21A – Reading Reflection No. 2

 Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?
- The general them of this book is to explain how when we are conducting research, creating a product, or starting a business, we need to take into consideration many different aspects of what we're doing. We need to be able to carefully analyze  and observe every possible angle. If we're conducting research, we need to carefully look at the research, we're reading and look at the authors, when it was published, where it was published and why. And we have to also do that if we want to create a product or start a business; we need to think carefully about everything and take our time to take everything into consideration.

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?
- I think it enhanced with what I'm learning in class right now because we're trying to build a product or service right now, and sometimes we just present a really general idea and we don't take into consideration other aspects. We want to create something, but we don't look at the viability, how much would it cost,  if people actually care about the product, etc. We mostly just focus on creating something WE would like but don't take a second to see if your audience would actually buy it.


3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?
- I would make the class share all of their products and services with their classmates, and I would make them write a list of 5 things that could affect the success of their classmate's product or service. That way, they give each other feedback on their project and they can help each other take into consideration things that they would've never thought of.


4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?
-  My favorite chapter was the one titled: Expert Intuition: When Can We Trust It? Because even though the whole book is about taking everything step by step and being really careful with your research, this chapter tells you that sometimes some research is not worth proving that it's wrong or that it won't work for your project. It explains how sometimes even though research says that your project won't work and it will not be successful, you really think that it will actually work because of some observations and analysis you've done on your own. So, sometimes, instead of listening to some of the research, if you are really really sure about your product and you truly believe that it will work, it is okay to follow your guts and launch your product or service.