{"product_id":"hot-hand-book-ben-cohen-9780062820723","title":"The Hot Hand","description":"\u003cp\u003eHow can you\u003cbr\u003e maximize success--and limit failure? Wall Street Journal reporter\u003cbr\u003e Ben Cohen brilliantly investigates the mystery and science of streaks, from basketball to business.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"A feast\u003cbr\u003e for anyone interested in the secrets of excellence.\" --Andre Agassi\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFor decades, statisticians,\u003cbr\u003e social scientists, psychologists, and economists (among them Nobel Prize\u003cbr\u003e winners) have spent massive amounts of precious time thinking about whether\u003cbr\u003e streaks actually exist. After all, a substantial number of decisions that we\u003cbr\u003e make in our everyday lives are quietly rooted in this one question: If\u003cbr\u003e something happened before, will it happen again? Is there such a thing as being\u003cbr\u003e in the zone? Can someone have a \"hot hand\"? Or is it simply a case of seeing\u003cbr\u003e patterns in randomness? Or, if streaks are possible, where can they be found?\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn The Hot Hand, Wall Street\u003cbr\u003e Journal reporter Ben Cohen offers an unfailingly entertaining and\u003cbr\u003e provocative investigation into these questions. He begins with how a $35,000\u003cbr\u003e fine and a wild night in New York revived a debate about the existence of\u003cbr\u003e streaks that was several generations in the making. We learn how the ability to\u003cbr\u003e recognize and then bet against streaks turned a business school dropout named\u003cbr\u003e David Booth into a billionaire, and how the subconscious nature of\u003cbr\u003e streak-related bias can make the difference between life and death for asylum\u003cbr\u003e seekers. We see how previously unrecognized streaks hidden amidst archival data\u003cbr\u003e helped solve one of the most haunting mysteries of the twentieth century, the\u003cbr\u003e disappearance of Raoul Wallenberg. Cohen also exposes how streak-related\u003cbr\u003e incentives can be manipulated, from the five-syllable word that helped break\u003cbr\u003e arcade profit records to an arc of black paint that allowed Stephen Curry to\u003cbr\u003e transform from future junior high coach into the greatest three-point shooter\u003cbr\u003e in NBA history. Crucially, Cohen also explores why false recognition of\u003cbr\u003e nonexistent streaks can have cataclysmic results, particularly if you are a\u003cbr\u003e sugar beet farmer or the sort of gambler who likes to switch to black on the\u003cbr\u003e ninth spin of the roulette wheel.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49596217655569,"sku":"GOR012630576","price":3.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49724104114449,"sku":"CIN0062820729G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50948717707537,"sku":"CIN0062820729VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0062820729.jpg?v=1751290016","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-gb\/products\/hot-hand-book-ben-cohen-9780062820723","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}