Think with Pinker

Nudges and noise

24 snips
Jan 13, 2022
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INSIGHT

Cognitive Biases Shape Public Policy

  • Human minds rely on fast heuristics that produce predictable biases like availability, anchoring, and loss aversion.
  • Public policy must account for these cognitive tendencies because institutions are built on the 'crooked timber' of biased minds.
ADVICE

Engineer Decision Procedures

  • Don't rely on individual resolve to avoid bias; redesign organizational procedures to engineer better judgments.
  • Create formal decision processes rather than expecting people to 'decide to be wise' spontaneously.
ANECDOTE

Mumbai Train Safety Intervention

  • In Mumbai a cheap package of interventions (terrified-face posters, horn changes, yellow sleepers) cut train-crossing deaths by 75% in pilot tests.
  • The solution exploited attention, recalibrated speed perception, and avoided printed materials or removable assets.
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