Isolation, Pepsi’s Challenge, Democracy, and a Revolution in Classical Music

A Second Look at First Impressions Pepsi’s Challenge and “New Coke” - “The story of New Coke is a really good illustration of how complicated it is to find out what people really think.” How and why? - Why were blind taste-tests not very predictive of purchasing behavior? - Why did Pepsi “win” most taste-tests, but never took over Coke’s market-share? - What, then, was the mistake that Coke made? The role of “emotional branding” - (human beings’ inherent “tribalism”) - “brand experiences” and “loyalty beyond reason”

Listening with Your Eyes: The Lessons of Blink The limits of conventional decision-making: screened auditions, women (Abbie Conant) and training our rapid cognition

Group Coordination, Traffic & Incentives The point of congestion pricing is to get people to coordinate their activities better by balancing the benefits they get from driving against the costs they inflict on everyone else.

Group Coordination, Traffic & Incentives Incentive structure is key: London: 20% reduction in traffic, 40% increase in car speed, increased use of public transport and biking - The flow of traffic is now a better reflection of the real value that people truly place on driving. Mexico City: last number of license plate & days of the week - What happened?

Group Coordination, SARS & Incentives SARS shows the power of group collaboration, as contrasted with “science” and epidemics from previous eras: No one was “in charge,” yet coordination was abundant: group research projects proliferated rapidly, there was an effective division of cognitive labor, as well as diversity and independence of individual participation. Like the Iowa Electronic Markets (IEM), scientists’ are driven more by recognition than financial profit and the inherent competition involved (absolutely key) ensures a steady infusion of diverse thought. This competition provides an inherent check on flawed ideas, since showing flaws in other people’s work is one way to make a name for yourself.

Failure of Group Coordination, NASA & Incentives NASA’s Mission Management Team (MMT) and the Space Shuttle Columbia: object lesson in how NOT to run a small group Why?

Incentives, Group Decision-Making & Democracy: Dreams of the Common Good Democracy often illustrates the superiority of group decision-making. With the aggregating effects of American democracy, voters are not as narrowly “self-interested” as everyone thinks. Evidence? Strengths of Democracy?

Individual Decision-Making, Variability and the Extent to Which We Really Know Ourselves Howard Moskowitz