Category: Notes

In this lecture, Levitt and Dubner explore the Dictator Game (based on the Ultimatum Game) and its results. In the game, people are given $10 and told that they can give a portion (from nothing to the full $10) to another person, like themselves, in another room, whom they will never meet and who does not get any money except what the first person gives them. They found that the amount people were willing to give dropped (but stayed positive) once they added the option take (that is, remove from their wallet) a small amount money from the second person and then went negative when they added the option to take a full $10. In short, when we have a chance to steal a little money, we generally do not, but if we can steal a lot, we generally do.

Robinson discusses what it means for a person to be “in their element.” It is, as most of Robinson’s lectures are, a discussion that includes educational ideas.

The Element (RSA)

We usually think of the internet as an amazing information source, and it is, but at the same time it is a huge filtering system. At the same time that information is being stored, companies filter our content based on our personal preferences. This creates three issues: we have a distorted perspective of what is happening (less sensational informational falls by the wayside), we tend to more informational junk instead of being balanced (we become informationally “obese”) and we lose control over what information we can get (operative word is “can,” as in it is hard to find information that the companies do not think you want).

The Filter Bubble: How the hidden web is shaping lives (RSA)

Bottom line: we need to apply skill when making morally based decisions; rigid rules cannot capture all possible scenarios and exceptions. Practical wisdom, the power and skill to know when and how to bend the rules, can improve society and our moral standards.

Barry Schwartz: Using our practical wisdom (TED)

We tend to track, as Shermer points out, the hits and forget the misses. However, one must take the hits and misses together to determine if something is actually substantial. Shermer runs through a series of scenarios to demonstrate that people want to believe in extraordinary things, regardless of whether they are true or not.

Michael Shermer: Why people believe strange things (TED)