• CHOICE ANGST AND NEUROECONOMICS

    DiceOver at Radio Lab, a smart and innovative public-radio programme, Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich have been busily examining any number of our idle preoccupations in thoughtful ways. But one recent show stood out, largely because it dovetails with the yuppie zeitgeist: Choice, the emotions and logic that inform our decisions (and which often lead us to rue them).

    Like the behavioural economics publishing craze, books more plainly about decision-making have wide appeal, largely because we all love reading about what makes us tick (particularly if we could tick a bit better).

    Not long ago, I proposed to Abumrad that our popular fixation with the subject of choice is a consequence of living in a time of unprecedented prosperity (which remains true, despite this recession). With so many options--particularly among the privileged public-radio set--the consequences of a bad decision feel more profound. We have only ourselves to blame.

    He was not convinced, and e-mailed the following:  read more »


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