Sharing what I have learned from what I have read: A blog by Joe Abittan
I listen to a lot of politics and policy podcasts, and one thing I learned over the last few years is that asking people to vote and encouraging them to vote isn't very effective. What is effective, is asking people how they plan to vote. If you ask someone where their polling place is, how … Continue reading The Mere Measurement Effect
Donald Trump frequently employs a rhetorical strategy built on the power of social influencers. We pay attention to what happens around us, and adjust our behaviors and even our beliefs relative to the groups that surround us. When we are around people who cuss a lot, we might cuss more. When we are around people … Continue reading Social Influencers
I discount the idea of the self more than most people. I don't think that it is useful to think about ourselves as definable individuals the way most people do, and as a result, I don't think self-control, discipline, and individual responsibility should be as prominent in our economic and political systems as we make … Continue reading Self-Control & Environmental Effects
American capitalism makes a mistake in assuming that people have all the information they need to make a rational choice. As anyone who has ever purchased a car knows, consumers do not always have all the valuable information they need to make a good decision in an exchange, and often, one party has far more … Continue reading Nudges Are Unavoidable
If you ask college students how many dates they have had in the last month and then ask them how happy they are overall, you will find that those who had more dates will rate themselves as generally more happy than those who had fewer dates. However, if you ask college students how happy they … Continue reading Evaluating Happiness
"We now know that the effects of priming can reach into every corner of our lives." Daniel Kahneman writes this in his book Thinking Fast and Slow while demonstrating the power of priming factors. An example he uses in the book to demonstrate the power of priming has to do with voting and school support. … Continue reading Autonomous Actors
"The only way on earth to influence other people," writes Dale Carnegie in his book How to Win Friends and Influence People, "is to talk about what they want and show them how to get it." Carnegie's book is one that I have heard recommended over and over by successful guests on the various … Continue reading How to Influence People
"People are willing to help, but the amount they're willing to help doesn't scale in proportion to how much impact their contributions will make." Author's Kevin Simler and Robin Hanson write this in their book The Elephant in the Brain when discussing our behaviors around donations and charity. "This effect," they continue, "known as scope … Continue reading How Helpful Are We?
"Much harm is done by a single case of indulgence or greed," Seneca wrote in a letter saved in the book Letters From a Stoic, "the familiar friend, if he be luxurious, weakens and softens us imperceptibly; the neighbor, if he be rich, rouses our covetousness; the companion, if he be slanderous, rubs off some … Continue reading You Are Not Just Yourself
In a later written to James Harmon for the book, Take My Advice, the late Murray Bookchin writes, “Our ideas must always be completed, fully thought out, and richly informed by a knowledge of the past. To separate oneself from the past, to maintain a sense of mere nowness, to deny what reason has to … Continue reading Awareness in Action