I finally finished reading Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow this past weekend. It's a monumental read, dense with insight into how our minds don't work the way we think they do, and how much of the thinking we do is an uphill battle against biases that are hard (or impossible!) for us to see. … Continue reading On wherever you go, there you are
Tag: Daniel Kahneman
On 7 things from last week (5/1/23)
Downpours. The Front Range is pretty dry for the most part, so true downpours are hard to come by. Last week we had two separate rainstorms, loud enough to hear drumming the roof. Made me nostalgic for my East Coast upbringing. Outdoor hangs. Post-rain, we had some actual spring weather and, with it, the opportunity … Continue reading On 7 things from last week (5/1/23)
On hindsight bias
"I knew it all along." But did you? Inspired by my poking around cognitive biases, I've picked up Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow for the third time. (I swear—this time I'll finish it!) One of the biases you encounter in the section on "overconfidence" is the hindsight bias. Hindsight bias hardly requires a definition—we … Continue reading On hindsight bias
On improving experiences by focusing on endings
When my wife and I purchased a new car a few weeks ago, there wasn't much negotiating we could do: supply was low, demand was high, and our salesman shrugged off our attempts at moving the price down with a final "I'll sell this car by 2 p.m. today if you don't want it now." … Continue reading On improving experiences by focusing on endings
How many people does it take to “make a tiger”?
I came across a wonderful Chinese proverb recently—one of those proverbs mysterious enough to demand an explanation and, even better, deliver with an excellent historical parable. From Wikipedia: "Three men make a tiger" refers to an individual's tendency to accept absurd information as long as it is repeated by enough people. It refers to the … Continue reading How many people does it take to “make a tiger”?
Taylor Coe 