Nudge Richard Thaler Quotes & Sayings

Unrealistic optimism is a pervasive feature of human life; it characterizes most people in most social categories. When they overestimate their personal immunity from harm, people may fail to take sensible preventive steps. If people are running risks because of unrealistic optimism, they might be able to benefit from a nudge. In fact, we have already mentioned one possibility: if people are reminded of a bad event, they may not continue to be so optimistic. — Richard H. Thaler

God sometimes moves mountains one pebble at a time. — Rebecca Barlow Jordan

For Drake is no longer in his hammock, children, nor is Arthur somewhere sleeping, and you may not lie idly expecting the second coming of anybody now, because the world is yours and it is up to you. — Susan Cooper

When should we nudge and when should we shove, I think, it's a political judgment. Obviously in some situations we need shoves, we need laws. Fraud is against the law, murder is against the law, drunk-driving is against the law. We don't need just nudges. — Richard Thaler

So, what's a nudge? A nudge is some small feature of the environment that attracts our attention and alters our behavior. — Richard Thaler

14. Procrastinator's Clock. For those who are chronically late to meetings, there's the Procrastinator's Clock, a downloadable program for your computer, that displays a digital clock that is guaranteed to be up to fifteen minutes fast. How fast? Well, that's the nudge. You are never exactly sure because the clock unpredictably speeds up and slows down. That assures that users can't game the system. We think that this device might help the lawyer of this team (who shall remain nameless) get to Noodles on time for lunch. A physical version of this clock has already been patented by a company called Emergent Technologies. — Richard H. Thaler

Thinking, Fast and Slow, mentioned above, and Dan Ariely's Predictably Irrational. One of the handful of books that provides advice on making decisions better is Nudge by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, which was written for "choice architects" in business and government who construct decision systems such as retirement plans or organ-donation policies. It has been used to improve government policies in the United States, Great Britain, and other countries. — Chip Heath

The most consummately beautiful thing in the universe is the fashioned life of a good person. — George Herbert Palmer

"Save more tomorrow" is a nudge to help people do what they know they want to do, which is save more, but they can't bring themselves to save more now. Just like many of us are planning to go on diets next month, or maybe in two months, certainly not tonight. — Richard Thaler

There is a new wave of interest in exploring how to frame choices so that people make better decisions. Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, professors of economics and law, respectively, teamed up to write Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness, which advocates using defaults to nudge us to make better choices.9 Even when we are choosing in our own interests, we often choose unwisely. When employees have the option of participating in a retirement-savings scheme, many do not, despite the financial advantages of doing so. If their employer instead automatically enrolls them, giving them the choice of opting out, participation jumps dramatically — Peter Singer

People want athletes to cater to their image of what an athlete should be, but they also want them to fail so they can feel like their screwups are all right. If I make a priority shift, I'll make it because it's best for me. — Bode Miller

I may be running out of options, but running out isn't an option. — Mark Lawrence

there is no question that social pressures nudge people to accept some pretty odd conclusions - and those conclusions might well affect their behavior. — Richard H. Thaler

To prosper, your superior must prosper. — Pierce Brown

I cannot understand why some people try to write a history of photography that is separated from the history of modern art. — Jean-Francois Chevrier