How can we make rational decisions with limited knowledge and time? This précis summarizes the book *Simple Heuristics That Make Us Smart*, which explores fast and frugal heuristics—simple rules in the mind's adaptive toolbox—for making decisions with realistic mental resources. The study challenges traditional models of unbounded rationality in cognitive science and economics. The authors demonstrate how simple building blocks can be combined to form classes of heuristics that control information search, stop search, and make decisions. These heuristics, including ignorance-based decision making, elimination models, and satisficing heuristics, enable organisms and artificial systems to make smart choices quickly by exploiting environmental information structures. These simple heuristics often perform comparably to more complex algorithms, particularly when generalizing to new data. Simplicity leads to robustness. The research presents evidence on when people use simple heuristics and outlines future challenges for this research program. By highlighting the efficiency and adaptability of simple heuristics, this work provides valuable insights into human and artificial decision-making processes.
Published in Behavioral and Brain Sciences, this précis aligns with the journal's focus on interdisciplinary research in psychology, neuroscience, and cognitive science. By exploring the use of simple heuristics in decision-making, the paper engages with topics relevant to cognitive processes, rationality, and adaptive behavior. This interdisciplinary approach reflects the journal's commitment to integrating perspectives from various scientific fields.