Persuasion Articles of the Week

Same facts, two perspectives…

A high school student created a fake 2020 candidate. Twitter verified it.

Social Media companies find themselves in a tough spot. A “verified account” is viewed as an authority… but what if it’s a fake account? And what of the real accounts that aren’t verified? The selection process puts a question mark over the trustworthiness of our gatekeepers.

Why Detroit Residents Pushed Back Against Tree-Planting

Some 50 years after Detroit’s trees were cut down —either for law enforcement reasons or for Dutch Elms disease— the residents are wary to plant new trees. The history of trees in Detroit shows how people can have two vastly different understandings of the same set of facts, and how persuading people takes more than just telling them what’s good for them.

Lent me get comfortable

Self-restraint builds our resistance to outside attacks on our position and helps us to see the larger picture during times of difficulty.

Bloomberg Big Decisions with Richard Thaler (video)

Richard Thaler is a co-author of Nudge (PRL writeup here) and a professor of behavioral economics, exploring why people make decisions that may not appear rational.

The Weird Power of the Placebo Effect, Explained

The placebo effect can change your world, improve your health, heal your mental ills… and we’re just getting started.

Just Give Away all the Library Books!

I just finished reading the Saint Paul newspaper.

It seems our mayor wants to do away with library fines.

New fines, old fines, all of the fines… out the door.

Here we are, a society that can’t accept enough responsibility to iron a shirt…

and now we’re removing one of the few driving forces that encourage people to return books on time?

I think it’s… ridiculous, pandering, expensive… and… after thinking it over…

possibly a great idea! Continue reading “Just Give Away all the Library Books!”

10 Things I Learned from “Nudge” by Thaler and Sunstein

Most weekends, my wife and I make it a point to write out a dinner menu, spend an hour shopping, and prep for some dinners in the upcoming week.

It’s not the way we’d prefer to spend Sunday morning. It doesn’t matter. We know that having the menu ready and the food in the house is going to massively increase the chances that we will enjoy a home-cooked dinner.

"Mmmmm, Burgers!" by m01229, Flickr, CC-By-2.0
Restaurant food is always ready to please! “Mmmmm, Burgers!” by m01229, Flickr, CC-By-2.0

The ever-present alternative is restaurant food. I love restaurant food! It’s cooked, it’s salty and fatty and delicious, it’s exactly what I wanted, and I can get it brought right to my front door! Continue reading “10 Things I Learned from “Nudge” by Thaler and Sunstein”