Overcoming Bias: Cash Increases Accuracy

Overcoming Bias: Cash Increases Accuracy: "stronger incentives often (though not always) make us see more clearly"

Tournament Theory

The Logic of Life: Tournament theory appears to be the best explanation for the characteristics of office life. Life sports tournaments, workers compete against each other for limited rewards. One obvious outcome is that employees undermine their peers. Less obviously, luck is rewarded more heavily than skill. This also explains the large pay packets of upper management. They are paid not for their contribution but as an incentive to those underneath them to work hard.

THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON JAZZ: RESEARCHERS USE MRI TO STUDY SPONTANEITY, CREATIVITY

THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON JAZZ: RESEARCHERS USE MRI TO STUDY SPONTANEITY, CREATIVITY: "A pair of Johns Hopkins and government scientists have discovered that when jazz musicians improvise, their brains turn off areas linked to self-censoring and inhibition, and turn on those that let self-expression flow."

Chris Blattman's Blog: The other resource curse: Oil and women’s rights

Chris Blattman's Blog: The other resource curse: Oil and women’s rights: "women’s participation in the formal labor force is a driving force in the development of women’s rights and participation. Oil production tends to crowd out local manufacturing, and so oil crowds out job opportunities for women. That is, the discovery of oil in a less developed country, he argues, sideswipes the development of women’s rights. The discovery of oil might even set back previous gains.

It gets more interesting. If you ignore oil, Islam tends to be associated (statistically) with poor women’s rights. After accounting for oil, that Islam-women’s rights correlation goes away. Variation in oil production seems to explain much of the variation in women’s rights within the Middle East, as well as between the Middle East and the rest of the world."

When people feel powerful, they ignore new opinions, study finds

When people feel powerful, they ignore new opinions, study finds: "Don’t bother trying to persuade your boss of a new idea while he’s feeling the power of his position – new research suggests he’s not listening to you. “Powerful people have confidence in what they are thinking. Whether their thoughts are positive or negative toward an idea, that position is going to be hard to change,” said Richard Petty, co-author of the study and professor of psychology at Ohio State University."

More Expensive Placebos Bring More Relief - New York Times

More Expensive Placebos Bring More Relief - New York Times: "A $2.50 placebo, [researchers] have found, works better one that costs 10 cents.

The finding may explain the popularity of some high-cost drugs over cheaper alternatives, the authors conclude. It may also help account for patients’ reports that generic drugs are less effective than brand-name ones, though their active ingredients are identical."

The Situation of Perceptions

The Situation of Perceptions: "The subjects consistently reported that the more expensive wines tasted better, even when they were actually identical to cheaper wines."

"People expect expensive wines to taste better, and then their brains literally make it so."