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La Lógica Oculta de la Vida

by Tim Harford

3.71 · rating details · 805 ratings · 109 reviews

Life sometimes seems illogical. Individuals do strange things: take drugs, have unprotected sex, mug each other. Love seems irrational, and so does divorce. On a larger scale, life seems no fairer or easier to fathom: Why do some neighborhoods thrive and others become ghettos? Why is racism so persistent? Why is your idiot boss paid a fortune for sitting behind a mahogany ...more

Paperback, 347 pages

Published May 1st 2008 by Temas de Hoy (first published 2006)

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May 26, 2010

Dustin Allison rated it

· review of another edition

I've been trying to increase my understanding of economics lately, and have found myself reading a lot of books like this one. From 'The Undercover Economist' to 'Freakonomics' I feel a lot more informed about the world, but also better equipped to view my surroundings from new perspectives.

This book is no exception. Harford has a knack for delivering complex information to the everyday reader in an entertaining way. Most importantly, he deals with issues that are relevant to the...more

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Mar 18, 2008

Nat rated it

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The explanatory ambition of this book is stunning--Harford offers rational actor explanations of changes in sexual activity, racial segregation in cities, professional poker, the number of people in parks at different times of day, the productivity of cities, the industrial revolution, colonization, and even why human beings eventually triumphed over neanderthals!

Along the way you get informative sketches of major 20th century economists and game theorists and their theories.

...more

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Jan 16, 2012

Rajesh rated it

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Shelves: 2012

I've been reading books on behavioral economics recently and I read this book in the midst. It's fantastic. Tim describes in detail how while irrational behaviors can be seen by amateurs and in isolated incidents, in aggregate and in general an expert's behavior tends to approximate the most rational. He also goes on to describe that this does not necessarily mean that what's rational at individual level translate to what's rational for a group or a society. Recommended.

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Aug 04, 2011

Andy Turner added it · review of another edition

Interesting book which raises various psychological issues in its exploration of rational decision making. Some of the issues raised are set in context with geographical examples, which I like.

The author, Tim Harford, is a self proclaimed economist and he has a website:

http://www.timharford.com

I thought the book was calling for a closer integration of economics into social science research to develop a clearer understanding of the way things work. Maybe this is happening, but nevertheless, I won...more

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Mar 20, 2009

getAbstract rated it

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An economist proves that people are more rational than we think

Economists no longer just propose fiscal policies, forecast business growth, investigate interest rates and assign value to financial assets. Now they also conduct lab experiments, research teenagers’ sexual activities, analyze prostitutes’ condom usage, hypothesize about what happened to the Neanderthals, explain crime waves and develop winning poker strategies. Look under the bed or out the window, and you will probably...more

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Nov 17, 2011

Христо Блажев rated it

· review of another edition

Тим Харфорд шашка с “Нещата от живота и тяхната логика”
http://www.knigolandia.info/2011/11/blog...

Този текст трябваше да бъде ревю на друга книга – “Икономист под прикритие” от същия автор, която току-що излезе на пазара с фантастичната корица от Петър Станимиров, чийто албум “Вдъхновен от Стивън Кинг” май ще си подаря за Коледа, защото още не мога да се добера до копие.
“Икономист”-ът ме преследва в работата от известно време и само ме изкушава да бъде прочетена. Но ...more

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Jun 07, 2011

Deane rated it

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Ever since Stevens, Levitt and Dubner broke into the scene with their enormously popular Freakonomics, there has been a multitude of popular economics books. Books that uses the tools of economics -- the study of incentives, laws of supply and demand, trade-offs -- and apply them to everyday life. The result is often a fun, counterintuitive explanation of how the world works. Dubner and Levitt's most memorable contribution being attributing the decreasing crime rates in the U.S. to legalizing ab...moreEver since Stevens, Levitt and Dubner broke into the scene with their enormously popular Freakonomics, there has been a multitude of popular economics books. Books that uses the tools of economics -- the study of incentives, laws of supply and demand, trade-offs -- and apply them to everyday life. The result is often a fun, counterintuitive explanation of how the world works. Dubner and Levitt's most memorable contribution being attributing the decreasing crime rates in the U.S. to legalizing abortion.

Tim Harford wrote the first of these pop. econ. books -- the undercover economist. A popular book among economics students, perhaps not so much outside the discipline. With his latest work, The Logic of Life : the rational economics of an irrational world, Harford takes on the mainstream.

If you are interested in finding out why your boss is overpaid, why racism is still persistent or why teenage girls are increasingly giving blow jobs to their boyfriends, this book is for you.

Fundamental to Harford's book, is rational choice theory. His argument is not so much that “people are always and everywhere rational”. He admits they aren't. His contention is that people are "rational nearly enough and often enough" to make rational choice, a useful framework to understand the world. "Earth isn't a perfect sphere", writes Harford, "But it's nearly a sphere, and for many purposes the simplification that the Earth is a spherical will do nicely."

If you are thinking Harford imagines human beings as absolutely rational beings, along the lines of the infamous "homo economious" or the "economic man" capable of sophisticated reasoning, you are wrong. Harford is deeply aware that human beings are motivated by all kinds of human emotions. He writes, "These motivations are not financial, and not always selfish -- but our responses to them are national. As any teenager will remind you, no less planning, calculating, strategizing goes on about maters of heart than about the matters of the wallet."

Harford surveys the the work of number of economists, experiments involving human beings to lab rats, and data involving house prices to blow-job rates to answer the most interesting of questions. Why do more women live in the cities? why do racial minorities self-segregate? Why do voters choose bad politicians? and why do more and more teenage girls go down on their boyfriends? To all of this, there is a rational answer.

Ask that last question from any Sri Lankan TV-intellectual and they would give the standard western-culture-destroying-our-culture explanation. Social scientists might similarly offer more sophisticated versions of the same story. Ask an economist (or at least Tim Harford) and the explanation is simple. The American "blow job epidemic", according to Harford, is a rational response to changing incentives. When costs or benefits of something change, people change their behavior. Thanks to sex education, many teenagers (at least in the U.S.) know that regular sex has real risks -- they are much more aware of not just about the risk of pregnancy, but the risks associated with sexually transmitted diseases which comes with penetrative sex. Comparatively, oral sex has less risks or as Harford puts it, "The costs of oral sex are, quite simply, lower than the costs of regular sex". Teenage girls weigh these costs and benefits -- not always consciously -- before going down on their boyfriends. The result is while the rate of penetrative sex among teenagers in the U.S. is going down, the popularity of oral sex is on the rise.

The Logic of Life, is full of this type of fun and provoking ways of explaining things based on hard data. You might think that much of the stories in the book doesn't apply to places like Sri Lanka. Certainly, some of it doesn't, but a lot of it, (especially the chapter about "rational racism" and politics) does. Harford's logic of life is smart, well-written and a joy to read. I you liked Freakonomics, you'll love this one. Even if you didn't, you'll still like it.

For more (admittedly better) reviews, visit the Book's website. Harford, like many economists of this genre maintains an engaging blog, which I read often. Unfortunately, I haven't seen the book in Sri Lanka as yet. You can order it from amazon. For some excerpts from the chapter about love and marriage, see this slate article.(less)

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Apr 25, 2011

H. Ric rated it

· review of another edition

This is an educational and entertaining dissertation on "rational economics," a newer branch of the "dismal science." It purports to show that much of what we often judge as irrational behavior is not, at least not from the actor's perspective. Which is not to say that it is good for the larger society. The book is a non-technical in that it has no equations or charts, but it delves into some subtle concepts in economics and game theory. A real pean to Thomas Schelling, t...more

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Jan 21, 2010

Garrett rated it

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Of all the pop economics books I've read (at least 3!) in the last few years, this is my current favorite. Asserting that people act rationally -- conventional economic wisdom for 300 years -- is unconventional again, and this book does a nice job of putting that in some perspective.

It's most notable for its survey of economic work that identifies off-beat, or less-visible "incentives" that cause people to behave as they do. It also provides a useful contrast to the econ...more

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Oct 25, 2009

kevin rated it

· review of another edition

I like this type of book, but sometimes it feels like pseudoscience. What the heck! It was insightful to be introduced to Kahneman and Tversky in a book like say Against the Gods, and then to have it rebutted in the first few chapters of this book.

While I may enjoy it, it is going to leave me a little like freakonomics, i.e., a good book but not quite a classic.

After reading it, I must say it is looking like a lesser book than freakonomics. Afterall, freakonomics was ...more

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Jan 11, 2011

Mangoo rated it

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Questo secondo volume Harford mantiene le aspettative sollevate dal precedente. Altri comportamenti apparentemente paradossali vengono spiegati e fatti comprendere alla luce di un comportamento economico "logico", addirittura spesso inevitabile. L'accento si sposta sulle applicazioni della teoria dei giochi (all'ombra dei contrapposti giganti del campo, Von Neuman e Schelling) ancor piu' che nel precedente volume: speed dating, inurbazione, progresso delle popolazioni, promozioni e sti...more

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Dec 19, 2011

Leon rated it

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Shelves: economics

A grandiose title that tells you this book is a little more ambitious than "The Undercover Economist". Harford writes with passion and urgency, defending rational choice theory as a useful framework for predicting in the majority of cases how the majority of people behave. Because people change their behaviours in response to incentives (and these include non-financial ones), rational choice theory also lends itself well to policymaking.

Someone needs to write about how those...more

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Oct 23, 2011

Void lon iXaarii rated it

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The author is back undercover, with another brilliantly written well researched book of analysis of everything all around us. Fascinating analysis of incentives and realities in our every day life, ranging from neighborhood issues, teen sexuality and gambling through racism, real estate and big scale social changes. Fascinating stuff. Even knowing about this very interesting way of making sense of seemingly random life elements I'm again blown away by how many things he's able to explain and rea...more

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Feb 28, 2011

Ross rated it

· review of another edition

Very disappointing. Very shallow and simplistic.
Fairly early in the book I reached the statement that the author's morning coffee habit and an addition to heroin are basically the same thing, just different in a matter of degree.
If I had the book from the library I would have given up at that point, but having paid for the book I soldiered on, unfortunately, hoping for something better to turn up. No such luck. The book ends with a ridiculous speculation about why the Neanderthals w...more

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Jun 15, 2011

Rachel rated it

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Shelves: most-engaging-nonfiction

Harford books are well-written, engaging, and funny. If you loved the Freakonomics books, are a Malcolm Gladwell fan, and want more, I wholeheartedly recommend these.

The Logic of Life is a great read, with a thesis that I like, although it isn't breaking news. Basically, Harford points out that, even when people seem crazy and stupid, they're usually acting rationally and responding to incentives.

It definitely reads a bit like a collection of articles that was tweaked t...more

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Mar 15, 2011

Qi Zeng rated it

· review of another edition

Through the audible version of this book, I found it a quick and easy read. It does contain several interesting stories about various esoteric aspects of life that rarely discussed in economics terms. It does provide some food for thought and a good beach reading (if the detective stories and romantic tales not your kind of thing there) as it does not require deep concentration or active thinking. Sort of intellectual spoon-feeding; the best kind for summer vacations without the guilt of complet...more

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Jan 29, 2012

Xox rated it

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The first book I read by Tim Harford.

He has a way of telling stories based on economic and statistics. Which is a good thing as we could really relate to them without doing the research or the math.

The discovery is surprising as it is the everything stuff that we are now more aware of, because of his explanation.

As his target audience is the average person, it is consider a fun and easy read.

It is important read, if you haven't read an econ book ...more

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Nov 28, 2011

Greg Linster rated it

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According to Tim Harford, the world makes more sense than you might think. In his follow up to The Undercover Economist he argues for the merits of rational choice theory in The Logic of Life. In other words, there are logical reasons behind even the most obscure decisions we encounter in daily life. Economic rationale can be found in the strangest of places; the prostitute market in Mexico and the pay structure of your workplace are two such examples discussed in the book. Fans of Freakonom...moreAccording to Tim Harford, the world makes more sense than you might think. In his follow up to The Undercover Economist he argues for the merits of rational choice theory in The Logic of Life. In other words, there are logical reasons behind even the most obscure decisions we encounter in daily life. Economic rationale can be found in the strangest of places; the prostitute market in Mexico and the pay structure of your workplace are two such examples discussed in the book. Fans of Freakonomics will undoubtedly love this style of writing.

The classical economists toolkit would be useless without the assumption that people behave rationally. The last few pop-econ books I've read have challenged that assumption and were predicated on the advancements of behavioral economics, which suggests that we often behave irrationally for a myriad of reasons. In an entertaining way, Harford illustrates that we might just be more rational than behavioral economists give us credit for; we may in fact jump the gun on labeling behavior irrational.

Harford writes: "If you believe that ordinary people aren't rational, first try to outthink them. It may not be as easy you expected."

Essentially, there is a hidden logic to everything in Harford's eyes. He asserts that people respond to incentives; when it becomes more costly to do something, they will tend to do less. Oral sex amongst teenagers is one such phenomena discussed in the book. Only an economist could enjoy discussing the cost-benefit calculations running through the minds of sexually charged teens. Needless to say, I found his wit to be quite entertaining.

One of the more important points made in the book is that behaving rationally individually can lead to undesirable social outcomes. Racism is one such example. There are two types of racism described in the book: bigotry (taste-based) and rational racism (statistical). While it's quite unsettling, it's interesting to learn that one form of racism is contrived in economic logic. Rational racism can be profitable. If we don't analyze this rational logic and the incentive structure that creates it, then we will never be able to cure horrible societal ills like racism.

If the pop-econ genre strikes your fancy than this book is well worth reading; or, if you simply want to know why your boss is overpaid it's probably worth reading too.(less)

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Jun 29, 2011

Mark Russell rated it

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Shelves: social-science-economics

A frequently fascinating, tightly reasoned entry in the gonzo economist movement which has become all the rage in the last ten years.

Now for the mandatory comparison to Freakonomics: Though not as hyped or flashy as Levitt & Dubner's growing franchise, like them Harford applies the methodology of economics in answering questions about social values and human nature. And in many instances, The Logic of Life is more challenging and meticulously researched than his genre's more popular co...moreA frequently fascinating, tightly reasoned entry in the gonzo economist movement which has become all the rage in the last ten years.

Now for the mandatory comparison to Freakonomics: Though not as hyped or flashy as Levitt & Dubner's growing franchise, like them Harford applies the methodology of economics in answering questions about social values and human nature. And in many instances, The Logic of Life is more challenging and meticulously researched than his genre's more popular counterpart.

I particularly enjoyed the chapter on true love, which answers the question of whether there is one Mr or Mrs Right out there waiting for us, or whether we merely settle for the best available of mostly bad options. Not surprisingly, whatever people tell you, their behavior points emphatically to the latter. One of the more ingenious empirical studies that supports this conclusion was performed at a London speed-dating bar. Harford surveyed thousands of daters, asking them to rate their counterparts' attractiveness and whether or not they'd be willing to go out with that person. He found that there were often significant swings in the attractiveness ratings of daters, there were "slow days" when the overall calibre of the daters dipped significantly, and there were great swings in how attracted the daters were to their matched partners. The interesting thing was that people averaged right around two selections of people they'd go out with, regardless of whether it was one of those slow days on which the field was decidedly less attractive to them, and despite the wide difference in quality that might exist between their first and second choices. I guess it never hurts to have a backup plan.

One of the more troubling chapters deals with "rational racism," or racist behaviors that become entrenched as people respond rationally to incentives created by a racist environment. In the most jaw-dropping segment of the book, Harford describes how Thomas Schelling, one of the early pioneers of Game Theory, used a checkers game to demonstrate why segregation perpetuates itself, even after laws and attitudes requiring racial segregation have faded.

It turns out that the prime mover behind segregation isn't a virulent hatred of other races so much as a benign, but no less powerful desire to live in a neighborhood where you're not outnumbered by members of another race. Schelling found that an equally mixed neighborhood could coexist in perpetuity without significant flight by either whites or blacks. But as a significant numerical advantage developed (in either direction) the minority would begin selling houses en masse to move to neighborhoods where they weren't outnumbered.

To illustrate this phenomenon in action, Schelling created a checkerboard that was equally pepppered with red and black checkers in a state of pure racial harmony. Then he would remove a few of the checkers at random and imbued the checkers with human prejudices. Checkers that were surrounded mostly or in equal numbers by their own would stay put, but checkers that were surrounded on three sides or more by the other checker color would move to a space where they weren't surrounded.

The results were chilling. Even though the game may start with only two or three of these racist checker bastards putting their square up for sale and moving, their movement resulted in more checkers being surrounded by hostiles, which then moved, forcing even more checkers to defect, precipitating a cascade of checker moves to the depths of one side of the board or the other.

No matter what checkers he removed at the beginning of the game, the end result was always the same: complete segregation with red checkers on one side of the board and black on the other, and just a few remaining on the border in equally mixed enclaves of enlightened checker communities.

Though some chapters are certainly stronger than others, I definitely found The Logic of Life a worthy claim on my limited reading time, and I think fans of Levitt and Dubner and Malcolm Gladwell would also enjoy this read. (less)

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Feb 13, 2008

Christine rated it

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Shelves: nonfiction

This book looks to be interesting, in a similar vein to Freakonomics.

BUT: I'm on page 4 of chapter 1, and my hackles are already up. Why? Because of the term "regular sex" being used interchangeably with "penetrative sex," specifically excluding "oral sex" as being "regular". It's a little better than if the term "normal sex" was used... but not by much. It seems all the more strange since part of the author's point is that the ...more

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Jul 23, 2011

Alan added it · review of another edition

Good book. It's a quick read. It argues that a lot of behavior that we might figure is irrational, like aspects of racism, often turns out to be a rational response to incentives. Sometimes it's a happy surprise, like imminent no-fault divorce laws causing domestic violence to drop by one third. Sometimes it's depressing, like the rationality of some racism. But his point I think is that the more one understands what is going on, the more able one is to fix it.

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Dec 07, 2010

Kirsty Darbyshire rated it

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Shelves: library-book

I heard Tim Harford on Start the Week a month or three back - I can't remember what he said now but it was interesting enough for me to order his book from the library. When the book turned up I wasn't convinced that I was going to find it that enthralling but I ended up loving it.

This is all about how the world is shaped by pretty much everyone making rational choices about the world around them and yet we end up with some things, like rough neighbourhoods or overpaid bosses, that don't appear

...more

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Aug 02, 2010

Yoshinga rated it

· review of another edition

Tim Harford gave his explanation of heaps of statistical facts, historical facts, and everyday observations: It's in the math. Silly us, we should have known better... I disagree with many of his views but I find it fun to explore with him. The writing is a bit dry at times, but it is just the nature of the content. Overall, a fun read if you have a twisted mind like me and by that I mean you are open to some different ways of looking at things

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Jun 02, 2010

Joanna rated it

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This book is worth the read just for the interesting points Harford makes on how we rationalize "economic worth" in our daily lives. However, this book tends to be interesting for a couple pages, followed by a bunch of dry and overly described points. I guess this would be a fun read for someone who actually likes economics but it took me quite a long time. Maybe some spark notes on the fun parts would have been more up my alley...

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Aug 20, 2010

Rebecca rated it

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Chapter Seven, "The World is Spiky" was my favorite. Main points included that "ideas in the air"/exchange between people are greater in big cities with more diversity in professional areas, as well as racial populations. So cities like NYC and LA are preferable to cities with big companies like Seattle or small firms in concentrated field like Boston. Technology only aids the interactions, doesn't make geography moot.

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Feb 08, 2008

Carl rated it

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A book I wish I owned, The Logic of Life is a great follow up to The Undercover Economist, the author's previous effort. In this book, Tim Harford examines how rational choices make the world go round. Fascinating examples abound including how teenagers recently (and rationally) prefer oral sex to old fashioned sex after weighing the risks and benefits of each. And how the 2000 World Series of Poker Champion used game theory to sew up his victory. There is enough intellectually challenging mate...more

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Aug 30, 2009

Michael rated it

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Shelves: economic, pop-culture

If you accept rational choice theory, which I think is plausible, then this book makes a lot of sense. The author's style is very entertaining. He is also so clear that once he explained the theory and approach, I could almost predict what each chapter would contain. The author also stayed on topic and supported his arguments well. He has other books out there, so I will eventually check them out.

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Jan 30, 2012

Jonathan Karmel rated it

· review of another edition

There was a lot of thought-provoking material here, but I thought the author jumped around to various topics without much rhyme or reason. The author describes all human behavior as logical and rational, but I think he should define what he means. Just because something can be explained, I don't think it is necessarily logical or rational. Very similar explanations are used in Dan Ariely's book called Predictably Irrational. I thought the chapter about the "marriage market" was very in...more

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Feb 15, 2011

Banafsheh Serov rated it

· review of another edition

The book opened promisingly but soon fell away when the author ran out of interesting things to say and had to resort to passages and examples that held little fascination. I suppose if one had to argue the logic of it, one could say Harford had to fatten his word count to justify charging the advance he wanted for the book.

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Mar 16, 2009

Dan MacTough rated it

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A less insightful repeat of Freakonomics. Like Freakonomics, the author uses economics, game theory, etc. to illuminate the logic behind seemingly illogical choices people (or groups) make. However, it seemed like the author chose his case studies at the outset of the book principally to demonstrate how cool he is. His studies got better as the book progressed, but having already read Freakonomics, I can't say I learned anything new.

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About Tim Harford

Tim Harford is a member of the Financial Times editorial board. His column, “The Undercover Economist”, which reveals the economic ideas behind everyday experiences, is published in the Financial Times and syndicated around the world. He is also the only economist in the world to run a problem page, “Dear Economist”, in which FT readers’ personal problems are answered tongue-in-cheek with the late...more

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