Consider the following scenario:
You have two cars, one is a very inefficient van (giving you on average 5 MPG) and one is a relatively efficient sedan (giving you on average 20 MPG). Due to your work and obligations you have to drive each of them the same distance every month. (more…)

I recently came across this article in the New York Times that describes a new movement among doctors and hospitals to admit their mistakes rather than continue with the more traditional approach of denying and defending them. As a result, the article suggests, these hospitals are seeing a decline in lawsuits and legal costs. I suspect that this has something to do with the fact that in these hospitals the patients are being treated with an approach that is usually reserved for meaningful, social relationships.
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Can it be that we focus too much on gas prices? Relative to other increases in expenses, I suspect that we do!

Given that we recently celebrated our 10 year anniversary, I started wondering about what can predict long-term compatibility …

Reactions are welcome.

I am going to try to have phone “office hours” with the help of Learn from my life

I am not sure sure how it will work out but I am looking forward to trying it out. If you have the time please join us…

Yesterday was Sumi’s (my lovely wife) and my 10 year wedding anniversary.

It took me a while to figure out what to do for this event and at the end I decided on two things: First, I booked us a night at the same bed & breakfast where we got married 10 years ago. This was a slightly risky move because there was a chance that the place will not be as wonderful or romantic as we remember, and this will spoil the wonderful memories we have from our wedding day. Luckily this was not the case, and the place was just as wonderful and romantic as we remembered. (more…)

Don’t take this too seriously!

Here is my attempt at a “Cosmo” like quiz for your rationality / irrationality.

Irrationally yours

Dan 

When the server drops off the check at the end of a meal, people often scramble to figure out the norms for payment. Do we each pay for what we ordered? Do we split the bill evenly even if John had that extra glass of wine and the crème brûlée?
Luckily, findings from behavioral economics can help answer this burning question. It turns out that one person should pay the entire bill, and that the person paying should alternate over time. Here is the reason: (more…)

Dear Irrational,

A practice I often noticed on the I-90 in New York State (Or I-25 where I now live) is that people speed on the highway until they see a police officer with a speed gun (or with flashing lights writing a ticket to some poor driver on the side of the road), and then they slow down and drive at the speed limit for a while. (more…)

The wonderful people from Radio Lab organized an event Thursday evening at a beach in NYC.  This was part of the World Science Festival and it was called: “You and Your Irrational Brain: An Evening of Experimentation Under the Stars.”

It was tremendously fun to hang out on the beach, drink beer, and talk about behavioral economics and mistakes people make in decisions (for some pictures and a more detailed report see this link).  When it was over, I was deeply disappointed.  

Look at the picture below.  Isn’t this the ideal setting to have a chat about science?  Maybe I will try to move my class next term to that wonderful beach (or maybe it was the beer).