specie inteligenta, indivizi stupizi

Deși aparent ființe raționale și logice, când vine vorba de decizii economice oamenii dau dovadă de suprinzător de puțină inteligență și clarviziune:

Which would you do: Accept a guaranteed gift of $500 or gamble by taking a risk on a coin toss that would give you $1,000 for heads — and nothing for tails?

Most people would play it safe and take the sure $500, Santos said.

What if, instead of a gain, you faced a potential loss? Your choice would be to give up $500 for sure or take a risk on a coin toss that could cost you $1,000 if you lost — or nothing if you won? Most people opt for taking the risk rather than playing it safe.

Using tokens as a form of money and grapes as prized products to be exchanged for the tokens, Santos has shown that capuchin monkeys make the same set of irrational choices — taking more risk when they have something to lose than when they have something to gain.

"The errors we make are predictable, we make them again and again," said Santos, explaining that she wants to learn "how a species as smart as we are" can make such persistent mistakes. We can overcome our biological limitations, she said, but first we have to recognize what they are.

În ceea ce privește raționalitate consumatorului moden, Tim Jackson este și mai plastic: „Cheltuim bani pe care nu-i avem, pe lucruri de care nu avem nevoie, pentru a impresiona temporar oameni de care nu ne pasă de fapt.”

Dar o consolare tot există: și maimuțele fac aceleași alegeri prostești în ceea ce privește riscul, la fel ca și oamenii.

Mai multe detalii – aici.

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