Alchemy: The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don't Make Sense

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We are better off not knowing about our decisions, we are sometimes deceived by ourselves so we can deceive others. As Pascal said, “ The heart has reasons of which reason knows nothing.” One problem (among many) of Soviet-style command economies is that they only work if people know what they want and need, and can define and express that preference adequately. But that is impossible, because not only do people not know what they want, they don't even know why they like the things they buy. Satisficing is the observation that when people make decisions in an uncertain setting, they care not only about the expected outcome but also the possible variance. They are prepared to pay a premium not only for something better, but to ensure that it is not terrible. This is the reason people buy brands. Big data carries with it the promise of certainty, but in truth it usually provides a huge amount of information about a narrow field of knowledge. This is a breakthrough book: Mother Reality makes sense in her own way. She yields her secrets to practitioners, almost never to academics - something psychologists, economists and non-skin in the game people, no matter what they say, are functionally unable to grasp. And the book is funny as hell: I smiled and laughed at every paragraph.

Once you accept that there may be a purpose to things that are hard to justify, you will come to another conclusion: it is perfectly possible to be both rational and wrong. Irrational people are much more powerful than rational people, because their threats are so much more convincing. Delightful read. Breezy and irreverent. The author talks about scenarios where a purely "logical" approach can lead to worse outcomes for business. The economy is not a machine. It is a highly complex system. Machines don't allow for magic, complex systems do. Flower is just a weed with an advertising budget. A flower can be worth stopping at, worth going out of your way or destination in itself.The legendary advertising guru—Ogilvy UK’s vice chairman—and star of three massively popular TED Talks, blends the science of human behavior with his vast experience in the art of persuasion in this incomparable book that decodes successful branding and marketing in the vein of Freakonomics, Thinking Fast and Slow, and The Power of Habit.

Two amounts one is prepared to spend in a store : "zero" or "a lot". Purchasing expensive treats or finding bargains both have a dopamine rush. One might think many animals will adopt and change their color to surrounding so as to hide from predator. However, there are few insects/worms which have adopted to be very brightly and lively colored which makes them easily visible even from far distances. This should make them easy prey in the wild?? … maybe not. It’s a costly signalling but it works, Without a distinctive brand identity, there is no incentive to improve your product - and no way for customers to choose well, or to reward the best manufacturer. (brand equity, goodwill) If you ask me to guess, food delivery might have been started for introvert/lazy guys who just wants to eat home at peace without people staring at them. Being slightly bonkers can be a good negotiating strategy: being rational means you are predictable, and being predictable makes you weak.Economic theory is an insufficient way to identify value proposition - both in B2B and B2C scenarios. Loss avoidance and personal status gains are a much stronger motivators than prospects for economic gains

You might think that people instinctively want to make the best decision, but there is a stronger force that animates business decision-making: the desire to not get fired or blamed. The best insurance against blame is to use conventional logic in every decision. Even when designing for the able-bodied, it is a good principle to assume that the user is operating under constraints (e.g. injured, hands fulls etc). The regular practice of religion also encourages such beneficial effects on mental health as less depression, higher self-esteem and greater family and marital happiness.

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Major markets have banned/rejected vaping/e-cigarettes although its better replacement. Its difficult to get a man understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it. –