People use cognitive shortcuts to make choices that sometimes have outcomes that don’t serve their own interests or preferences. But to call these choices irrational might be missing the big picture.
Articles on Irrationality
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Context, perceptions and expectations affect the choices both bees and people make.
A new study uses maths and behavioural science to understand how your actions during an epidemic influence the spread of the disease (and vice versa).
Grief is a natural response to loss, but if it significantly affects your ability to function, it may be time to seek professional help.
Online searches search trends reveal that there’s a growing link between modern ways of living and the vicious cycle of biophobia.
A sociologist unpacks how common superstitions like fear of 13 can gain steam.
Democracy and good governance require politicians to engage in reasoned debate, informed decision making and measured judgements. This presupposes rationality. Is this always true?
It’s human nature to notice or search out information that supports what you already believe and discount or avoid data to the contrary. The problem comes in when you don’t recognize this bias is in play.
Top contributors
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Professor and Head of Department of Political and Conflict Studies, Nelson Mandela University
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Research Professor of Psychology, Tufts University
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Researcher in ecology and evolutionary biology, National Research Council (CNR)
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Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Sociology, University of South Carolina
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Research Scientist, CSIRO
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Counseling Psychologist, Catholic University of Eastern Africa
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Postdoctoral CERC Fellow, Human Health, CSIRO
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Assistant professor, University of Turku
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A/Prof, James Cook University
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Assistant Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee; Smithsonian Institution
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Alejandro Hortal-Sánchez is a Friend of The Conversation.
External collaborator, UNED - Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia; University of North Carolina – Greensboro; Institute for Humane Studies; Wake Forest University