Gerd Gigerenzer Books

 The contemporary rabbi is influenced by the modern rabbinic establishments throughout the world, including the rabbinate in Israel. The rabbinate's monopoly on opinions and interpretations prevents rabbis from expressing their individual positions out of fear of delegitimization. The current structure gives the public a negative impression of the rabbinic establishment. The Importance of the Community Rabbi strives to describe and delineate key requirements for a good rabbi, i.e., one who can provide socially acceptable halachic solutions within the parameters of Orthodox thinking. Rabbi Sperber elucidates the halachic techniques and mechanisms that may be used toward this goal. These are further illustrated with stories from rabbinic literature and examples from various responsa.

"This volume examines the relationship between the two major categories of mitzvot: ritual mitzvot (between man and his Maker) and social-interpersonal mitzvot (between man and his neighbor). It is argued that when there is a clash between mitzvot of these two categories, the interpersonal mitzvot almost always override those of a ritual nature"--

The power of intuition is clear, but there is a common mistrust of intuition as well. Researchers often confuse intuition with the arbitrary or systematically error-prone judgments of inept decision makers. To dispel the myths surrounding intuition, this book presents a scientific perspective.

Although Jewish liturgy has its roots in antiquity, it evolved and developed throughout the ages to emerge in its present, largely standardized form. However, in some aspects, it is archaic, containing passages and statements that apply more to past eras than to the present day. In some cases, these passages may even be offensive to certain segments of our society. It is for this reason that this book attempts to delineate the parameters of halachically permissible changes in Jewish liturgy -- changes that have precedents in traditional sources and that may correct anachronisms and defuse possible conflict, thus enhancing the experience of prayer for an ever-widening spectrum of Orthodox Jewry.

In a world dominated by algorithms, Gerd Gigerenzer challenges the notion that machines will surpass humans in all areas. He explores the limitations of artificial intelligence, highlighting its failures in complex human situations like love and critical decision-making. By discussing issues such as the opaque nature of algorithmic predictions in law enforcement and the addictive design of social media, Gigerenzer advocates for a balanced perspective—encouraging skepticism towards smart technology while recognizing its potential benefits.

The Empire of Chance tells how quantitative ideas of chance transformed the natural and social sciences, as well as daily life, in the last three centuries. It connects the earliest applications of probability and statistics in gambling and insurance to the most recent forays into law, medicine polling and baseball.

One of the main problems in providing uniformly excellent health care is not lack of money but lack of knowledge - on the part of both doctors and patients. The studies in this book show that many doctors and most patients do not understand the available medical evidence. Both patients and doctors are "risk illiterate" - frequently unable to tell the difference between actual risk and relative risk. Doctors often cannot interpret test results; patients cannot make informed decisions if they are given bad information. Surprisingly, treatments vary widely from one region to another. For example, in one referral region in Iowa, sixty percent of prostate patients had surgery, while in another region only fifteen percent had the same surgery. This unwarranted disparity in treatment decisions is the rule rather than the exception in the United States and Europe. All of this contributes to much wasted spending in health care. The contributors to Better Doctors, Better Patients, Better Decisions investigate the roots of the problem, from the emphasis in medical research on technology and blockbuster drugs to the lack of education for both doctors and patients. They call for a new, more enlightened health care, with better medical education, journals that report study outcomes completely and transparently, and patients in control of their personal medical records, not afraid of statistics but able to use them to make informed decisions about their treatments

What is the nature of human wisdom? For many, the ideal image of sapiens is a heavenly one: an omniscient God, a Laplacean demon, a supercomputer, or a fully consistent logical system. Gerd Gigerenzer argues, in contrast, that there are more efficient tools than logic in our minds, which he calls fast and frugal heuristics. These adaptive tools work in a world where the present is only partially known and the future is uncertain. Here, rationality is not logical but ecological, and this volume shows how this insight can help remedy even the widespread problem of statistical innumeracy.RATIONALITY FOR MORTALS (which follows on a previous collection, ADAPTIVE THINKING, also published by OUP) presents Gigerenzer's most recent articles, revised and updated where appropriate, together with a newly written introduction.

In the beginning of the 20th century, the father of modern science fiction, H.G. Wells, predicted that statistical thinking would be as necessary for citizenship in a technological world as the ability to read and write. Yet, a century on, most of us, from TV weather forecasters to the American President, seem to have no idea of how to reason about uncertainties.

Risk-taking is essential for innovation, fun, and the courage to face the uncertainties in life. Yet for many important decisions, we're often presented with statistics and probabilities that we don't really understand and we inevitably rely on experts in the relevant fields. But what if they don't quite understand the way the information is presented either? This entertaining book shows us how to recognize when we don't have all the information and know what to do about it. Gerd Gigerenzer looks at examples from every aspect of life to identify the reasons for our collective misunderstanding of the risks we face. He shows how we can all use simple rules to avoid being manipulated into unrealistic fears or hopes, to make better-informed decisions, and to learn to understand risk and uncertainty in our own lives.