What is a bad decision? It is tempting to say, “one with a bad outcome”, but unless the outcome was certain right from the start, this is not the right criterion. Bad decision making is about flaws in the process, not in the result. Two particular flaws are widespread — or is it three? — It is fascinating to see small children play and learn — especially when they are constructing things, for example with plastic bricks from a well-known Danish company. When the object they made falls over, they might remove a block from one place and put it in the right position to…

Our cognition — and that of many other organisms — is based on associating new information to past experiences. These associations can become complex, and confront us with unpleasant contradictions — Last Saturday at the crack of dawn, the police were called to Broadcasting House, the BBC’s emblematic headquarters in central London. A man wearing a Spiderman mask had climbed up a scaffold around a statue at the entrance, and was attacking it with a hammer and chisel. The scaffold was…

Decisions invariably involve costs and benefits. Sometimes we trade these off, but at other times it seems as if there is only one thing that matters. And that is not always such a good thing — To understand people’s behaviour, you need to observe the choices and decisions they make. You can look at the members of your household, your friends and relatives, your colleagues, or even random strangers. Well-written literature and drama too can provide rewarding source material to give insight in what drives people’s…

True enough, rational decision making is very much a matter of costs and benefits. However, we sometimes forget that the way we see costs and benefits is not necessarily the same as how someone else does… but there is a way to overcome that. — A few years ago, my (fictitious) colleague Tim was involved in a long-term project for which he had to travel to the town where he grew up, more than six hours’ drive away. Every few months, he had to spend time at the client’s for a few days, sometimes for…

Intrinsic motivation is somewhat mysterious: why would we do something effortful or costly, without reward? — What would happen if you did nothing at all? If you did not eat or drink, you would soon succumb to malnutrition and dehydration, and die. Regardless of your inclination to produce offspring and fertility, if you did not attempt to find a mate and engage in the necessary behaviour…

Efficiency is sometimes treated as an absolutely valuable characteristic, but that is a bit too simplistic. — One Thursday afternoon, long ago — the animals had already stopped talking, but it was certainly well before the COVID-19 pandemic paved the way for widespread remote working — I was in the West-London office of my then employer’s. A planned meeting had been postponed, and earlier that morning I…

Whether they concern us personally in a concrete manner, or are more general and abstract, our morals should — pretty much by definition — be the same. But are they? — One summer, three high school friends, Paula, Sarah and Jessica visited a large amusement park. It was sunny and hot, and very busy, with people queueing for up to two hours at the most popular rides. Fearing that they might not be able to go on all the attractions, they…

Sickness absence at work is a (behavioural) economics affair. So is the sick note. — When you move to a different country for work, differences in default terms of employment can lead to surprise and confusion. Having emigrated from Belgium to the UK, now quite a while ago, I bumped into one such facet when I caught influenza and could not come into work. I…

We often weigh up intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, but can that be taken too far? — What motivates us to do something? Many people spend a fair portion of their time working for an income. Provided the level of the compensation is right, money can apparently motivate us. Likewise, the prospect of the outcome of an activity might spur us on: crystal clear windows, a neatly…