Koen Smets – Medium

Koen Smets

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Koen Smets

Best of Koenfucius 2023

My 10 most read posts of the past year

Jan 4

Best of Koenfucius 2023

Jan 4

Pinned

Koen Smets

We are all economists

Mainstream and behavioural economics are two sides of the same coin

Jun 3, 2016

We are all economists

Jun 3, 2016

Koen Smets

Naïve and inadequate

We have a tendency to believe not only that the reality is exactly how we see it, but also that just a little information is often enough…

5d ago

Naïve and inadequate

5d ago

Koen Smets

The limits of pragmatic decision-making

We are generally pragmatic decision makers, neither totally calculated and logical, nor entirely irrational. But our pragmatism has limits…

Nov 8

A painting of a maze with the entrance in the distance, and two exists with closed, thorny gates at the front.

Nov 8

Koen Smets

Rationality is bullshit — Part 2

Is it possible to categorize our own choices, decisions and behaviours as rational or irrational? Or is the notion of rationality in this…

Nov 1

A surreal set of scales with cogwheels in the scales, unable to tip either way

Nov 1

Koen Smets

Rationality is bullshit — Part 1

The term ‘rationality’ and its derivatives lack accuracy, more often than not meaning whatever the person using it wants it to mean. Might…

Oct 25

A chessboard with pieces made from cogwheels

Oct 25

Koen Smets

Many of our beliefs are wrong but some are useful

We may have some beliefs that are true, but many, even though they serve us well, are at the very least open to question.

Oct 18

Stylized heads showing anchors in their brains

Oct 18

Koen Smets

Absolute goals in a world of relative trade-offs

Some decisions often come down to how much money, time or effort something we want (or want to avoid) is worth. This can be remarkably hard…

Oct 11

A juggler juggling four normal and one huge ball

Oct 11

Koen Smets

Reality is what we feel

Much as we like to believe we can and do use rational thought about facts to interpret the world and react to it, it is our feelings that…

Oct 4

A set of scales with a heart weighing more than a brain

Oct 4

Koen Smets

The curse of extremism

We have a taste for the extreme — after all, who is interested in what is just middling? But together with other tendencies, it can…

Sep 27

Colourful dials (like political parties’ colours) showing all the needles in the red

Sep 27

Koen Smets

Koen Smets

Accidental behavioural economist in search of wisdom. Uses insights from (behavioural) economics in organization development. On Twitter as @koenfucius

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