Swimming with Sharks

Choiceology with Katy Milkman

Charles Schwab

Behavioral Economics, Society & Culture, Social Sciences, Decision Making, Charles Schwab, Business, Science, Investing, Dan Heath, Katy Milkman

4.8 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 9 April 2018

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Sometimes it seems as if danger lurks around every corner. News reports of events like plane crashes and shark attacks make grave risk to life and limb feel real and imminent. And while there’s no doubt that risk is a part of life, are these the types of events we should really be concerned about? On this episode of Choiceology with Dan Heath, we examine a bias that affects the way you perceive both risk and reward. We trace how this bias may have helped your ancestors avoid lions lurking in the tall grass—but may also negatively affect your decisions around things like vacations and lotteries. The episode begins with Ranie Pearce and her harrowing tale of adventure in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Then you’ll hear an experiment involving sharks—and something even more dangerous—at the Vancouver Aquarium in British Columbia. Finally, author Dan Gardner explains the psychological roots of our common misperceptions about risk and reward.

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Dan Heath and this is choiceology.
0:08.2	Path is choiceology. Pathologist also...
0:10.2	The latest on Tuesday's crash of Flight 137 officials have confirmed that of all...
0:15.7	Have you ever noticed something in the news that makes you rethink your decisions?
0:20.6	Maybe a couple of stories on plane crashes have you second guessing your choice to fly to Hawaii for a holiday.
0:26.0	Or Shark Week has you seriously reconsidering that trip to the beach.
0:30.0	Coming up next on Shark Week, Great Whites, the perfect killing machines.
0:35.0	How do we assess what's risky and what's not?
0:39.0	What kind of computations are going on in our heads?
0:42.0	We're going to examine one bias that disrupt
0:45.1	those calculations and show how it affects your decisions in day-to-day life, in your
0:50.5	finances, and out in the middle of the ocean. This is Choiceology, an original podcast from Charles Schwab.
1:07.0	It's a show that reveals the hidden psychological forces that influence the way you make decisions,
1:11.7	small ones and big ones.
1:13.8	And we don't just reveal those forces.
1:15.8	We give you tips on how to minimize their impact
1:18.1	so you can avoid costly mistakes. stakes. Okay, so let's say you decided that flight to Hawaii was worth the risk for a
1:39.3	much-needed vacation, you arrived to white sandy beaches, a warm tropical breeze and waves lapping on the shore.
1:47.8	The turquoise waters beckon you to go in for a swim. There you are enjoying the experience of floating
1:56.7	effortlessly in the crystal clear water, but suddenly you become very aware of
2:02.3	your fingers and toes, how vulnerable they are.
2:05.8	And now those relaxing waves have become a churning ocean of Dread. Dredd.
	...

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