Behavioral Grooves Podcast Eight Years Grooving: They Thought We Were Ridiculous - Part 2 (Republish)
Sep 4, 2025
In this engaging discussion, Andy Luttrell, host of Opinion Science, joins renowned psychologist Daniel Kahneman, famed for his pivotal work in behavioral economics. They delve into the skepticism faced by pioneers like Kahneman and Tversky in merging psychology with economics. Explore how cognitive biases shape decision-making, the intriguing journey of behavioral economics from doubt to acceptance, and how collaborative innovation has transformed our understanding of human judgment. Their shared insights make for a thought-provoking and enlightening conversation.
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Economists' Doctrine Versus Psychologists' Skepticism
- Economists treated psychological assumptions as doctrinal and found them plausible within their models.
- Kahneman observed psychologists saw those assumptions as ridiculous, revealing a deep disciplinary gap.
A Lunch Invitation That Started A Partnership
- Kahneman invited Amos Tversky to present and that single seminar sparked frequent lunches and a close collaboration.
- Those lunches turned into a partnership where they literally wrote every word together for years.
Availability Heuristic Makes Rare Events Loom Large
- The availability heuristic makes vivid, memorable events seem more frequent than they are.
- Kahneman and Tversky showed this shortcut often yields durable but systematic errors.