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How to Find a Black Cat in a Dark Room (especially when there is no cat): The Psychology of Intuition, Influence, Decision Making and Trust
HOW TO FIND A BLACK CAT IN A DARK ROOM IS ABOUT THE THINGS MONEY JUST CAN'T BUY. "An entertaining journey to the peaks and valleys of human nature. Research from cognitive and social psychology you can apply in your day-to-day life." Rolf Dobelli, bestselling author of The Art of Thinking ClearlyVenture capitalist turned author and social activist, Jacob Burak, uses the metaphor of trying to find a black cat in a dark room to express just how hard it can be for us to "see" clearly what would make us whole and happy, both as individuals and as a society., His book combines the latest behavioural science with a deep social awareness garnered on the battlefields of tech investing to demonstrate a crucial finding: we are not nearly as smart or as rational as we think we are. Only by understanding our flawed human nature can we hope to reach our goalsin life, business and politics. Originally published in Hebrew, this is the first translation of this international bestseller into English.
- GenresPsychologyNonfiction
275 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
19 people are currently reading
464 people want to read
About the author
Jacob Burak
8 books5 followersJacob Burak is a Tel Aviv-based writer who draws from psychology, science and art to examine life and human nature. Since retiring from his business career in 2005, Burak has authored four bestsellers: Do Chimpanzees Dream of Retirement (2007), Noise (2009), Why Kamikaze Pilots Wear Helmets (2011) and How to Find a Black Cat in a Dark Room (2013). Burak holds a BSc in Engineering and Management from the Technion and studied management at Harvard. He is active in social causes, including the Midot organization that rates the effectiveness of NGOs, and Round-up Israel, which enables credit card users to donate fractions of their purchases. In 2013, Burak founded Alaxon a digital magazine featuring articles on culture, art and popular science, where he writes regularly.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 5, 2023
This book is the first one I read from Jacob Burak and it was well-written, easy-to-understand and interesting. The author has included a lot of essays from various scientific sources and tries to examine human nature.
It’s a useful book and it can actually help you improve your life.
It’s a useful book and it can actually help you improve your life.
December 28, 2017
This book is more of an introductory work to cognitive science and touches upon a lot of concepts while diving deep into none. That being said it is perfect for someone trying to gain an overview of the field but might not appeal to advanced readers. A lot of the studies cited here also appear in several other books on the subject, and hence advanced readers might find it repetitive. Similar content appears in 'Blink' and 'David and Goliath' where I felt it was easier to digest simply due to the elaborateness. Due to the brevity of the content, this book might not be the best place to start off exploring the world of cognitive science. My suggestion is read this once you've read one or two books in the area so you may better appreciate the content.
August 29, 2019
I couldn’t finish this. It was all over the place with no cohesion. There were some interesting parts, but I got the feeling each chapter was a book report. The version I was reading was also a translation to English that tended to be imprecise with language. Some sentences took a few readings to get the intent.
Read
June 12, 2020people don't remember what you said
They just remember how you made them feel
They just remember how you made them feel
February 1, 2020
Lots of information in this book which mainly quotes other books by authors such as Caroline Dweck, Daniel Kahneman and and Malcolm Gladwell.
Book mentions a lot about willpower. You have a certain amount of will power each day, this runs out the more you use it (so use it wisely). Find out what is important to you and use your willpower to devote to that task. Puts forward an argument against perfectionism in relation to poor use of willpower.
Hope is important, in essence if you have hope and positive feelings towards the future the degree of effort that you will put in will be much greater than those who are hopeless towards the future. Mentions scientific studies that back this up. Aim for a combination of desire and direction to have optimum achievement.
Quotes study by a palliative care nurse that outlines when people are dying they regret mainly not being true to themselves, doing what other people want and not spending enough time with friends and family.
Intentional outcome discusses this concept and the difference between intention and outcome. People have different opinions on whether to focus on intention or outcome, it usually depends on the situation. Say a spaceship the mission destination (the outcome) is what most would look for rather than the intention.
This is very different when applied to your own goals - for these try not to place your emphasis on outcome. For example if you're pursuing your own goal such as generating wealth really you should place your own emphasis on intention as this is what you can control the intention. Often the outcome has numerous different external factors that interplay which ultimately you can't control.
Same principle applies when you play sport. Focus on your technique such as swinging the bat rather than the potential effect of that swing, which could be winning a tournament. If you focus on your technique you are more likely to succeed under pressure.
Book builds upon this by relating the focus on intention to parenting. Suggests when you're giving children praise do this for their effort rather than the outcome they achieve. This is seemingly beneficial to them in the long term (for the same principle that they can control their effort / intention but not the outcome).
Humility is a good characteristic to possess, it can be hard to measure. In essence if you're willing to come and meet people and tasks with an open mind knowing that you will have new things to learn you possess humility. If you approach people and tasks with arrogance and believe you already know everything then you are very unlikely to have humility. Remember in the past it may be that you've simply be lucky before (in terms of your successful outcomes)! Book tries to back up this statement by mentioning the concept of regression to the mean. Later contains an argument against egotism by stating there is an optimum equilibrium between both helping yourselves and helping others, but both are necessary.
Book mentions lots of studies about problems with evidence in terms of eyewitness accounts, fingerprint analysis and when an expert is told a certain thing the impact of this will have on their analysis. Seeing a weapon at the scene seemingly means the witness is less likely to obtain a positive identification in an ID parade. Regarding ID parades the witness is less likely to select accurately the perpetrator if shown all the possibilities at the same point as opposed to being show each potential suspect individually. If you are ever in the unfortunate position of being accused of a crime this book would be an excellent source to find references that could challenge evidence and help the judge or jury's decision making process.
What you are told about someone has an effect on how you evaluate them. For example in a study prior to a lecture half the students were informed the new lecturer was warm, half cold. They saw the same lecture but the feedback provided about the warm lecturer was more generous. Try to be warm and competent. If you are cold yet competent people won't like you. If you are warm and incompetent people people tend to feel sorry for you.
Mentions the concept of hawks (very critical) and doves (very positive) in terms of asking questions and providing feedback. Hawks give their points more strongly. Outlines about how people are willing to gamble to try to overcome a definite loss, whereas the opposite is not true, if you had a definite gain your less likely to gamble to win more. (Kahneman , loss aversion)
The Matthew effect, named from the Bible “For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath” (Matthew 25:29) is that the person who is good at something keeps getting better. A rich person will continue to become richer, a poor person will become poorer. The child who is good at reading will read more and become much better, in part due to additional encouragement they receive.
A bureaucrat is extremely risk averse and want the status quo to remain. The only way to move a bureaucrat is to point out a bigger risk if no action is taken. A bureaucrat is the opposite of an entrepreneur. The bureaucrat wants to make the possible taking impossible, whereas the entrepreneur gain by taking risks and tries to make the impossible possible.
Includes an interesting study about baboons and stress levels. Researchers examined stress levels in school and noted that when a family member dies the stress hormone goes up. However in the most socially connected ones this decreases sooner, in part as they have made new connections outwith the family.
Interesting study about individualism and culture differences. For example people in America if they were given a selection of pens to choose from they tend to choose the rarer unique colour, whereas people in Korea tend to select the most common colour. Suggests that Koreans are encouraged to believe they are one of a large group, whereas in the West there has been a rise of narcissism and people thinking they're important. Suggests an interestingly metric to measure individualism at a population level, this relates to the number of unique names that are occurring on the basis that the greater the number of unique names the more the people believe they are individuals. The numerator is the top 20 common names, the denominator being all other names, this fraction is smaller in societies which promote individualism.
Information about trust is contained which is described as a self-reinforcing circle, of note trust is sadly declining with a rise in narcissism. If you have trust in others you generally have a better life. When you are giving trust it is best to give 100-percent, rather than partial trust which can backfire. Makes this suggestion and backs this up with various experiments relating to money. Suggests that firstborns siblings are more likely to exhibit rivalry than their other siblings. Argues that rivals are more similar to yourself than you may believe. The rival may represent underlying behaviours that you have and don't want, which you are trying to repress these behaviours are also known as your shadow.
Book mentions a lot about willpower. You have a certain amount of will power each day, this runs out the more you use it (so use it wisely). Find out what is important to you and use your willpower to devote to that task. Puts forward an argument against perfectionism in relation to poor use of willpower.
Hope is important, in essence if you have hope and positive feelings towards the future the degree of effort that you will put in will be much greater than those who are hopeless towards the future. Mentions scientific studies that back this up. Aim for a combination of desire and direction to have optimum achievement.
Quotes study by a palliative care nurse that outlines when people are dying they regret mainly not being true to themselves, doing what other people want and not spending enough time with friends and family.
Intentional outcome discusses this concept and the difference between intention and outcome. People have different opinions on whether to focus on intention or outcome, it usually depends on the situation. Say a spaceship the mission destination (the outcome) is what most would look for rather than the intention.
This is very different when applied to your own goals - for these try not to place your emphasis on outcome. For example if you're pursuing your own goal such as generating wealth really you should place your own emphasis on intention as this is what you can control the intention. Often the outcome has numerous different external factors that interplay which ultimately you can't control.
Same principle applies when you play sport. Focus on your technique such as swinging the bat rather than the potential effect of that swing, which could be winning a tournament. If you focus on your technique you are more likely to succeed under pressure.
Book builds upon this by relating the focus on intention to parenting. Suggests when you're giving children praise do this for their effort rather than the outcome they achieve. This is seemingly beneficial to them in the long term (for the same principle that they can control their effort / intention but not the outcome).
Humility is a good characteristic to possess, it can be hard to measure. In essence if you're willing to come and meet people and tasks with an open mind knowing that you will have new things to learn you possess humility. If you approach people and tasks with arrogance and believe you already know everything then you are very unlikely to have humility. Remember in the past it may be that you've simply be lucky before (in terms of your successful outcomes)! Book tries to back up this statement by mentioning the concept of regression to the mean. Later contains an argument against egotism by stating there is an optimum equilibrium between both helping yourselves and helping others, but both are necessary.
Book mentions lots of studies about problems with evidence in terms of eyewitness accounts, fingerprint analysis and when an expert is told a certain thing the impact of this will have on their analysis. Seeing a weapon at the scene seemingly means the witness is less likely to obtain a positive identification in an ID parade. Regarding ID parades the witness is less likely to select accurately the perpetrator if shown all the possibilities at the same point as opposed to being show each potential suspect individually. If you are ever in the unfortunate position of being accused of a crime this book would be an excellent source to find references that could challenge evidence and help the judge or jury's decision making process.
What you are told about someone has an effect on how you evaluate them. For example in a study prior to a lecture half the students were informed the new lecturer was warm, half cold. They saw the same lecture but the feedback provided about the warm lecturer was more generous. Try to be warm and competent. If you are cold yet competent people won't like you. If you are warm and incompetent people people tend to feel sorry for you.
Mentions the concept of hawks (very critical) and doves (very positive) in terms of asking questions and providing feedback. Hawks give their points more strongly. Outlines about how people are willing to gamble to try to overcome a definite loss, whereas the opposite is not true, if you had a definite gain your less likely to gamble to win more. (Kahneman , loss aversion)
The Matthew effect, named from the Bible “For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath” (Matthew 25:29) is that the person who is good at something keeps getting better. A rich person will continue to become richer, a poor person will become poorer. The child who is good at reading will read more and become much better, in part due to additional encouragement they receive.
A bureaucrat is extremely risk averse and want the status quo to remain. The only way to move a bureaucrat is to point out a bigger risk if no action is taken. A bureaucrat is the opposite of an entrepreneur. The bureaucrat wants to make the possible taking impossible, whereas the entrepreneur gain by taking risks and tries to make the impossible possible.
Includes an interesting study about baboons and stress levels. Researchers examined stress levels in school and noted that when a family member dies the stress hormone goes up. However in the most socially connected ones this decreases sooner, in part as they have made new connections outwith the family.
Interesting study about individualism and culture differences. For example people in America if they were given a selection of pens to choose from they tend to choose the rarer unique colour, whereas people in Korea tend to select the most common colour. Suggests that Koreans are encouraged to believe they are one of a large group, whereas in the West there has been a rise of narcissism and people thinking they're important. Suggests an interestingly metric to measure individualism at a population level, this relates to the number of unique names that are occurring on the basis that the greater the number of unique names the more the people believe they are individuals. The numerator is the top 20 common names, the denominator being all other names, this fraction is smaller in societies which promote individualism.
Information about trust is contained which is described as a self-reinforcing circle, of note trust is sadly declining with a rise in narcissism. If you have trust in others you generally have a better life. When you are giving trust it is best to give 100-percent, rather than partial trust which can backfire. Makes this suggestion and backs this up with various experiments relating to money. Suggests that firstborns siblings are more likely to exhibit rivalry than their other siblings. Argues that rivals are more similar to yourself than you may believe. The rival may represent underlying behaviours that you have and don't want, which you are trying to repress these behaviours are also known as your shadow.
October 15, 2023
Nice book as a primer to cognitive psychology. Yes, admittedly it didnt delve deep into the why and how of most topics, but I didnt expect it to. As such its an interesting and easy read full of nice and thought provoking ideas, exactly what I was looking for. Enough reference material to go and find out more if something was interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
February 26, 2022
עצרתי בעמוד 64. אין לי כוח להמשיך לקרוא הספר הזה יצא לי מכל החורים
May 13, 2022
An exceptional and well-written book about the psychology of decision making.
June 25, 2025
有些篇章其實並不是旨在討論幸福，而是更像常見的「思考的藝術」般的討論人類這個物種所具有的思考偏誤，不乏幾個知名的實驗來佐證他的論調，讀起來還算實用、有趣，但某些部分也會懷疑作者的論點不免牽強。
July 1, 2017
הספר מצויין והכתיבה קולחת, הוא מסביר בפשטות הטיות קוגנטיביות רווחות שלא מאפשרות לנו לקבל החלטות מושכלות על סמך נתונים שעומדים בפנינו.
לדוגמא, הקושי להגיע לפשרה מבוססת על נתונים שכל צד יקרא לטובתו ויתעלם מהנתונים שתומכים בצד השני.
הספר מציג עשרות מקרים ודוגמאות מרתקות על תהליך קבלת החלטות, הבעיה שיש קושי לזכור את הדוגמאות הללו ולמעשה ליישם אותן אפקטיבית. לדוגמא אני זוכרת מהפרקים שכבר קראתי שיש לנו קושי לבצע החלטות רציונליות סטטיסטית כי החלק הרגשי משתלט על החלק הרציונלי אבל אני לא זוכרת את המהלך עצמו. אני זוכרת עוד הרבה פרטים קטנים אבל קונקרטית אם לא אקרא שוב את הפרק הרלוונטי לא אזכור ממש את ההמלצות והמסקנות, וזו אחת הבעיות עם סוג ספרים כזה (גם הספרים של דן אריאלי דומים לו ואני לא מצליחה לזכור מהם כלום ): הם מרתקים, הם מעניינים, הם כתובים היטב, הם קולחים אבל אני לא זוכרת מהם כמעט כלום כבר ברגע סגירת הספר.
מעבר לנושא קבלת החלטות, עולים בספר עוד שלל נושאים כמו אתיקה של מחקרים מדעיים ואובדן האמון הציבורי בתוצאות המחקרים הללו. אובדן אמון שניתן לשייך לטכניקות לקויות בביצוע מחקרים ובהצגת ממצאים לקויה, בהתיישנות מהירה של הממצאים ובמימון אינטרסנטי של חלק מהמחקרים ביחוד במחקרים של תרופות. פרק מרתק שמותיר מחשבות מטרידות.
החלק השני של הספר עוסק באי שוויון כלכלי וחברתי במיוחד בישראל. אחד מהאפקטים המטרידים הוא אפקט מתי שמגביר את אי השוויון ומעצים אותו כך, שבעלי האמצעים ובעלי היכולות נהיים יותר בעלי אמצעים ויותר בעלי יכולות. הדבר בולט במיוחד בחינוך בארץ, כאשר בעלי האמצעים זוכים לחינוך איכותי יותר שמאפשר להם הכנסה גבוהה יותר.
ולסיום מרתק הפתרון שמציע. פתרון שנראה הגיוני בתנאי שנאמץ אותו בזמן ולפני שנהרוס את כדור הארץ ונכחיד את המין האנושי.
לדוגמא, הקושי להגיע לפשרה מבוססת על נתונים שכל צד יקרא לטובתו ויתעלם מהנתונים שתומכים בצד השני.
הספר מציג עשרות מקרים ודוגמאות מרתקות על תהליך קבלת החלטות, הבעיה שיש קושי לזכור את הדוגמאות הללו ולמעשה ליישם אותן אפקטיבית. לדוגמא אני זוכרת מהפרקים שכבר קראתי שיש לנו קושי לבצע החלטות רציונליות סטטיסטית כי החלק הרגשי משתלט על החלק הרציונלי אבל אני לא זוכרת את המהלך עצמו. אני זוכרת עוד הרבה פרטים קטנים אבל קונקרטית אם לא אקרא שוב את הפרק הרלוונטי לא אזכור ממש את ההמלצות והמסקנות, וזו אחת הבעיות עם סוג ספרים כזה (גם הספרים של דן אריאלי דומים לו ואני לא מצליחה לזכור מהם כלום ): הם מרתקים, הם מעניינים, הם כתובים היטב, הם קולחים אבל אני לא זוכרת מהם כמעט כלום כבר ברגע סגירת הספר.
מעבר לנושא קבלת החלטות, עולים בספר עוד שלל נושאים כמו אתיקה של מחקרים מדעיים ואובדן האמון הציבורי בתוצאות המחקרים הללו. אובדן אמון שניתן לשייך לטכניקות לקויות בביצוע מחקרים ובהצגת ממצאים לקויה, בהתיישנות מהירה של הממצאים ובמימון אינטרסנטי של חלק מהמחקרים ביחוד במחקרים של תרופות. פרק מרתק שמותיר מחשבות מטרידות.
החלק השני של הספר עוסק באי שוויון כלכלי וחברתי במיוחד בישראל. אחד מהאפקטים המטרידים הוא אפקט מתי שמגביר את אי השוויון ומעצים אותו כך, שבעלי האמצעים ובעלי היכולות נהיים יותר בעלי אמצעים ויותר בעלי יכולות. הדבר בולט במיוחד בחינוך בארץ, כאשר בעלי האמצעים זוכים לחינוך איכותי יותר שמאפשר להם הכנסה גבוהה יותר.
ולסיום מרתק הפתרון שמציע. פתרון שנראה הגיוני בתנאי שנאמץ אותו בזמן ולפני שנהרוס את כדור הארץ ונכחיד את המין האנושי.
August 8, 2018
Some good takeaways in this book, but he seems to go on tangents and it's hard to know whether some of his work is verifiable. One of the citations he gave did not lead to something supporting what he said.
I think the first section of the book can be very helpful. Two takeaways I had are to turn electronics off an hour before bed (making sure to improve my sleep) and to define the criteria I need to make a decision and go with the first choice that meets my criteria.
I think the first section of the book can be very helpful. Two takeaways I had are to turn electronics off an hour before bed (making sure to improve my sleep) and to define the criteria I need to make a decision and go with the first choice that meets my criteria.
December 28, 2018
It’s just a compendium of social psychology studies. Nothing spectacular. If you’ve read Malcolm Gladwell and Freakonomics before you’ll find similar info here.
June 27, 2019
Another book on clearer thinking. I need more of a variety of this to internalise all the helpful contents and ideas. Will definitely need to read more. (More formal review soon.)
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews