Abhishek Chakraborty (Page 21)

The Ostrich Effect: Ignoring Bad News Doesn’t Make Them Go Away

In an experiment, researchers wired people up to discover how they might really respond to financially stressful situations. They found people who are highly anxious about their finances tend to ignore potential money problems and may be less likely to ask for help or look for a solution.

The Fresh Start Effect: How to Use New Beginnings to Persuade People

Between Dec 28th and Jan 5th I’ve been getting daily emails from Headspace (the meditation app) to get on with their premium plan at a 40% discount. I’ve also been getting calls from that one Pilates class I had taken almost a year back. They are generous enough to offer me a 25% lifetime discount,

Contrast Effect: Why You Should Hang Out More With Your Ugly Friends

Recently my girlfriend finished reading the Harry Potter series. She read the books back to back, page after page, one after other. Immediately after finishing the last book (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,) she picked up Six of Crows. But she some how found this book a bit hard to follow in t

Authority Bias: Too Much Obedience Makes You Do Stupid Things

In their book Medication Errors: Causes and Prevention, professors Michael Cohen and Neil Davis talk about a strange case of the “rectal earache”. A physician ordered ear drops to be administered to the right ear of a patient suffering from pain and infection. Instead of writing out completely “Righ

False Choice: Should You Optimise For Speed Or Quality?

“It’s either this, or war.” When a politician says something like this, people go crazy. “War?! OMG! if those are our only choices everyone better get onboard with whatever this is, pronto!” In the above quote, “this” is usually a proxy to get anything accepted, no matter how absurd, as long as it i

Attractiveness Bias: Why Attractive People Get Preferential Treatment

Imagine you have to hire a secretary. Both the candidates have identical qualifications and experience, but you find one a bit more attractive than the other. Who would you hire? Think of a real life situation in the past where you might have had to make a similar choice. Who did you pick? Or, take

Conjunction Fallacy: Notions of Coherence, Plausibility, and Probability Are Confusing

Vivek is twenty-nine years old, single, outspoken, and very bright. He has a degree in CS from IIT Bombay. As a student, he has actively participated in sports, and also represented his college in several national competitions. From this description, does Vivek look more like a software developer, o

Buridan’s Donkey: How to Use Randomness to Break Stalemates

The other night my girlfriend asked me, “What do you want to have for dinner, rice or chapati?” It was a simple question, but I had a hard time answering it. In my head rice and chapati had equal weight, and I had no plausible reason to choose one over the other. Choice is perceived as freedom, but