Since the turn of the millennium, a seismic shift has taken place in the corporate world As I type these words, the five most valuable companies in the world— Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Alphabet (Google) and Amazon— are all tech companies. Following breakthroughs made in the realm of artificial intelligence, corporations building digital minds have also …
Continue reading The Geek Way: How Silicon Valley is Reshaping The Corporate World
Rocked by a steady stream of failed replications and allegations of outrageous fraud, behavioural science stands at a crossroads. Ironically, the field of psychology finds itself slumped in a period of piercing introspection, being forced to answer tough questions. Diagnoses abound, with blame being placed on perverse incentives in academia, statistical methods in dire need …
Whether it’s the tragic death of Willy Loman in A Death of A Salesman, or Lester Burnham’s midlife crisis in American Beauty, a persistent theme in popular culture is a gnawing sense of alienation people feel running the modern day rat race. If you’ve ever felt this way, you’re not alone. Given that we spend …
Continue reading The Social Brain, by Tracey Camilleri, Samantha Rockey & Robin Dunbar
Whether weddings, national parades or religious festivals, rituals present a puzzle. We stress their importance, reflecting on these services as some of life’s most cherished moments. And yet, when prompted, most of us can’t explain why we perform them. What explains their persistence, and this apparent contradiction? In his new book Ritual: How Seemingly Senseless Acts …
In 2017, Collins Dictionary crowned ‘fake news’ its word of the year. Collins’ entry can be credited to two unforgettable events that defined 2016: the decision taken by the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, and the election of Donald J. Trump as President of the United States. Dismayed and disoriented by the outcome …
Do you ever get a niggling feeling that other people are doing better than you? Don't worry, we all do. In his new book The Status Game: On Social Position and How We Use It, Will Storr reveals the hidden force that triggers much of our anxiety: social status. From our hunter-gatherer ancestors who roamed …
As workers across the corporate world have begun scuttering back into their offices, many of us are sneaking away with our comrades for a drink. Given the substantial hazards alcohol presents, what should our stance on drinking with our colleagues be? In his new book Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to …
The pandemic has been a stark reminder of just how much we rely on one another. Like plagues of the past, the novel coronavirus has exploited our social nature. But our sociality is also our Get Out of Jail Free card. Billions of people complying with strict lockdowns and the race to roll-out COVID-19 vaccines …
Among political scientists, it's widely believed that ‘cognitive biases’ (that is, quirks of the human mind) are not only detrimental, but responsible for some of history’s worst policy blunders. Whether it’s the Bay of Pigs fiasco, Chernobyl, or the Global Financial Crisis, it’s easy to think of colossal disasters that back this up. But is …
Here's an ethical dilemma for you to mull over: You are riding in a car driven by a close friend. He hits a pedestrian. You know he was going at least 35 miles per hour in an area of the city where the maximum allowed speed is 20 miles per hour. There are no witnesses. …
Continue reading The Weirdest People in the World, by Joseph Henrich
Darwinian Business 