Freakonomics Radio

271. The Men Who Started a Thinking Revolution

8 snips
Jan 5, 2017
Ask episode
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
INSIGHT

Decisions Follow Descriptions Not Math

  • People make decisions using descriptions and mental shortcuts rather than strict probability calculations.
  • Kahneman and Tversky showed heuristics like anchoring can skew unrelated judgments dramatically.
INSIGHT

Irrelevant Numbers Warp Judgments

  • Anchoring lets irrelevant numbers pull judgments upward or downward.
  • A random wheel-of-fortune number shifted subjects' estimates of African countries' share.
INSIGHT

Vivid Memories Inflate Perceived Risk

  • Availability biases judgments toward what comes to mind easily or vividly.
  • Recent or vivid events make people overestimate related risks and probabilities.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Get the app