Comments on: A fantastic book on behavioral psychology: Sway ($1,000 giveaway)

By: Rob

Rob — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:11:51 +0000

Many of the behavioural psychology phenomenon in this book are also covered in a book called “Supercrunchers – why thinking by numbers is the new way to be smart”…

(yes, it’s a late comment, but I only just got around to reading the post)

By: Ramblings of a Curious American » Joshua Bell & Social Psychology

Ramblings of a Curious American » Joshua Bell & Social Psychology — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:52:06 +0000

[...] was reading one of the posts in my blog roll today and stumbled on a nugget that I found really interesting and wanted to share. It shows how [...]

By: Kalyan

Kalyan — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:18:11 +0000

It is a very interesting post. I have been following the blog closely but I am a lurker. The Washington Post experiment is not totally fair. I have never been to DC and am not aware how many people who like violin / classical music pass that location where he was playing. I would think a good number of people would not even care about a violin and it is *NOT* a reflection on the quality of the artist nor a measure of how people *perceive* quality. It is the mode they are not interested in – here, the violin.

What do you think?

By: » A whole bunch of links to great articles… Undertrader: Laying to rest the myths of investing…

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:16:01 +0000

[...] They also have a great review of a book called ’sway’ that talks about the ways wording can change your perception of things. Very fascinating. You can read that here. [...]

By: La importancia de las apariencias

La importancia de las apariencias — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:01:43 +0000

[...] Visto en el blog I will Teach to Be Rich. [...]

By: Tim

Tim — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 08:06:30 +0000

Who won the prize?

By: rmark

rmark — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:25:56 +0000

‘and that (3) asset allocation is responsible for 90%+ of returns.’

90% of the variation of returns according to Brinson, Hood, Beebower ‘ Determinants of Portfolio Performance (1986).

By: Jared

Jared — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:41:45 +0000

I ordered the book because it sounded interesting and i’m looking forward to getting through it. The gas offer is merely an insentive to buy it early as opposed to waiting. I’m curious to know how many people bought the book and submitted their receipt and how many didn’t consider the offer because they considered it unlikely to win gas.

I’ve seen Joshua Bell play at Benaroya Hall (incredible) and it doesn’t suprise me that taken out of a context of a symphonic hall that a passerby’s do not appreciate the same quality art with different presentation and audience. Very interesting expirament.

Ramit, been enjoying your blog. And I generally dislike blogs and bite sized information blog culture.

By: Josh

Josh — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 07:49:29 +0000

Thanks for the review, I’ll prolly check out the book because of it.

However, in regards to “Joshua Bell’s free violin concert”, seriously, what kind of scientific experiment is that? (if it can even be called one). How many of those passerbys actually go to those type of concerts or listen to that music…
It’s kind of hard to recognize outstanding quality if have no idea about the subject itself….or am I missing the obvious here?

By: Pierre

Pierre — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 19:30:58 +0000

Thanks for the post, Ramit. fyi: i selected the Judgment in Managerial Decisionmaking, being somewhat “academically inclined” in my selection, and interested in this area for ~2 months or so.

I am interested in the nature of time and context in these selections. i,e When you read an ad and select the offer, would you have made a different selection if you had taken twice as long to select (assuming other options are on the table?) Should that become a rule of thumb? This is particularly interesting in auction-contexts, where the auctioneer controls the frequency of bids, negotiations / arguments, the purchase of real estate, etc. Also, assuming patrons of the DC subway appreciate the musical performance of Joshua Bell (in the echo chamber of the subway lobby), the intention is to get from A to B, not stop and listening to i,e “another busker”, regardless of the time of day (i,e rush hour vs non-rush hour); where one is psychologically preparing for interactions at B, not between A and B. Of course, much to the loss of the majority numb to their environment.

Similarly, I had a great mortgage benefit option at the peak of last year’s housing market, which I let run-out and now (in hindsight gladly) relinquished — as the real estate market has dropped and is likely to continue. There was lots of pressure from work, family and friends to take it within the timeframe offered. Now, I sit more comfortably, knowing that if the employer values my services, they will appreciate the time in which they offer the “benefit” and re-offer i,e in 1 years’ time.