Nudge: The Final Edition

Although rules of thumb can be very helpful, their use can also lead to systematic biases.

The first involves the information that seems to be conveyed by other people’s answers; the second involves peer pressure and the desire not to face the disapproval of the group.

biases can creep in when similarity and frequency diverge.

From the perspective of choice architecture, defined-benefit plans have an important virtue: they are forgiving to even the most mindless of Humans.

Humans make predictable mistakes.

compensatory strategy, since a high value for one attribute (big office) can compensate for a low value for another

One step is for the government to create a standard contract in which all the fine print is regularized and departures are highlighted.

If the first speaker says that Adam is clearly best, the second might agree, not because she prefers Adam, but because she trusts the first speaker and it is not clear that he is wrong.

Defaults are ubiquitous and powerful. They are also unavoidable in the sense that for any node of a choice architecture system, there must be an associated rule that determines what happens to the decision maker if she does nothing.