Behavioural-Economics

Journal Entry: The Reflexive Loop In the stillness of observation lies the foundation of understanding. Yet, what we observe is not the whole of what is. It is merely the raw clay, waiting to be shaped by the mind. Echoing the words of Heisenberg from his 1958 book Physics and Philosophy" What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning.” Kant suggests we do not see the world as it is in itself (the noumena), but rather as it appears to us through the lens of our own cognition (the phenomena). The clay is shapeless until our minds create a form for it. ...

Synthesises decades of research in behavioral science, to explain why human beings are predictably irrational and often make error-prone decisions. “Nothing in life is as important as you think it is, while you are thinking about it” Key Principle: The Mind has two systems. System 1 (fast, intuitive) and System 2 (slow, analytical) Part 1: Two Systems System 1 operates automatically and quickly, with no effort and no voluntary control. ...

“This book is an essay in what is derogatorily called “literary economics,” as opposed to mathematical economics, econometrics, or (embracing them both) the “new economic history.” Brought ahead of the Academy program in NYC as recommended reading, Kindleberger describes the system for collective human delusion. “Money is a public good; as such, it lends itself to private exploitation.” Markets are emotional weather systems pretending to be rational machines. Panic spreads socially. Euphoria spreads socially. Civilization periodically hallucinates value into existence and then acts shocked when the hallucination collapses. When everyone suddenly sounds certain. When complexity gets replaced by slogans. When risk gets renamed innovation. ...