2015). Both writers begin by referencing a part that displeased them pertaining to journalists “we should give up consuming news, because it encourages errors, stresses people out and wastes their time” (Burkeman, 2013). Each papers tone then turns very defensive, “Now would I be accurate or the victim of confirmation bias to consider these the biographical markers of an intellectual quack?” (Broughton, 2013). Burkeman suggests that Dobelli is condescending to those who value irrationality “the assumption that those who don't share your values aren't just different, but are wandering, confused, in the fog (Burkeman, 2013). Broughton too finds Dobelli condescending and also narrow-minded as evident with his statement “anyone with a more generous and complete view of humanity than these academics with their endless microscopic critiques. They seem to think of humans as robots, to be taken apart and fixed, rather than enjoyed for their chaos” (Broughton, 2013). Dobelli clearly upset both proud journalists.
When searching for commercial reviews on TAOTC, I found a pattern of similarities between them all. Most people found the fallacies helpful and the book easy to read “Easy read - as he describes it, it's an enhanced list of basic fallacies people fall into” (Heidi, 2014). I also found that there were a lot of reviews calling Dobelli a plagiarist and that his work was unoriginal “It can be useful as a starting point for a list of cognitive biases. However, it is mere plagiarism of other texts” (Harris, 2013).
This new information lead me to a blog written by Nassim Nicholas Taleb; a scholar and risk analyst (Nassim Nicholas Taleb, 2015) , who Dobelli mentions in his preface and references greatly throughout TAOTC. Taleb also endorsed the book and is quoted on the back cover.
The blog is Taleb’s response to TAOTC in which he accuses Dobelli of plagiarism. Taleb firsts withdraws his endorsement and apologizes to his readers and then proceeds to define plagiarism and give factual evidence, of his work and others, to where Dobelli infracted. He then concludes his blog condemning Dobelli as a fraud summarizing his evidence “Plagiarism isn't in what you reference but in what you don't” (Taleb).
Looking further into this, I came across a blog written by Christopher Chabris also stating that Dobelli infringed on plagiarism by not referencing properly, which lead Christopher to inform Dobelli of these issues (Chabris, 2013). Dobelli admits to the error and submitted the corrections to the publisher (Chabris, 2013).
I found Dobelli’s responses to Taleb’s and Chabris allegations on his website. Dobelli chronologically dates the series of communications that took place between Taleb, Chabris and himself after the launching of the book, which collaborates with Taleb and Chabris blogs. Dobelli also links press releases and his apology letter to Taleb. Dobelli concludes by stating “I am puzzled and saddened by his change of heart” (Turn of Events).
Critical Analysis
Source
Dobelli is a well-educated entrepreneur that has leveraged his business experiences and intellectual relationships into a writing career. On one side of the spectrum you have a man who is an intelligent academic and a generous student of knowledge; seeking rational wisdom for prosperity and sharing it to those who also value the same. On the other side, is a man that has made a living by means of summarizing the work of others and accused plagiarist. Despite the lengths Dobelli has gone to clear these accusations as well as be both morally and legally transparent, the accusations still puts a little red in his ledger.
Publication
The publication type is a transmission of knowledge through the introduction of new information to the target audience: self-improving business professionals. The key-points in the preface and the short descriptions for each bias all suggest that it is an introductory overview to cognitive psychology. Dobelli’s language requires moderate business/finance acumen as most of his examples are business related. His writing is satirical and entertaining and pushes the reader to be thought-provoking; which is a goal of Spectre. None of the ideas or biases are originally Dobelli’s, but stem from published journals, articles and other novels from leaders in the field of cognitive psychology. That being said as this knowledge is well-known to certain academic circles; Dobelli is attempting to streamline this information so to be understood by all. This is not intended for groups already well versed on the subject or sectors that relish on emotion, such as the media.
Thesis
The thesis for TAOTC is that by just being aware of fallacies that irrationally affect our decisions; we are already well equipped to make better decisions. The thesis did not come across very clear at first which makes Dobelli’s clarification for the intention of the book in the preface (pg.4), all the more helpful. Without reading the preface, the reader is lead to believe that irrational thinking is foolish and leads to bad decisions. The reader may also be misled as the title suggests that the book is a step-by-step how-to process but then only offers band-aid solutions, which are mostly home remedies that have worked for Dobelli. A lot of reviews I looked at could have benefited from reading the preface.
Insights
I was guilty of being thrown off by the title. I am a huge fan of anything psychology and thought it will be more of a how-to behavioral change in my thinking processes. After reading the preface and realizing my assumptions were wrong, I still kept an open mind. Many of the biases I was already familiar with, however, Dobelli’s entertaining and engaging writing style deepened my knowledge of each fallacy. At its conclusion I felt better equipped to recognize my irrational thought behaviors and had a map to other sources if I wished to further explore on the subject.
Discussion
The book delivered as Spectre hoped: entertaining and thought-provoking. I think the books intentions are well served and delivered. Despite the misleading title, it is a great introduction to cognitive errors and awakens readers to some of the biggest irrationalities that can cloud our decisions. I feel as though Dobelli’s primary audience was the general public, but through his own circle of competence, his writing shifted to be more suitable to the business sector. I feel the target audience is well supported by the reviews; those who liked it found it beneficial, while those who didn’t already follow his sources or were defensive journalists. I feel the books foundation aligns with his company getAbstract.com; offering more of a summary then an in-depth look at the material. Although Dobelli is making money by siphoning off the life’s-work of others, this does not come as a surprise given the premise of getAbstract. I do not feel his intent is ill-willed but rather see him as a visionary that has a gift of making the complicated, simple. He respects his sources immensely and sees enough value in their work to publish a book that simplifies the information enough to be understood by all. One of the biases Dobelli mentions is called “Chauffeur Knowledge” (pg.51), where he talks about the difference between having a real deep understanding of a subject and having knowledge based on memory. I feel Dobelli is in-between the two when it comes to being an expert on this subject. He shows a deeper understanding of cognitive behaviors but references the reader to other works to gain deeper understanding of the subject. This makes Dobelli more of a liaison to the cognitive psychology community. Through the principle of ZURICHMINDS and being that liaison, Dobelli is a reliable guide to the truth of the topic, but definitely not an expert.
Conclusion
TAOTC is a good introduction to the world of cognitive biases. Dobelli provides a summarized collection of the most well-known irrational fallacies that have been discovered. It is no surprise that the target audience is the business sector given his history in business, or that the entire body of work was based off of others. Despite the troubles with plagiarism, Dobelli has a gift of taking the complicated and making it simple and relatable. TAOTC achieves its purpose by leaving the reader with a better insight and understanding to irrational biases. It is not for everyone though, as circles outside of its target audience find it condescending too elementary in its field of work.

Works Cited
About Sceptre. (n.d.). Retrieved from Hodder & Stoughton: https://www.hodder.co.uk/Sceptre/About%20Sceptre.page
Broughton, P. D. (2013, May 22). Decision Theories. Retrieved from The Wall Street Journal: http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323582904578484843659432104
Burkeman, O. (2013, May 4). This column will change your life: why Rolf Dobelli isn't thinking clearly. Retrieved from The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/may/04/oliver-burkeman-rolf-dobelli-clear-thinking
Chabris, C. (2013, September 12). Similarities Between Rolf Dobelli's Book and Ours. Retrieved from Christopher Chabris: http://blog.chabris.com/2013/09/similarities-between-rolf-dobellis-book.html
Harris, T. (2013, November 8). Reviews. Retrieved from Goodreads.
Heidi. (2014, December 11). Heidi's Reviews. Retrieved from Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1107926792?book_show_action=true&page=1
Hodder & Stoughton. (2015, March 5). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hodder_%26_Stoughton
How It Works. (n.d.). Retrieved from getAbstract: http://www.getabstract.com/en/how-it-works/howto/
Nassim Nicholas Taleb. (2015, March 12). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nassim_Nicholas_Taleb
Oliver Burkeman. (2015, March 14). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Burkeman
Parrish, S. (2013, September 6). The Art of Thinking Clearly: Guard Against Chauffeur Knowledge; Guarding Against Survivorship Bias. Retrieved from Bamboo Innovator: http://bambooinnovator.com/2013/09/08/the-art-of-thinking-clearly-guard-against-chauffeur-knowledge-guarding-against-survivorship-bias/
Philip Delves Broughton GoodReads Author. (2015). Retrieved from Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1400317.Philip_Delves_Broughton
Rolf Dobelli. (2015, March 2). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolf_Dobelli
Search - List of Books by Rolf Dobelli. (n.d.). Retrieved from PaperBack Swap: http://www.paperbackswap.com/Rolf-Dobelli/author/
Shukla, A. (2013, August 7). The Art of Thinking Clearly. Retrieved from CIO&Leader: http://www.cioandleader.com/features/10357/the-art-of-thinking-clearly
Taleb, N. N. (n.d.). Exposing a Serial Plagiarist: Rolf Dobelli. Retrieved from Fooled by Randomness: http://www.fooledbyrandomness.com/dobelli.htm
The Art of Thinking Clearly. (2013, May 14). Retrieved from Kirkus Reviews: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/rolf-dobelli/the-art-of-thinking-clearly/?gclid=COyftcyqrcQCFYovgQodnlUAjg
Turn of Events. (n.d.). Retrieved from Rolf Dobelli - The Art of Thinking Clearly: http://www.dobelli.com/book-corrections/taleb
Zurich.Minds. (2015, February 17). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zurich.minds
ZurichMinds. (n.d.). Retrieved from ZurichMinds: http://zurichminds.com/
Rolf Dobelli. (2014). Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale. Retrieved from: http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CH1000307381&v=2.1&u=naitl_main&it= r&p=LitRC&sw=w&asid=1e57e1a1798076ea216bab04535a9883
Rolf Dobelli. (2014). In Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale. Retrieved from:
http://go.galegroup.com.libezproxy.nait.ca/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CH1000307381&v=2.1&u=naitl_main&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w&asid=1e57e1a1798076ea216bab04535a9883