Seeking Wisdom : From Darwin to Munger - 3rd edition (Hardcover)

~ Peter Bevelin (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Peter Bevelin begins his fascinating book with Confucius' great wisdom: "A man who has committed a mistake and doesn't correct it, is committing another mistake." Seeking Wisdom is the result of Bevelin's learning about attaining wisdom. His quest for wisdom originated partly from making mistakes himself and observing those of others but also from the philosophy of super-investor and Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charles Munger. A man whose simplicity and clarity of thought was unequal to anything Bevelin had seen. In addition to naturalist Charles Darwin and Munger, Bevelin cites an encyclopedic range of thinkers: from first-century BCE Roman poet Publius Terentius to Mark Twainfrom Albert Einstein to Richard Feynmanfrom 16th Century French essayist Michel de Montaigne to Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett. In the book, he describes ideas and research findings from many different fields. This book is for those who love the constant search for knowledge. It is in the spirit of Charles Munger, who says, "All I want to know is where I'm going to die so I'll never go there." There are roads that lead to unhappiness. An understanding of how and why we can "die" should help us avoid them. We can't eliminate mistakes, but we can prevent those that can really hurt us. Using exemplars of clear thinking and attained wisdom, Bevelin focuses on how our thoughts are influenced, why we make misjudgments and tools to improve our thinking. Bevelin tackles such eternal questions as: Why do we behave like we do? What do we want out of life? What interferes with our goals? Read and study this wonderful multidisciplinary exploration of wisdom. It may change the way you think and act in business and in life.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 328 pages
• Publisher: PCA Publications L.L.C.; 3rd edition (January 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578644283
• ISBN-13: 978-1578644285
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #141,313 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful, very very rich book!, July 30, 2007

By	meno "meno" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

A wonderful book on wisdom and decision-making written by a wise decision-maker. This is the kind of book you read first, then leave by your bedside and re-read a bit every day, so you can slowly soak up the wisdom. It is sort of Montaigne but applied to business, with a great investigation of the psychological dimension of decision-making.
I like the book for many reasons --the main one is that it was written by a practitioner who knows what he wants, not by an academic.
Enjoy it,

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Should be included in school curriculum, June 2, 2007

By	A. Thakur "value investor" (Bangalore India) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A lot of people know Charlie Munger as a great investor. However what is perhaps more interesting about Mungers personality is his ability to use multiple models to explain reality. He has always championed independent thinking and multi disciplinary approach. This book is a wonderful collection of his simple yet big ideas.
The world would be a much much better place if every man woman and child read this book and applied these thoughts in everday living.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Get rich quick method doesn't work , September 15, 2008

By	Gunny Lee "cory Lee" (sunnyvale, ca) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a get-rich-quick type of play for wisdom acquisition. It is difficult to appreciate and fully understand the 'mental models' that are described in this book when read in such short bites. In my experience it has been far more rewarding to carefully read all the books that Munger recommends, which contain one or two big ideas (mental models) each. These books go into the idea in depth so you can fully understand and soak them into your mental latticework. I'd start with Influence by Cialdini, then The Selfish Gene, and when you get around to finishing 4-5 of the books, go back and read it again because you'll get alot more out of it after having acquired the wisdom in the other books.