Science & the Big Questions

Synchronized Violin Players Reveal Uniqueness of Human Networks

It’s relevant to economics, epidemiology, traffic, and the spread of misinformation.

Ars Technica

Topics: Decision-Making Social Networks

The Psychology of Fairness: Why Some Americans Don’t Believe the Election Results

When a decision is made and people don’t get the outcome they want, they often tend to see it as unfair. Here’s why.

The Conversation

Topics: Bias Decision-Making Ethics Fairness Group Identity Morality Values

Why Even the Most Reasonable People You Know Are Bending Covid Safety Rules

Social distancing guidelines go against our deepest instincts and cultural norms. Can we overcome that as a society?

Elemental, Medium

Topics: Decision-Making Group Identity Values

American Society Teaches Everyone to Be Racist — But You Can Rewrite Subconscious Stereotypes

If you’re American — regardless of the color of your skin — racism structures how you think. Changing the system should change these implicit biases.

The Conversation

Topics: Bias Decision-Making Social Inequality

When Causing Harm Is Unavoidable, We Prefer to Cause More Harm for More Benefits Rather Than Less Harm for Fewer

Jonathan Berma from London Business School and Daniella Kupor from Boston University find that in situations where harm is unavoidable, people consistently try to maximize the social benefit, rather than minimize the amount of harm caused.

British Psychological Society Research Digest

Topics: Decision-Making Morality Values

You Want People to Do the Right Thing? Save Them the Guilt Trip

Positive messaging, speaking to people’s positive sense of self, might be a more powerful lever of behavioral change.

Psyche

Topics: Decision-Making Emotion Pride

AI Is Learning When It Should and Shouldn’t Defer to a Human

Is a doctor or an AI system better at diagnosing a particular patient? This machine learning tool makes the call.

Technology Review

Topics: Decision-Making Technology

The Role of Cognitive Dissonance in the Pandemic

The minute we make any decision — I think COVID-19 is serious; no, I’m sure it is a hoax — we begin to justify the wisdom of our choice and find reasons to dismiss the alternative.

The Atlantic

Topics: Belief Cognition Decision-Making

MIT Researchers Found a Way to Deter People From Sharing COVID-19 Conspiracies

A new study suggests that periodically prompting users to think about news accuracy could help limit the sharing of misinformation.

Fast Company

Topics: Decision-Making Information Social Cognition

Playing Favorites: When Kindness Toward Some Means Callousness Toward Others

If we do a favor for someone we know, we think we’ve done a good deed. What we don’t tend to ask is: Who have we harmed by treating this person with more kindness than we show toward others?

Hidden Brain, NPR

Topics: Altruism Bias Cooperation Decision-Making Group Identity Joshua Greene Morality

Curbing Implicit Bias: What Works and What Doesn’t

Psychologists have yet to find a way to diminish hidden prejudice, but they do have strategies for thwarting discrimination.

Knowable Magazine

Topics: Bias Decision-Making Social Behavior Social Cognition

Justifying the Means: What It Means to Treat All Suffering Equally

Peter Singer believes there are no moral absolutes, and that logic and calculation are better guides to moral behavior than feelings and intuitions.

Hidden Brain, NPR

Topics: Decision-Making Ethics Morality Rationality Values

The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is … Fearing Fear Itself

Research into damaged brains provides a vital lesson for our times: Anxiety is not a weakness but a guide.

WIRED

Topics: Decision-Making Emotion

Crushing Coronavirus Means ‘Breaking the Habits of a Lifetime.’ Behavior Scientists Have Some Tips

Sometimes, even subtle cues can change people’s behavior.

Science

Topics: Decision-Making

Why Humans Aren’t Wired to Understand the Coronavirus

Emotions mixed with biases can push people to make rash or illogical choices, particularly when it comes to a topic as complex as a pandemic.

NBC News

Topics: Bias Decision-Making Emotion

Stress Thwarts Our Ability to Plan Ahead by Disrupting How We Use Memory

Pairing brain scans with virtual-navigation tasks, researchers found that people make less efficient and effective plans when stressed.

Stanford News

Topics: Aging Cognition Decision-Making

Can Artificial Intelligence Help Us Make Better Decisions During a Crisis?

New research indicates that AI may help people cooperate and make ethical decisions faster and with fewer errors.

Medium

Topics: Cooperation Decision-Making Ethics Morality

Mass Panic Is Unlikely, Even During a Pandemic

Hollywood tells us humans are prone to lose all rationality in a disaster, looting and trampling one another. But that’s not giving our brains any credit.

WIRED

Topics: Altruism Cooperation Decision-Making Rationality Resilience Social Inequality

Why We Need to Be More Emotional to Save the World

If our species wants to enjoy a long-term future, it might need to tap into the very human qualities of emotion.

BBC Future

Topics: Altruism Awe Cooperation Decision-Making Emotion Empathy Flourishing Rationality