"Homoeconomics is anyhow an unrealistic person and every economist would admit to that," he says. "I would wish that behavioral economics would get out of this idea that their goal is to explain how people deviate from homoeconomics" The Israeli Air Force used a very mechanical process for hiring pilots, but they did better than just their gut.
Psychologist and author Gerd Gigerenzer of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development talks about his book Gut Feelings with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Gigerenzer argues for the power of simple heuristics--rules of thumb--over more complex models when making real-world decisions. He argues that many results in behavioral economics that appear irrational can be understood as sensible ways of coping with complexity.