Lotteries are also known as “stupidity tax”; a nod to their improbable odds. In India, lotteries are often run by state governments – its an easy way to cover for their budget deficits. What these governments don’t realize is that they are fueling an addiction. But what are the reasons behind this addiction? In the article, I talk about the behavioral science of lotteries. Lotteries generate many ‘near misses’ thus making people believe that she is a winner even when she has

The world is eagerly waiting with bated breath for the Brexit referendum results. Battle lines are drawn, last campaigns have ended, politicians have made their pitch (David Cameron, Jeremy Corbyn on the “Remain” faction versus Boris Johnson on the “Leave” faction), world leaders have weighed in on the subject (Obama saying “I hope you will stay”) but the contest is still too close to call. This is proving more nail-biting than Euro 2016 football matches. Which way the refere

It’s a question my wife & I have been debating since we moved to Chicago in January. Of course, the weather is the primary trigger. Talking to our friends doesn’t help either. Folks living in bay area continue to boast about the near 70 F temperatures. Each call typically starts with a mention of the cold temperatures in Chicago. And at the end of each call, we dream of living in a warmer place. But when we start talking about happiness, there is an interesting pattern to mos

Imagine a circle pushing a square. If you imagined the circle on the left attempting to move the square on the right, then, like most of us, you’re probably fallible to the left-to-right motion perceptual-motor bias. Fluency, or a sense of ease, affects judgements and hence the decisions we take. We’ve all felt that slight discomfort with some of the choices we are considering while making a decision. Consider the perceptual-motor bias concerning movement from left to right.