We've all faced dilemmas like the following: Go out for the evening or stay home and watch a movie Buy something now or wait until it goes on sale Read Borden's Blather or the IRS Tax Code I know, the last one is obvious. You keep a copy of the tax code on your nightstand … Continue reading Can’t Make a Decision? Use These Nine Words.
Of course, hindsight is always 20/20. But that still doesn't justify the foolish decision I made last year when buying my wife a birthday present. Mary had hinted that she would like a new Adirondack chair, since our old ones were well beyond their useful life. So I searched on Amazon, and found what seemed … Continue reading A Tale of One Chair
There was an article in today's WSJ paper that looked at the impact of our mood on decision making. While there were some interesting findings, what really caught my eye was mention of something known as the bullshit recpetivity scale. Behavioral scientist Gordon Pennycook and colleagues have conducted many studies of people’s reactions to meaningless, … Continue reading How Receptive Are You to Bullshit?
It was late Thursday afternoon, and my picks for March Madness were due early the next day. As I wrote in a previous post, I haven't really paid much attention to college basketball this year, so my picks were going to end up being completely random. So I decided to go with the quickest, most … Continue reading I’m Betting (Literally) the NCAA Selection Committee Knows What It Is Doing
It's a question that at first glance, at least to me, has a simple answer. Cash, of course. Cash enables you to do anything you can do with the gift card, plus a whole lot more. A gift card, on the other hand, restricts your choices to just the gift associated with the card. By … Continue reading Gift Card vs. Cash – Which Would You Prefer?
A reader wrote the following to Dan Ariely in today's Wall Street Journal: Hi, Dan. I offered to purchase a computer as a gift for a close relative, and I asked him to pick out the one he wanted. But he simply can’t make a choice. He keeps comparing different models and researching all the … Continue reading Paralysis by Analysis – Guilty as Charged
An EasyJet flight taking off in France had to be diverted last week because of a fake bomb threat. Flight EZY4319 from Lyon to Rennes was in the air when authorities received an anonymous call that suggested a bomb could be on the plane. The pilots returned to Lyon, but no bomb was found. Investigators said the … Continue reading Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire
How much thought did you put into some of the key decisions you have made over the years? Decisions such as where to live, where to work, what faith to follow, what foods to eat, or how much money to save for retirement. My guess, based on a very unscientific method of just observing the … Continue reading Making Decisions Consciously
You're a college student and a die-hard Bruce Springsteen fan. You bought a ticket for $150 two months ago to see him in an upcoming concert. The day of the show has finally arrived, but you have a big Accounting test the next day. If you go to the show, you will miss some valuable … Continue reading The Sunk Cost Fallacy
Borden's Blather 