How the Decoy Effect Makes Dupes of Us All
Imagine that, on the second morning of a business trip, you go to unzip your suitcase, only to realize you forgot to pack any pants. With...
The Frequency Illusion: How Not to Fall for Argle-Bargle
Let’s say you’re reading up on landmark Supreme Court decisions of the past decade. (Hey, everybody needs hobbies.) You’re skimming an...
The Problem(s) With Myers-Briggs in Business
Imagine going to a corporate team-building event where everyone in your office was sorted and evaluated based on the results of taking...
Fallen Empires and Phony Wine: The Seersucker Effect
Making iffy predictions about our future: it’s been a hallmark of human behavior for at least as long as we’ve been recording our...
Confirmation Bias and the Parasites Nesting in Your Brain
"What is the most resilient parasite?” asks Leonardo DiCaprio in the 2011 movie Inception. “Bacteria? A virus? An intestinal worm?”...
Why Evidence Doesn't Matter
Given that a good reporter is supposed to be both truthful and balanced, how should journalists cover an issue when opposing camps refuse...
The Proportionality Problem
Decision making: it’s what humans do. Estimates are that the average adult makes 35,000 decisions a day. Of those daily decisions, 226...
You and I are not that Smart
Soundbites, those tiny verbal morsels, are ubiquitous. From billboards to tweets to political slogans, we are awash in them. Soundbites...
The Lure of the Irrational: Why Basketball Players and Birds Fall Prey to Superstition
Irrational behavior is commonplace in sports. Michael Jordan wore his "lucky" University of North Carolina practice shorts under his...
When Two Heads Aren't Better Than One
In case you were wondering whether or not there is, in fact, a word for everything, allow me to tell you that polycephany, the condition...
