Listen
We talk with a visionary mayor, a superstar architect, a game designer, and a neuroboticist.
How We Decide
By Virginia Prescott on Thursday, April 17, 2008.
listen:
Why do we jump at "buy one, get one free" deals, even when we don’t need the items in the first place? Or swear to start dieting and then find ourselves ordering a sticky bun at the coffee shop?
Behavioral economists have some ideas. They look at cognitive-psychology to understand how real people make economic choices. Fifteen years ago behavioral economics was a marginal endeavor. Now, it’s a burgeoning discipline that’s upending our traditional view of humans as rational actors.
Two new books look at the field, and Word of Mouth host Virginia Prescott spoke with science writer Jonah Lehrer about them. He's editor-at-large for Seed Magazine and runs the blog The Frontal Cortex.
Read more on the two books we reviewed:
Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Choices that Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely
(Photo by Andrei Zmievski)
Add new comment
Search us
Podcast
Word of Mouth is on the move! Sign up for our podcast and take the show wherever you go.
Contact us
Say what you want to say. How you want to say it. We want to hear from you.
About us
Word of Mouth is all about what's new. Online and on-air, the show takes the latest ideas and trends from every aspect of our culture and puts them under a microscope. Word of Mouth covers everything from healthcare and the environment, to technology and the internet, to books, movies, music and TV. The show airs Tuesdays and Thursdays at noon and is hosted by Virginia Prescott.
Support From
 | |
THE NEXT GREEN THING
is supported by
supporting environmental education
and awareness and committed
to responsible forestry