NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the Nobel Prize-winning author of Thinking, Fast and Slow and the coauthor of Nudge, a revolutionary exploration of why people make bad judgments and how to make better ones—"a tour de force” (New York Times). Imagine that two doctors in the same city give different diagnoses to identical patients—or that two judges in the same courthouse give markedly different sentences to people who have committed the same crime. Suppose that different interviewers at the same firm make different decisions about indistinguishable job applicants—or that when a company is handling customer complaints, the resolution depends on who happens to answer the phone. Now imagine that the same doctor, the same judge, the same interviewer, or the same customer service agent makes different decisions depending on whether it is morning or afternoon, or Monday rather than Wednesday. These are examples of noise: variability in judgments that should be identical. In Noise, Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony, and Cass R. Sunstein show the detrimental effects of noise in many fields, including medicine, law, economic forecasting, forensic science, bail, child protection, strategy, performance reviews, and personnel selection. Wherever there is judgment, there is noise. Yet, most of the time, individuals and organizations alike are unaware of it. They neglect noise. With a few simple remedies, people can reduce both noise and bias, and so make far better decisions. Packed with original ideas, and offering the same kinds of research-based insights that made Thinking, Fast and Slow and Nudge groundbreaking New York Times bestsellers, Noise explains how and why humans are so susceptible to noise in judgment—and what we can do about it.
The Sunday Times bestseller (May 2021)
'A tour de force of scholarship and clear writing'
New York Times
'This is a monumental, gripping book. It is also bracing ... The three authors have transformed the way we think about the world. They have looked beneath and beyond the way we make decisions and organise our lives. A follow-up of sorts to Thinking, Fast and Slow, it is a further step down the road towards a more complex and realistic grasp of human affairs that is replacing the crude simplifications of the recent past. Outstanding'
Sunday Times
'As you'd expect from its authors, it is a rigorous approach to an important topic... There's lots to surprise and entertain. Anyone who has found the literature on cognitive biases important will find this a valuable addition to their knowledge' Danny Finkelstein, The Times
'Noise is everywhere and is seriously disruptive. The authors have come up with a bold solution. The book is a satisfying journey through a big but not unsolvable problem, with plenty of fascinating case studies along the way. Humans are often bad at making decisions. But we can get better'
Martha Gill, Evening Standard
'The greatest source of ineffective policies are often not biases, corruption or ill-will, but three "I": Intuition, Ignorance and Inertia. This book masterfully demonstrates why the three "I" are so pervasive, and what we can do to fight them. An essential, eye opening read'
Esther Duflo, winner of a 2019 Nobel Prize
'In Noise, the authors brilliantly apply their unique and novel insights into the flaws in human judgment to every sphere of human endeavour... Noise is a masterful achievement and a landmark in the field of psychology'
Philip E. Tetlock, co-author of Superforecasting
'An electrifying exploration of the human mind, this book will permanently change the way we think about the scale and scope of bias'
David Lammy
'A tour de force of scholarship and clear writing'
New York Times
'This is a monumental, gripping book. It is also bracing ... The three authors have transformed the way we think about the world. They have looked beneath and beyond the way we make decisions and organise our lives. A follow-up of sorts to Thinking, Fast and Slow, it is a further step down the road towards a more complex and realistic grasp of human affairs that is replacing the crude simplifications of the recent past. Outstanding'
Sunday Times
'As you'd expect from its authors, it is a rigorous approach to an important topic... There's lots to surprise and entertain. Anyone who has found the literature on cognitive biases important will find this a valuable addition to their knowledge' Danny Finkelstein, The Times
'Noise is everywhere and is seriously disruptive. The authors have come up with a bold solution. The book is a satisfying journey through a big but not unsolvable problem, with plenty of fascinating case studies along the way. Humans are often bad at making decisions. But we can get better'
Martha Gill, Evening Standard
'The greatest source of ineffective policies are often not biases, corruption or ill-will, but three "I": Intuition, Ignorance and Inertia. This book masterfully demonstrates why the three "I" are so pervasive, and what we can do to fight them. An essential, eye opening read'
Esther Duflo, winner of a 2019 Nobel Prize
'In Noise, the authors brilliantly apply their unique and novel insights into the flaws in human judgment to every sphere of human endeavour... Noise is a masterful achievement and a landmark in the field of psychology'
Philip E. Tetlock, co-author of Superforecasting
'An electrifying exploration of the human mind, this book will permanently change the way we think about the scale and scope of bias'
David Lammy







