I'm Dan Heath and this is Choiceology.

We begin at a carnival midway surrounded by games of skill and luck.

That's it, right in the hoop, right there.

Now, nobody sets out to lose a game. I mean what would be the point if you're in it you're in it to win it like this couple playing the ring toss

here we go oh yeah. Oh yeah. But the thing with games is there's usually a loser.

So what is it that leads you into a game or a competition or an important life decision

believing you can win even when the odds may not be in your favor?

Well before we're through today you'll understand this mystery motivation and you'll see how it

permeates everything from carnival games to competitive eating to investing all the way through

to an epic World War II battle. This is choiceology, an original podcast from Charles Schwab. It's a show that reveals the hidden psychological traps that sometimes

prevent you from making the best decisions, whether those decisions are about your finances

or your relationships or what to have for lunch.

It's about understanding human behavior,

avoiding expensive mistakes, and making the best choices for your future.

Now I'll explain while we started the show off at a carnival midway in a little bit

but first we're gonna plunk you down into the middle of the Pacific Ocean a

different midway a tiny place called the Midway Atoll.

It's part of the Hawaiian Island chain, but it's about 1,100 miles northwest of Oahu.

That's the distance from New York City to Orlando. This remote

place was the site of one of the most important battles of World War II, the Battle of Midway. It's 1942, six months after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.

The attack on Pearl Harbor happens on December 7th, 1941, and that really kicks off a series of

sort of unmitigated disasters for the allies in the Pacific Ocean.

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