We all enjoyed the Lowry restaurant, a modestly priced but innovative place in Minneapolis. Our discussion ranged widely across multiple topics: the Senser trial, golfing in soggy England, the Modern Toilet restaurant chain in Taiwan, etc. The book was mostly praised for its wise and innovative analysis of human decision making, relying on a psychological perspective in contrast to the classical rational (economic) theory about how people make decisions. People think intuitively as well as slowly and deeply, and they are profoundly influenced by previous experience, psychological cues, and numerous other factors that run counter to the rational model. We talked about where "character" comes from, effects of optimism/pessimism, effects of the "nudge" factor, and the assumptions of libertarianism. The biggest criticism was the presentation, which some thought plodding, repetitive, and overly long.
The next meeting will be on June 6. The book will be Adam Hochschild's King Leopold's Ghost. Other books considered: Sebald's Vertigo, Caro's Passage of Power, Johnson's Train Dreams, and Steiner's Le Crime. Max will suggest the next title.
