psychology

The more something threatens your identity, the more you will avoid it.

The rule extends even to national conduct. The Magna Carta of 1215 employed it to define how, at the outbreak of a war, countries should treat merchants from the enemy nation: “If our men are safe there, the others should be safe in our land.”

As Allais had anticipated, the sophisticated participants at the meeting did not notice that their preferences violated utility theory until he drew their attention to that fact as the meeting was about to end.

We resist the seductive luxury of registering and reacting to just a single (trigger) feature of the available information when an issue is important to us.

This tendency is a common and powerful one, known as the availability heuristic: we use what is available to the mind at any given point in time.

The ultimate lesson of the question was that detailed prior knowledge was less important than a way of thinking.

A long-term study of 736 guys showed friends reduced the likelihood of heart problems. Once again, a romantic partner didn’t.

the moment. Have you ever had a fight with someone at home, then spent the whole work day trying to concentrate? Conflict pulls your mind in many directions; it is the opposite of concentration.

Well, being aware of the power of authority is already a first line of defense. And to quickly and easily recognize if an authority figure should be obeyed, we should ask ourselves two questions:

First, is this person really an authority or merely masquerading as one? Are their credentials valid for this situation?