Overview

People often follow intuitive principles of decision making, ranging from group loyalty to the belief that nature is benign. But instead of using these principles as rules of thumb, we often treat them as absolutes and ignore the consequences of following them blindly. In Judgment Misguided, Jonathan Baron explores our well-meant and deeply felt personal intuitions about what is right and wrong, and how they affect the public domain. Baron argues that when these intuitions are valued in their own right, rather than as a means to another end, they often prevent us from achieving the results we want. Focusing on cases where our intuitive principles take over public decision making, the book examines some of our most common intuitions and the ways they can be misused. According to Baron, we can avoid these problems by paying more attention to the effects of our decisions. Written in a accessible style, the book is filled with compelling case studies, such as abortion, nuclear power, immigration, and the decline of the Atlantic fishery, among others, which illustrate a range of intuitions and how they impede the public's best interests. Judgment Misguided will be important reading for those involved in public decision making, and researchers and students in psychology and the social sciences, as well as everyone looking for insight into the decisions that affect us all.

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9780195111088

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Jon Baron insightfully connects ground breaking work on how we make decisions with contemporary public policy issues. The integration is brilliant. This book should be required reading for students of public policy. The world would be a better place if all government officials read this book. The ideas in this book can save thousands of lives, billions of dollars, and bring sanity to the legislative process. --Max H. Bazerman, J. Jay Gerber Distinguished Professor, Dispute Resolution and Organizations, Northwestern University<br> This is a bold and important book. . . . a must read for policymakers. Psychologists who fret that their field has had too few public policy implications have only to read this book. Nobody does this meshing of empirical psychology, philosophy, and social policy better than Jonathan Baron. --Keith E. Stanovich, Professor of Human Development and Applied Psychology, University of Toronto<br>

Jon Baron insightfully connects ground breaking work on how we make decisions with contemporary public policy issues. The integration is brilliant. This book should be required reading for students of public policy. The world would be a better place if all government officials read this book. The ideas in this book can save thousands of lives, billions of dollars, and bring sanity to the legislative process. -Max H. Bazerman, J. Jay Gerber Distinguished Professor, Dispute Resolution and Organizations, Northwestern University

Jon Baron insightfully connects ground breaking work on how we make decisions with contemporary public policy issues. The integration is brilliant. This book should be required reading for students of public policy. The world would be a better place if all government officials read this book. The ideas in this book can save thousands of lives, billions of dollars, and bring sanity to the legislative process. --Max H. Bazerman, J. Jay Gerber Distinguished Professor, Dispute Resolution and Organizations, Northwestern University This is a bold and important book. . . . a must read for policymakers. Psychologists who fret that their field has had too few public policy implications have only to read this book. Nobody does this meshing of empirical psychology, philosophy, and social policy better than Jonathan Baron. --KeithE. Stanovich, Professor of Human Development and Applied Psychology, University of Toronto

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