Synopses & Reviews
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.
Review
"An ingenious guide to outsmarting others by predicting their choices when they are trying to be unpredictable." -- Kirkus (Starred Review)
Review
Praise for
Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google?"Delightful, fun, and worth a read." --Seth Godin
Review
Praise for Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google?
"Poundstone displays his scientific knowledge, mathematical fluency, and knack for explaining the arcane in playfully precise sentences."--Bloomberg Businessweek
Review
"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
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"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
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"Incredibly gratifying....There's an art to these invasive questions, as Poundstone reveals in this neat little manifesto."--New Scientist
Review
"Delightful, fun, and worth a read."--Seth Godin
About the Author
William Poundstone is the author of thirteen previous books, including
Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google?, How Would You Move Mount Fuji?, and
Fortune's Formula. He has written for the
New York Times, Harper's, Harvard Business Review, and the
Village Voice, among other publications, and is a frequent guest on TV and radio. He lives in Los Angeles. Follow Poundstone on Twitter (@WPoundstone) and learn more at his website, home.williampoundstone.net.