Colm Howlin

“The interview started. Hearing a friend tell an old story about you is not an exciting activity, and hearing someone praise you is always awkward. I picked up something to read and my attention drifted— until I heard Danny say: “Oh, the best thing about Thaler, what really makes him special, is that he is lazy.” What? Really? I would never deny being lazy, but did Danny think that my laziness was my single best quality? I started waving my hands and shaking my head madly but Danny continued, extolling the virtues of my sloth. To this day, Danny insists it was a high compliment. My laziness, he claims, means I only work on questions that are intriguing enough to overcome this default tendency of avoiding work. Only Danny could turn my laziness into an asset.”
― Richard H Thaler, Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioural Economics

“Standard economics assumes that we are rational... But, as the results presented in this book (and others) show, we are far less rational in our decision making... Our irrational behaviors arevneither random nor senseless- they are systematic and predictable. We all make the same types of mistakes over and over, because of he basic wiring of our brains.-pg. 239”
― Dan Ariely, Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions

“people have a strong tendency to go along with the status quo or default option.”
― Richard H. Thaler, Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness

“you want to nudge people into socially desirable behavior, do not, by any means, let them know that their current actions are better than the social norm.”
― Richard H. Thaler, Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness