Drishti Khatri, MSc Behavioural Science Embarking on my MSc in Behavioural Science for Management at the esteemed Behavioural Science Centre, University of Stirling, has been an enlightening experience. Little did I know that this academic journey would present me with an extraordinary opportunity to delve into the profound impact of social media algorithms on human
Adam Smith predicts that income/pop of $20k will bring greater happiness than income/pop of $25k if the former is growing and the latter is stagnant – see a screenshot of his massively influential 1776 work Wealth of Nations below. Smith’s hypothesis has not (to my knowledge) been empirically tested but it is very much in
Something happened to humans over the past couple of hundred years. From having been largely stagnant for thousands of years, population, life expectancy and material comfort all took a dramatic and sustained uptick starting around 1700. That’s amazing and, what’s also amazing is… nobody quite knows why this explosion in human progress happened when it
An addictive good is one whose consumption eventually and reliably reduces the marginal utility of all other goods*. It is because of its effects on the perceived utility of all other goods that an addicitive good is distinct from one that is moreish. A good is moreish if it takes willpower to resist consuming more
A transitory upshift in expected utility e.g. seeing the trophy awakened in him an enthusiasm for the contest. Enthusiasm is often contagious.
Here’s a link to a video for prospective students where Sam Shand, a then-current student, and I talk about the program and what you can expect from it: MSc Behavioural Science for Management Webinar 29-04-2021.mp4 on Vimeo
Guidance on use: Clarity-enhancing jargon is always welcome. Identity-reinforcing jargon is generally to be avoided but can sometimes have signalling value that you might wish to leverage. Clarity-enhancing jargon succinctly and precisely articulates a concept that does not otherwise have a name. Examples: Present bias; loss aversion Welfare effects: Unambiguously positive. By making a specific
We were delighted to welcome Mona back to Stirling to present her fascinating PhD research documenting that after they have seen more and more patients GPs become more likely to prescribe antibiotics and less likely to prescribe statins. Really elegant combination of big data analytics, psychological theory and real world policy implications.
I have just been asked by a propsective MSc student for recommended reading. A more formal page will follow but here is my reply: Alongside Kahneman’s Thinking Fast and Slow, Thaler and Sunstein’s Nudge, be sure to check out anything by Christopher Hsee, George Loewenstein or Jon Elster. Also Tyler Cowen at the Marginal Revolution
Aspiration – a state x that is a presumed to provide higher utility than states not x; a prejudice in favor of state x e.g. people have an aspiration to be effortless so they forego opportunities to engage in fun activities (Comerford and Ubel, 2015) people aspire to being a car driver, so they misremember