Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life

The importance of naming also extends to universities. A May/June 1999 article, ‘Overrated & Underrated’ by John Steele Gordon, in American Heritage magazine rated Elihu Yale the ‘most overrated philanthropist’ in American history, arguing that the college that became Yale University was successful largely because of the generosity of a man nam

if, in the course of my life in London, I also end up being picked up once by a cab driver as his last ever fare and he rips me off a bit, me and the London cabbies will effectively be quits.

There remains one problem, which is the possibility that people may cheat immediately before they leave the game.*

When we engage in transactions, we are generally aware of the other party’s identity and can see clues to their commitment.

the Ultimatum Game is stupid, and so is the Prisoner’s Dilemma: these games exist in a context-free, theoretical universe with no real-life parallels.

Reciprocation, reputation and pre-commitment signalling are the three big mechanisms that underpin trust.

guilds help to offset this problem. If it is costly and time-consuming to join one, the only people who enter are those with a serious commitment to a craft.

A market like the London taxi industry, where you almost never interact with the same person more than once, needs a high level of trust in order to work, and one way to establish this confidence is to demand serious proof of commitment before you are admitted to the trade.

the Knowledge had as much value as a signal than a navigation skill.