How to Humble a Wingnut and Other Lessons from Behavioral Economics
4.5/5
()
About this ebook
Cass R. Sunstein
Cass R. Sunstein is the nation’s most-cited legal scholar who, for the past fifteen years, has been at the forefront of behavioral economics. From 2009 to 2012, he served as the administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Since that time, he has served in the US government in multiple capacities and worked with the United Nations and the World Health Organization, where he chaired the Technical Advisory Group on Behavioral Insights and Sciences for Health during the COVID-19 pandemic. He is the Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard Law School. His book Nudge, coauthored with Richard Thaler, was a national bestseller. In 2018, he was the recipient of the Holberg Prize from the government of Norway, sometimes described as equivalent of the Nobel Prize for law and the humanities. He lives in Boston and Washington, DC, with his wife, children, and labrador retrievers.
Read more from Cass R. Sunstein
Simpler: The Future of Government Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Valuing Life: Humanizing the Regulatory State Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Democracy and the Problem of Free Speech Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Conspiracy Theories and Other Dangerous Ideas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Conformity: The Power of Social Influences Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Averting Catastrophe: Decision Theory for COVID-19, Climate Change, and Potential Disasters of All Kinds Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Constitution of Many Minds: Why the Founding Document Doesn't Mean What It Meant Before Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5#Republic: Divided Democracy in the Age of Social Media Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The NSA Report: Liberty and Security in a Changing World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Punitive Damages: How Juries Decide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOn Rumors: How Falsehoods Spread, Why We Believe Them, and What Can Be Done Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Related to How to Humble a Wingnut and Other Lessons from Behavioral Economics
Related ebooks
On Freedom Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What Should We Be Worried About?: Real Scenarios That Keep Scientists Up at Night Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Short History of Physics in the American Century Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow We Know What Isn't So Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hive Mind: How Your Nation’s IQ Matters So Much More Than Your Own Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Applying Principles: Short Essays Based on the Philosophy of Ayn Rand, Economics of Ludwig von Mises, and Psychology of Edith Packer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNudge, nudge, think, think: Experimenting with ways to change citizen behaviour, second edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOn Rumors: How Falsehoods Spread, Why We Believe Them, and What Can Be Done Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Darwin Economy: Liberty, Competition, and the Common Good Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What Have You Changed Your Mind About?: Today's Leading Minds Rethink Everything Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Blind Spots: Why We Fail to Do What's Right and What to Do about It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Theory and Credibility: Integrating Theoretical and Empirical Social Science Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInside the Mind of a Voter: A New Approach to Electoral Psychology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSuccess and Luck: Good Fortune and the Myth of Meritocracy Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Expert Political Judgment: How Good Is It? How Can We Know? - New Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Tyranny of Utility: Behavioral Social Science and the Rise of Paternalism Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Nature of Rationality Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Thrive: How Better Mental Health Care Transforms Lives and Saves Money Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Progress and Poverty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Persuaders: The hidden industry that wants to change your mind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cognitive Gadgets: The Cultural Evolution of Thinking Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Under the Influence: Putting Peer Pressure to Work Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings#Republic: Divided Democracy in the Age of Social Media Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Think Again: Contrarian Reflections on Life, Culture, Politics, Religion, Law, and Education Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Summary of Maria Konnikova's The Biggest Bluff Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhy Bad Governments Happen to Good People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Your Brain's Politics: How the Science of Mind Explains the Political Divide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Public Policy For You
The Art of War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Nobody: Casualties of America's War on the Vulnerable, from Ferguson to Flint and Beyond Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chasing the Scream: The Inspiration for the Feature Film "The United States vs. Billie Holiday" Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Least of Us: True Tales of America and Hope in the Time of Fentanyl and Meth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Blow Up a Pipeline: Learning to Fight in a World on Fire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5How to Prepare for Climate Change: A Practical Guide to Surviving the Chaos Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Facing Reality: Two Truths about Race in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Short History of Reconstruction [Updated Edition] Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Capital in the Twenty-First Century Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Talking to My Daughter About the Economy: or, How Capitalism Works--and How It Fails Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bowling Alone: Revised and Updated: The Collapse and Revival of American Community Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Just Mercy: a story of justice and redemption Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Price We Pay: What Broke American Health Care--and How to Fix It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Affluent Society Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Diversity Delusion: How Race and Gender Pandering Corrupt the University and Undermine Our Culture Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5America: The Farewell Tour Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Truth About COVID-19: Exposing The Great Reset, Lockdowns, Vaccine Passports, and the New Normal Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Men without Work: Post-Pandemic Edition (2022) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It's Even Worse Than You Think: What the Trump Administration Is Doing to America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for How to Humble a Wingnut and Other Lessons from Behavioral Economics
4 ratings1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A very short collection of Sunstein's Bloomberg Views columns (he calls them "essays"), they generally focus on behavioral economics and the formation of opinion, with an emphasis on how groups reinforce each others views and ways in which information can or cannot help--the answer being that more information even if contrary gets rejected and strengthens an extremist worldview, while asking people to explain why they think what they do they become more humble and less extreme (asking them to justify their view does not work, need to focus on explaining). Also the columns have some of the more familiar behavioral economics around, for example, defaults. And all of it is catchily written and well tied to various current events and cultural phenomenon rather than just being abstract. A good short introduction to these topics.
Book preview
How to Humble a Wingnut and Other Lessons from Behavioral Economics - Cass R. Sunstein
How to Humble A Wingnut and Other Lessons from Behavioral Economics
Cass R. Sunstein
Chicago Shorts
How to Humble a Wingnut and Other Lessons from Behavioral Economics by Cass Sunstein, © 2014 by Cass Sunstein.
Information Cocoons © 2012 by Cass Sunstein
How Social Dynamics Made You Successful © 2012 by Cass Sunstein
How to Humble a Wingnut © 2013 by Cass Sunstein
Bacon Is Shakespeare © 2013 by Cass Sunstein
Republicans and Democrats Actually Agree on Facts © 2013 by Cass Sunstein
Why People Stay Scared after Tragedies Like Boston © 2013 by Cass Sunstein
Why Well-Informed People Are Also Closed-Minded © 2013 by Cass Sunstein
Check Here to Tip Taxi Drivers or Save for 401(k) © 2013 by Cass Sunstein
Super-Sized Americans Need the Choice of Fewer Fries © 2013 by Cass Sunstein
End of the World As We Know It and I Feel Fine © 2012 by Cass Sunstein
People Hate Losses and That Affects U.S. Budget Talks © 2012 by Cass Sunstein
Holiday Shopping Tips from Behavioral Economists © 2012 by Cass Sunstein
Stay Alive: Imagine Yourself a Decade from Now © 2012 by Cass Sunstein
All rights reserved.
Chicago Shorts edition, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-226-14724-6
Contents
Introduction
Information Cocoons
How Social Dynamics Made You Successful
How to Humble a Wingnut
Bacon Is Shakespeare
Republicans and Democrats Actually Agree on Facts
Why People Stay Scared after Tragedies Like Boston
Why Well-Informed People Are Also Closed-Minded
Check Here to Tip Taxi Drivers or Save for 401(k)
Super-Sized Americans Need the Choice of Fewer Fries
End of the World As We Know It and I Feel Fine
People Hate Losses and That Affects U.S. Budget Talks
Holiday Shopping Tips from Behavioral Economists
Stay Alive: Imagine Yourself a Decade from Now
Introduction
A little secret: Behavioral science is a lot of fun.
Here are a few prominent findings. If you take the average couple, and ask each member what percentage of the household work they do, the total number is very likely to be well over 100 (self-serving bias
). About 90 percent of drivers believe themselves to be better than the average driver (optimistic bias
). If you inform people that a product is 90 percent fat-free, they are a lot more likely to purchase it than if you tell inform that it is 10 percent fat (framing
). If you ask people whether certain events (a tornado, a hurricane, a terrorist attack) are likely, they might well be mistaken, because they will ask whether those kinds of events readily comes to mind (availability bias
).
Many people think about their future selves in the same way they think about strangers, but if you show people pictures of what they’ll look like in twenty years, they get a lot more interested in saving for retirement. It might not exactly be fun to find out that if like-minded people get together, they will get more extreme; but it is pretty interesting. It’s more than interesting (I think) to suggest that with a simple twist of fate, Bob Dylan, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, and the Mona Lisa would not have anything like their current fame, and that accident and serendipity play a massive role in producing both success and failure.
In recent years, there has been an enthusiastic popular reaction to books that draw on behavioral science, such as Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow, Dan Ariely’s Predictably Irrational, and Duncan Watts’ Everything Is Obvious. (Richard Thaler and I have our