Everything is obvious

Why is the Mona Lisa the most famous painting in the world? Why is Facebook so successful while other social media sites aren't? How much can a CEO really affect a company's performance? And do higher salaries make people work harder and with greater dedication? If you think the answers to these questions are a matter of common sense, think again. In this book, Duncan Watts shows that the explanations we give for what we observe in life are less useful than they seem and conspire to make us believe we understand more about human behavior than we actually do. Understanding how and when common sense fails can improve how we live in the present and plan for the future—essential for politics, business, science, and everyday life.