"Don't judge a book by its cover" is an old adage for a good reason.  Elegant book cover designs can create a positive impression and make you more likely to judge the writing quality more positively. But these traits—cover art and writing—are separate and distinct features of books.  So why do we allow the judgment of one trait to spill over to another unrelated trait?  In this episode of Choiceology with Katy Milkman, we look at a tendency to allow our judgments of one trait of a person (or product or company) to overly influence our judgments of another, unrelated t ..read more

Are rules made to be followed—or meant to be broken?  Often, the answer will depend on culture and the context in which people make decisions.  In this episode of Choiceology with Katy Milkman, we look at how carefully people in different contexts follow social norms, rules, and procedures. We'll also see how strict and relaxed cultures affect the quality of our decisions—and how to find the sweet spot depending on your goals. Professional kitchens have historically been challenging work environments: high standards, long hours with low pay, and a strong hierarchy of cooks in th ..read more

In this episode of Choiceology with Katy Milkman, we look at how framing a decision based on what you stand to lose versus what you stand to gain affects your tolerance of risk. Luis Green was a contestant on the popular TV game show Deal or No Deal. The game is largely one of chance, but there are moments during play where the contestant has an option to accept a cash offer to quit. At one point in the game, Luis was offered $333,000 to simply walk away. A guaranteed win! It seems like an obvious choice. But as you’ll hear from the story, there are other factors that influenced his decis ..read more

When someone asks, "What's your favorite restaurant?" odds are you're inclined to recommend a place you've eaten at recently—even if it's not really your favorite.  It's just top of mind.  Why do we weigh recent events so heavily? And how does this tendency impact important decisions, like whom to vote for or how to conduct medical procedures?  In this episode of Choiceology with Katy Milkman, we look at a phenomenon that can cause us to overweight recent events compared to earlier events and make suboptimal decisions.  The 1968 presidential election was one of the clo ..read more

Vitamin C is a cure for the common cold. Bats are blind. Sugar makes children hyperactive. All of these statements are false. So why are they so pervasive? And why do they feel so true? In this episode of Choiceology with Katy Milkman, we look at a phenomenon that can cause us to believe inaccurate information more than we should, and also lead us to trust reliable information less than we should. If you’re over a certain age, you might remember friends or family panicking about MSG, or monosodium glutamate, particularly in American Chinese food. But those health concerns stemmed from a s ..read more

Filling out an overly complicated form or waiting on hold for hours to speak with a customer service rep is a frustrating experience. And sometimes it seems like the process itself is designed to be difficult. In this episode of Choiceology with Katy Milkman, we look at how friction––time, distance, complexity, or anything that gets in the way of your goals—can contribute to what Nobel Prize–winning economist Richard Thaler calls "sludge."  A young couple walks into a theme park and they are offered a gift card. The only catch is that they have to watch a 90-minute presentation about time ..read more

It’s halftime at a basketball game. A kid nervously steps onto center court. If he can score a basket from center court, he’ll take home the prize money. He tells the announcer that he plays on his elementary school team and that he has been practicing for this moment. The crowd holds their breath as the ball sails through the air, hits the backboard … and goes in. The stadium erupts in excitement. Could he be the next Michael Jordan?  In this episode of Choiceology with Katy Milkman, we look at how extraordinary performances can mislead people about future results. Sports Illustrated has ..read more

Why do ocean waves move the way they do? How does a toaster work? How might ink flow through a ballpoint pen without the help of gravity? You may know the answer to these questions, but explaining them in detail could reveal an unexpected truth. In this episode of Choiceology with Katy Milkman, we look at why people think they understand things better than they actually do. The idea started at the dinner table. One of A.J. Jacobs’ kids presented him with a seemingly simple task—thank the people who made his cup of coffee. A.J. took this task to heart and ended up visiting dozens of complex ope ..read more

Scientifically sound, randomized experiments can be expensive and difficult to run. But there’s an alternative: It turns out that certain real-life situations can also generate useful scientific data. The trick is finding them. In this episode of Choiceology with Katy Milkman, we look at how events outside of our control can create opportunities for so-called natural or accidental experiments.   The organizers of a heroic airlift transporting thousands of Ethiopian Jews to Israel broke the record for the flight with the most passengers. It was 1994, and the clock was ticking for Israeli i ..read more

There are moments in life where it seems as though everything is riding on one important decision. If only we had a crystal ball to see the future, we could make those decisions with greater confidence. Fortune-telling aside, there are actually methods to improve our predictions—and our decisions. In this episode of Choiceology with Katy Milkman, we look at what makes some people “superforecasters.”  In 2010, the United States government had been looking for Al Qaeda leader and perpetrator of the 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden, for nearly a decade. Years of intelligence gathering all over ..read more