Our “anecdotal” brain sucks up all the sensational news a media (vying for higher ad revenues) can muster. This results in some skewed gut feelings of what we should be afraid of.
Wired’s book review of Dan Gardner’s The Science of Fear includes a quiz that is worth taking.
August 7, 2008
Posted by
pragmasynesi |
behaviour, brain, decision making, statistics |
fear, media, probabilities |
No Comments
For me, this is the key quote from the article below:
“…we have evolved brains that pay attention to anecdotes because false positives (believing there is a connection between A and B when there is not) are usually harmless, whereas false negatives (believing there is no connection between A and B when there is) may take you out of the gene pool…”
Something to watch for - both in self and in others.
Read more »
August 1, 2008
Posted by
pragmasynesi |
behaviour, brain, decision making, evolutionary psychology |
anecdotes, false negatives, false positives, science |
3 Comments
Neuroeconomics
Do economists need brains?
Jul 24th 2008 | NEW YORK
From The Economist print edition
A new school of economists is controversially turning to neuroscience to improve the dismal science
Read more »
July 30, 2008
Posted by
pragmasynesi |
behaviour, brain, decision making, economics, neuroeconomics |
neuroscience |
No Comments
Human evolution
Feb 21st 2008 | BOSTON
From The Economist print edition
Biology invades a field philosophers thought was safely theirs
Read more »
July 22, 2008
Posted by
pragmasynesi |
behaviour, brain, decision making, emotions, evolutionary psychology |
morality, morals |
No Comments
It seems false memories are formed at the time of recall, which has interesting potential consequences for using sleep deprivation as an interrogation technique.
And chalk one up for coffee for the sleep deprived.
But caffeine helps to boost accurate recall
Read more »
July 15, 2008
Posted by
pragmasynesi |
behaviour, brain |
memory, sleep, coffee, sleep deprivation, remember, false memories |
No Comments
Sounds like the office watercooler is a productivity enhancer! From Nature:
Published online 30 June 2008 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2008.925
Employees who socialize between tasks, but not during, are more productive.
Read more »
July 2, 2008
Posted by
pragmasynesi |
behaviour |
productivity, socializing, work |
No Comments
It seems money is not just money…
From The Economist:
=======================
Irrational economics
Look and feel
Apr 3rd 2008
From The Economist print edition
The value of a coin or banknote depends on its familiarity
Read more »
June 20, 2008
Posted by
pragmasynesi |
behaviour, psychology |
irrational, money |
No Comments
The endowment effect: an object is worth more to you if you already own it. The article below explores its evolutionary roots and how it is being exploited in today’s markets.
From The Economist:
The curse of untidiness
DNA all over the place
Read more »
June 19, 2008
Posted by
pragmasynesi |
behaviour, evolutionary psychology |
clutter, endowment effect |
No Comments
Answer before you read it: how many personalizing objects do you have on your desk?
From Nature:
Car adornments betray a territorial mindset.
Matt Kaplan Read more »
June 17, 2008
Posted by
pragmasynesi |
behaviour, evolutionary psychology |
bumper stickers, road rage, territorialism |
No Comments