Emotion sensor to keep your cool
Want to avoid rash decisions you later regret? Bracelet warns you when you are too emotional/stressed. Designed for traders, but I could think of some others that should be wearing it. 
From The Economist Oct. 15th, 2009 edition:
Emotions and investing
Gutted instinct
A new device to prevent irrational online trades
What Health Stats Really Mean
Statistical illiteracy becomes a big problem when people make health decisions. So why isn’t statistics taught to everyone early in school? And more importantly, why isn’t it a requirement for doctors?
From Scientific American Mind, April 8, 2009:
Knowing Your Chances: What Health Stats Really Mean
Learn how to put aside unjustified fears and hopes and how to weigh your real risk of illness–or likelihood of recovery
Salad or fries with that?
Do you want salad or fires with that? It seems a healthy option actually makes you more likely to pick the junk food. Great for fast-food companies’ bottom lines.
From The National Post, April 30, 2009:
Thinking about eating healthy can fool brain into choosing fat: new study
Anne Harding, Reuters
Secrets of self-control
Whether it’s weight loss or anything else that requires self-control, the article below explains the key to success: avoidance, distraction and reframing. A must read.
From the Globe and Mail, January 1, 2008:
Losing weight: the secrets of self-control
MICHAEL EVANS
Mine, therefore worth more
If you own something, you place a higher value on it than before you acquired it. Irrational, but true — making an interesting bias in our decision makings. The article below, from The Economist print edition (Jun 19th 2008) explores this:
The endowment effect
It’s mine, I tell you
Mankind’s inner chimpanzee refuses to let go. This matters to everything from economics to law
Chimps more rational than humans?
Are chimps more rational than humans? In some cases maybe — I think it shows how the human instinct for “fairness” (apparently not a chimp trait) affects our decision making. The article below describes the experiment of chimp rationality.
Are We More Rational Than Our Fellow Animals?
Why Smart People Do Stupid Things
…or why people are irrational. A must read. From the University of Toronto magazine:
The Science of Economic Bubbles and Busts
From Scientific American Magazine , June 22, 2009:
The Science of Economic Bubbles and Busts
The worst economic crisis since the Great Depression has prompted a reassessment of how financial markets work and how people make decisions about money
Take a step back to think
Take a step back and think — turns out there is scientific backing for that: “…body movements which are connected to negative emotions tend to enhance cognitive ability…”
From Scientific American:
Our Bodies, Our Brains
Recent studies have shown that moving our body in certain ways can improve our ability to think. Christie Nicholson reports
You know more than you think
When you have to make decisions, especially if it involves an estimate, you may want to try the method described below for a better result.
From Scientific American:
Mind Matters - June 2, 2009
You Know More than You Think
How to tap the wisdom of the crowd in your head
About
Although it started out as a means of practising expressing myself, this blog is turning out to be more of a compendium of interesting information I come across. One of these days I’ll have to actually write something as opposed to cut and paste.
