Paul Dragos Aligica’s Post

Struggling with healthy habits? You're not alone. Research suggests our brains aren't wired for it. But there's a solution: nudges. I recently listened to the Ten Percent Happier podcast, where Richard Thaler discussed leveraging nudges—subtle cues in our environment (ex. notifications, GPS)—to influence behavior. Take my water bottle, for instance. I used to credit its motivational quotes for keeping me hydrated. Turns out, it's the laziness factor – a bigger bottle means fewer refills, making hydration easier. Discovering the power of nudges is a game-changer. Now, I'm on the hunt for another nudge to kick me off this chair! 😊 #BehavioralScience #HealthyHabits #NudgeTheory

Different models analyse what the best decisions would be if we acted rationally, but why do we make irrational “mistakes”? Listen to our new podcast episode with Greg Kubitz to explore… … How examining challenges through an evolutionary lens helps create a deeper understanding. … How the well-studied phenomenon of loss aversion in humans might be explained in this context. … How Game Theoretic approaches like the principal agent model can help us make decisions in consideration of biological constraints. Tune in: Game Changer website https://lnkd.in/dp5cyiz Spotify https://lnkd.in/eZpdDTp5 Apple Podcasts https://lnkd.in/ebATF4Ee Amazon https://lnkd.in/dmbkcJJ Deezer https://lnkd.in/eQrqYxQp TuneIn https://lnkd.in/dt58RZQ Wisspod https://lnkd.in/ewFfgmPi #gametheory #lossaversion #economics #gamechanger #decisionmaking

Such a great episode on consumer online search! I always had this question when searching online. What should we look for when shopping on online platforms? Sponsored or non-sponsored articles? When searching for products online, we usually have access to a wide range of products. However, some of them clearly stand out as being sponsored. This probably raises a few questions among many of us: are some products sponsored because the firms are paying to get to a top position, offering me only a mediocre product? Or in fact, is the platform doing me a favour by directing me to the product that is likely to suit me the most? Should I ignore the sponsored positions, or should I always start from them? In this episode, Maarten suggested that the consumer should start from the sponsored position (i.e. normally the one appears on the top of the search result). Counterintuitively, we should especially do that when the platform is financed by those sponsored positions. To understand this counterintuitive suggestion, he describes the following mechanism: a) Platforms commonly collect data on their users (cookies 😉) b) Platforms generate money from sponsored positions. Therefore, they want to make those positions as attractive as possible for offering firms. c) Sponsored positions get more attractive if they generate more turnover, which they can achieve by (i) choosing firms for sponsored positions that match their customer profile and (ii) providing less information content around non-sponsored product positions d) As a result, products in sponsored positions are meant to be an ideal fit for platform users. Conversely, clicking on non-sponsored products means that less information is provided, making the search process more arduous. To sum up, it seems like sponsored positions are actually a genuine buying recommendation by a platform, rather than just a simple marketing trick. After listening to this podcast, I have had some questions in mind: 1. Do you agree with the mechanism in Maarten’s analysis? 2. How could competitions of the platforms affect this mechanism? 3. To go a bit more into the microeconomic theory: how fragile or stable is this equilibrium/outcome? For example, consumers may have a wrong belief about how much information content the sponsored positions have. Then, the consumers may avoid sponsored position and go directly to the lower ranked alternatives. Then, how quickly a platform can convince a consumer that the lower rank positions should not be somewhere they start their search from?

Two incredible pieces of scientific dissemination I've consumed this last week on political views, understanding of reality and the role of news in political debate. 🎙️ First one is the episode 141 from the Stanford Psychology Podcast, with Michael Schwalbe and Geoff Cohen talking about the paper "When Politics Trumps Truth: Political Concordance Versus Veracity as a Determinant of Believing, Sharing, and Recalling the News". They present some of their results researching resistance to truth and susceptibility to falsehood of political headlines, considering the political partisanship of the subjects. 💡 For me, the highlight here was the resistance to true news (that went against ones' beliefs) was stronger than susceptibility to fake news. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eG988XU6 🎬 The second one is the video "On These Questions, Smarter People Do Worse" from Veritasium on YouTube, where the paper "Motivated numeracy and enlightened self-government" by Dan Kaham et al. is taken into consideration. 💡 This video has the capacity of presenting how people previous political beliefs influence their views on political dilemmas even when they are considered "smart" or have high "science comprehension". 🔗https://lnkd.in/emzfXw_J

#podcast tip: Autocracy in America Anne Applebaum and Peter Pomerantsev have made a six part podcast describing autocratic tendencies in the USA and how living in autocracies abroad has been. Quite some relevant insights from East European emigres. https://lnkd.in/d-kWHBPb

#HistoryForTomorrow ‘inspiration from the past for the future of humanity’ The latest episode of #TheNewAbnormal podcast features the leading social philosopher Roman Krznaric, whose books focus on the power of ideas to create change. His international bestsellers, which include ‘The Good Ancestor’, ‘Empathy’, and ‘Carpe Diem Regained’ have been published in more than twenty-five languages. His new book ‘History for Tomorrow’ is out now, and in it he unearths fascinating insights and inspiration from the last 1000 years of world history that could help us confront the most urgent challenges facing humanity in the twenty-first century. Roman believes that history offers a vision of radical hope that could turn out to be our most vital tool for surviving and thriving in the turbulent decades ahead. We therefore discuss a wide range of viewpoints that he illuminates in a suitably dynamic manner. I found it to be a fascinating conversation and hope you will too! --- My podcast series focuses on understanding today and anticipating the future. It’s been running for three years, with a wide range of guests inc activists, writers, creatives, philosophers, strategists, psychologists, lecturers and futurists; based in locations from Helsinki to Melbourne, and L.A. to Beijing.   Links: Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2YuAVmE - Apple: https://apple.co/3faOfCG - Amazon: https://amzn.to/3dD9L6Y The series is bought to you in partnership with the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies - a global leader in applying futures studies to solve strategic challenges within organisations. Clients use their services to help them be #FuturesReady…

In our latest Anchoring Truths podcast, Spencer Klavan joins for a discussion on themes from his new book, "Light of the Mind, Light of the World." Klavan argues that science itself is leading us not away from God, but back to him, and to the ancient faith that places the human soul at the center of the universe. Listen now: https://lnkd.in/earwiPkT

There are many pitfalls that can lead to value drain in dealmaking. And since preparation is key, get ready for your next negotiation and listen to our new podcast episode with Paul Papayoanou to explore… … the most common value-destructive behaviours and how to avoid them … the traits of an effective dealmaker and how to become a savvy strategist in negotiations … how to apply game theory to improve your negotiation strategies Tune in: Game Changer website https://lnkd.in/dp5cyiz Spotify https://lnkd.in/dK7mT5bN Apple Podcasts https://lnkd.in/dGGz-iyc Amazon https://lnkd.in/dmbkcJJ Deezer https://lnkd.in/dZeMKr7v TuneIn https://lnkd.in/dt58RZQ Wisspod https://lnkd.in/dqFKwv8W #gametheory #dealmaking #economics #gamechanger #negotiations

John Gray (the author of the book: The New Leviathans, Thoughts After Liberalism) on the US Election and a World After Liberalism. Here you are! Some very interesting thoughts: 👉 Almost certainly we will face deeper division after the election than there was even before. You could have a fairly long and fairly deep period of civil disorder, of deepening semi-anarchy in some areas. 👉 American model of democratic government was being talked about as one that could be projected globally. We're now seeing it in deep, deep trouble in its place of origin. 👉 Progress is always possible. But progress is only possible if there is sufficient convergence of goals and values and sufficient trust in institutions that the different groups have in common. 👉 There's one remarkable element in the recent American election campaigns: Musk's argument, which seems genuine on his part, that unless Trump is elected, he, Trump, won't be able to go on with his Mars program because it would be regulated out of existence, he fears. And if you don't go ahead with the Mars program, you don't have interplanetary colonization. And if you don't have interplanetary colonization, the human race is going to become extinct. Now, John Gray says, it's an unrealistic idea for one very simple reason. The idea that by migrating to another planet or many other planets, you can somehow remove the sting of human destructiveness is an illusion. 👉 Conspiracy theory is deeply woven into American life and American. Conspirators themselves don't know what's going on. Guicciardini says, “don't get involved in conspiracies because 99% of people involved in conspiracies are complete idiots. Just try and stay out of them.” ➡️ I just add: Does this American election’s element seem absurd to you? Compared to this, populism in Europe is just a light tea brew. Source: From Intelligence Squared podcast, 8 Nov 2024 https://lnkd.in/eFPYarsv