Do It Now
It’s level 2 outside of Auckland – time to do things! Why don’t people get on and do things? Because they procrastinate…but what’s the difference between delayed gratification (seen as good) and procrastination (seen as bad)?
Tag: coronavirus
Level 2 here we (some of us) come
We are shortly going to Level 2 (sorry Auckland, who is not). I can go to the garden centre! And invite friends round. And maybe go skiing. Nothing like deprivation to drive a feeling of reward.
Vaccination vs hospitalisation
What’s the link between vaccination for COVID and hospitalisation? It’s surprisingly hard to find out. You’d think this would be a critical piece of information from which governments make decisions.
Which is my bestest interest?
Economic models typically assume humans act in their own best interests. Except they don’t…so the field of behavioural economics developed. How do we figure out which are our best interests we should act on?
The unlucky country (not us)
How effective is New Zealand’s lockdown against the Delta strain, compared with Australia’s? People wish for better ways of locking down, but there is not ‘better’ lockdown than an absolute one if you are trying to control spread of a virus.
Vaccination & the trolley problem
How do you decide whether to get vaccinated, when there is an indubitable small risk to yourself from vaccination, but a greater societal benefit when most people get vaccinated. The trolley problem may provide a useful thought process.
Level 3 treats
My level 3 treat is a mountain bike ride. Does that mean I get to eat extra? Maybe 1 avocado, according to Herman Pontzer who has found there is little difference in energy expenditure between couch potatoes and moderately active people. How can this be?
The Stockdale Paradox
How do you continue to believe you will prevail while confronting the brutal facts of reality? Stockdale, imprisoned for 6 years during the Vietnam War, never lost faith in the end of his story – he believed he would get out and turn the experience into a defining event. Which he did.
When facts get in the way
When people have differing opinions, providing more facts can polarise opinions rather than leading to agreement. How come? And how does this relate to our vaccine targets?
Snakes, ladders and daffodils
Living through COVID is like real-life playing snakes and ladders. Both at the big scale – when will we climb the ladder out of this pit? And at the day by day scale…