A fire-breathing review of OST
Posted on January 25, 2011 by Wray Herbert
What a lovely review of On Second Thought on the Dragon’s Library blog. Thank you!
Wray’s Blog
Why ‘Whiskey in a Can’ is a terrible idea
Posted on January 25, 2011 by Wray Herbert
The hangovers of New Year’s day 2011 had barely faded from memory when a whiskey company called Scottish Spirits began marketing its latest product: whiskey in a can. Each aluminum can contains eight shots of Sir Edwin’s Blended Whiskey. The company tried to head off criticism by pointing out that a can is meant to… Read more
Decoys and romance: The ‘attraction effect’
Posted on January 24, 2011 by Wray Herbert
Here’s an early Valentine’s Day thought, adapted from Chapter 11 of On Second Thought. The chapter is about the Decoy Heuristic, which shapes many life choices in irrational ways: “You’ve just moved to town and need a place to live. You’ve narrowed your choices to two apartments that seem suitable. The first is spacious, 800… Read more
Irrational Optimism: ‘On Any Given Sunday’
Posted on January 23, 2011 by Wray Herbert
Enjoy the NFL playoffs, but know that your wagering is far from rational. Check this out.
Aha! The insightful, heuristic mind
Posted on January 21, 2011 by Wray Herbert
I write in the book about driving a car on automatic pilot. We don’t have to deliberate every move; we just get in the car, then we arrive at our destination. This is the heuristic mind in action, and we need such automation to get through life. There is also growing evidence that flashes of… Read more
The irrational optimism bias: ‘On any given Sunday’
Posted on January 18, 2011 by Wray Herbert
I was not able to include a discussion of the “optimism bias” in On Second Thought, but I will in the next edition. It is one of the post powerful–and consequential–heuristics at work in the human mind, as this new research demonstrates. http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/were-only-human/irrational-optimism-on-any-given-sunday.html
Slum Gullion
Posted on January 17, 2011 by Wray Herbert
My memory of dinnertime growing up is that it consisted of four meals: slumgullion, ri-kid-me-on, meatloaf, and Michigan. We always ate them in that order–slumgullion, ri-kid-me-on, meatloaf, Michigan–then started over again with slumgullion. There was no variation. These meals were meant to take a small amount of meat and stretch it out with lots of… Read more
Don’t Blink: Two Skeptical Looks at Intuition
Posted on January 7, 2011 by Wray Herbert
Psychotherapy Networker is an award-winning magazine aimed at therapists and mental health workers. In the current issue, book reviewer Diane Cole finds much to admire in On Second Thought and The Invisible Gorilla, two new books that temper Blink-line enthusiasm for gut feelings. Bookmarks PDF Print E-mail By Diane Cole Misstating the Obvious The pitfalls… Read more