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The Nature Of Things S65E10 Episode 10 Engsub
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00:14Decisions, decisions, decisions. Every day we're faced with hundreds if not thousands of them.
00:24From the moment we wake up to the moment we go to sleep, we are making choices non-stop.
00:30We all make decisions every single day and are always asking ourselves, well why did I do that?
00:38Unfortunately, as a species, we humans aren't always the best at making good choices.
00:43Whoa, see what I mean? I'm here to tell you, it's not our fault.
00:52While some people work hard to hone their decision-making skills,
00:58many of us don't give a second thought to how we make most of our choices.
01:03Luckily, decision scientists have done some pretty cool research on the way we make choices when it
01:09comes to important things like eating. Here is what happened in your brain in response to healthy
01:15compared to unhealthy foods. And dating. Yeah, I've been deciding to date younger
01:20men. I feel like there's too much choice, there's too many faces. And making rash decisions.
01:25How much does the ball cost? Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's 10 cents.
01:29What these experts are uncovering has the potential to change our lives.
01:34Woo!
01:35Join me as we do a deep dive into their amazing and
01:37really helpful discoveries to understand how you, me, all of us can make better decisions.
02:01Like many people, I knock it out of the park with some of my decisions.
02:05But other times, a strikeout. To learn why, decision scientist Mary Steffel,
02:12from Northeastern University in Boston, is joining me to do a revealing street experiment.
02:17Good to see you. Oh man, it's a gorgeous day. The game's on, the crowds are happy.
02:23It feels like a good day for some decision science.
02:24Absolutely, I've got the perfect experiment that will illustrate something about what we all do
02:29when we make decisions, big or small. Cool, I'm game, yeah.
02:35It's called the bat and ball problem. And we've got the perfect guinea pigs to test it on.
02:43I have a question for you guys. So a bat and a ball together cost $1.10.
02:48The bat costs a dollar more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?
02:53Ten cents. Ten cents. Ten cents. Ten cents. Ten cents. Ten cents. The ball's ten cents.
02:58That is ten cents. But after doing a few calculations,
03:02our youngest participant realized something's up. That seems a little too simple for a brain teaser.
03:07As this little guy figured out, the knee-jerk intuitive answer isn't actually right.
03:12But it's what we're hearing the most. Decision scientists call this type of automatic intuitive
03:19decision-making system one. System one is universal. Tourists from around the world also chose their
03:26answers very quickly. All right, so a bat and a ball together cost $1.10. The bat costs a dollar
03:32more
03:32than the ball. How much does the ball cost? Oh. Ten cents.
03:38That's your answer. Uh, no. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's ten cents. The ball cost $0.10.
03:46Who would guess the ball is 10 cents? Like, if the ball is 10 cents, then the bat is a
03:52dollar more.
03:53Then the bat would be a dollar and 10 cents. And the total is a dollar and 10 cents.
04:02Just about everyone who thought about the problem deliberately,
04:06even the people who originally got it wrong eventually got there. This slower, more effortful
04:12way of thinking is called system two. Yeah, it should be five cents.
04:18All right, so walk me through the math then. So the ball is five cents.
04:21The ball is five cents. And the bat is a dollar more. Then it would be a dollar and five
04:25cents. And
04:26plus the five cents of the ball, it would be a dollar and 10 cents.
04:29You nailed it. All right, bravo. You know what? You worked really hard. You guys deserve a round
04:34of applause for that. You worked really hard at that. I think he's on to it. It's a lift.
04:38Yeah. Five cents. That's right. Oh, that's what you got there. You know why I'm impressed with
04:45you guys is you fought through it and you got there. High fives on that. Thank you.
04:48Well done. You should be proud of yourselves. Thank you. What did we win?
04:52See what's happening with the people who are getting it right? Yeah, the people who are getting
04:55it right are taking their time. They're being really deliberate about it. In a day of asking
05:00the bat and ball question, only a handful of people got it correct right away. And a couple of them
05:06admitted to hearing the question before. Mary, almost everybody got it wrong at first. I mean,
05:12what is your takeaway? That's why I love the bat and the ball problem. The intuitive answer
05:16of 10 cents just jumps out at you. And most people over rely on their intuition. So they don't double
05:21check and they don't go back and do the math. Over relying on our intuition is one of the most
05:25fundamental decision making mistakes we all make. Which worries me because I know that I'm doing this
05:30in my everyday life. And so I'm thinking to myself, I don't want to make these dumb decisions if I
05:34don't
05:34have to. What can somebody like me do to avoid these system one errors? Don't rely on your first hunch.
05:40Check your decision making if you can. Okay. Good advice. Good advice. Knowing when to
05:46trust our gut is tricky, but what if your job or your survival depends on it?
05:51Engine one, engine two, engine three, chief four, respond one, two, three, tower away for a residential
05:57structure fire. If you're a firefighter or a nurse or a doctor, you don't always have time
06:05for deliberate system two thinking. Control engine one, we have smoke visible on route.
06:10John Robbins is a newly minted captain at the fire department in Richmond Hill, Ontario.
06:22To do his job, he has to make crucial and analytical decisions really quickly and intuitively.
06:30There is only one way you do that. Train.
06:40We have flames visible on the Bravo side. Making split second critical decisions under stress
06:46takes practice. Enter the Richmond Hill fire training facility. Today, Captain Robbins' decision
06:52making skills are going to be put to the test. He does a quick 360 around the building and has
06:59to
06:59instantly process what he sees. The scene at a fire can be very dangerous, can be very chaotic and
07:05could also change rapidly. So you need to be making decisions quickly.
07:13Captain Robbins' first big decision. Is it safe to send his crew in without dousing the building first?
07:19Control tower commander reporting. Agent application.
07:23He decides to douse the building. Agent application is firefighter speak for spray water on the fire.
07:33The person in charge today is veteran fire chief Fred Downing. He says hitting the fire first is the
07:40correct decision. They're putting the water on the fire to cool down the inside environment.
07:47This simple move drops the temperature from a whopping 538 degrees Celsius to about 150.
07:55Captain Robbins is off to a great start.
07:58We're redeploying to the office side. First floor for search rescue fire control.
08:08Once inside, he faces his next urgent decision. Hit the fire with water first or look for victims.
08:18Captain Robbins decides to make victims his priority. Chief Downing is now in a back room where he's keeping a
08:26watchful eye on all the action. And that is the right decision. That's what we expect.
08:33The chief says making difficult decisions under stress is all about repetition.
08:38Training allows our staff to practice their skills in a controlled environment.
08:43So when they pull up to the real situation, real emergency, those are embedded in their mind.
09:01The chief placed this mannequin strategically. With the fire raging just meters away,
09:06Captain Robbins must make his next decision. How to get the victim out of the burning building?
09:12Side window or front door?
09:16He chooses the front door. The right call because it's the quickest way out to safety.
09:24The faster we can get to somebody to help rescue them is life and death.
09:31Captain Robbins has decided the next move is to put the fire out. It's still burning strongly in the kitchen.
09:40Even seemingly small decisions, like how water is sprayed on the fire, are surprisingly complex.
09:47The correct hose stream can affect how it reacts to the fire and how the fire reacts to the water.
09:53The fire may be out, but the search isn't over. Captain Robbins' next decision is to search upstairs.
10:22There's another victim in the second floor bedroom. This time, it's a child.
10:28Once again, Captain Robbins has to decide what the safest way out is.
10:36Engine setting up ladder on the alpha side.
10:41The captain made the right call.
10:43Our expectations are that they'll take them out the closest window.
10:46To get them to fresh air as fast as they can.
10:57It's all clear and the decision training is over. Robbins and his team have aced it.
11:03Time for a debrief with the chief.
11:06He wants to make sure the crew understands the reasons behind their decisions.
11:10When you found the patient up on the second floor, you decided to bring them out a window.
11:16What led you guys to that decision?
11:18I think if we could get them to fresh air as soon as possible, it would be beneficial for the
11:21patient.
11:22How did this training help you guys as a crew?
11:24In a scenario-based training, it allows me to make critical decisions.
11:28And it really helps us to practice our practical skills.
11:30Setting up ladder pumping, advancing hose lines, doing our search and rescues.
11:34But it also allows me to do some critical thinking.
11:39And this kind of repeated practice doesn't just help firefighters.
11:48It can help us make better decisions in a chess game or when we're driving.
11:53And help me with my layup.
12:02On the basketball court, you constantly have to make decisions at lightning speed.
12:08Practicing helps us with these split-second decisions in a big way.
12:16By practicing, we're internalizing patterns.
12:19And we're building muscle memory, allowing us to make smarter decisions intuitively.
12:32Eventually, with practice, you get there.
12:43What's your best decision?
12:45Traveling across Canada.
12:47Honestly, moving and choosing the people I hang out with and spend time with
12:52to people who are more closely aligned with my goals.
12:55Starting a business.
12:57Ooh, that's cool.
12:58The best decision I've ever made is to drop out of high school and become a musician.
13:04The best decision that you've made, one that you're the proudest of.
13:06Have two babies.
13:08I used to be in finance and now I'm in filmmaking.
13:13So that's the best decision of my life.
13:16So the best decision I ever made was that I pursued the woman I ended up getting married to.
13:21That's how I worked.
13:34That's the best decision you've ever made.
13:41That's how I continue.
13:46That's how I started out.
13:51There is, arguably, no more important decision than choosing a partner.
13:56Comedian Caitlin Jones is trying to find that special someone.
13:59Her dates, especially the bad ones, make for great material.
14:04I'm leaning into the coops a bit, and I'm dating younger men now.
14:08Caitlin has been using dating apps for a while now, and on the surface they seem great.
14:13Endless dating profiles to swipe through, but there is such a thing as too many fish in the sea.
14:18I feel like there's too much choice. There's too many faces.
14:21The online apps now feel overwhelming, like, just in the sense of, like, I could easily swipe 100 people in
14:30a day.
14:30If anything, I think that's probably less.
14:32Caitlin tries to combat what's known as swipe fatigue by narrowing down the number of choices.
14:38I use filters all the time. Mostly I filter for height.
14:41I, uh, I'm a big lady. I'm 6'3 in hockey skates, okay?
14:45Height isn't Caitlin's only filter.
14:47Uh, there's the distance setting that you can set. Does anybody do with that?
14:51Like, yeah, okay. I literally will not set it further than, like, 5 to 10 kilometers.
14:56And I'm like, oh, my dream person could be in Mississauga, and that's too far.
15:00I want it delivered in 15 minutes.
15:03Uh, like...
15:04But so far, the filtering hasn't helped to find her dream partner.
15:10To discover why, she's come to the University of Toronto, Scarborough, to meet psychology professor Andre Wang.
15:18Hi, are you Andre?
15:19Yes, hi. You must be Caitlin.
15:20Cheers, nice to meet you.
15:21Andre published a study that looks at whether there's a correlation between what people think they want in a partner,
15:27so the types of things Caitlin's been filtering for on a dating app, and what they actually want.
15:33And the question here is, do these filters actually work, right?
15:37So if you select and pre-decide to filter out potential romantic partners on these dating apps,
15:44are you better off?
15:45Or maybe you might be prematurely constraining the dating pool.
15:50Caitlin starts by rating 12 traits.
15:52They're like filters on a dating app.
15:55She's deciding what's important to her in a guy.
15:58Big old fat brain. I like a big brain.
16:02Charismatic, as the kids call it, the riz these days.
16:05Pretty fun, pretty cool.
16:07Confident.
16:10My therapist is probably going to be disappointed in me, but you've got to be like a little mean.
16:15Just a little bit.
16:16Dominant.
16:19Yeah. Yeah.
16:21Mommy's tired.
16:23Now comes the fun part.
16:24Caitlin gets to rate 100 male faces.
16:27It's sort of like a dating app, but instead of swiping, she'll rate how attractive she finds each guy.
16:33Like, I would go to the rodeo with him, but like, I'd regret it.
16:40The photos are from a real online dating platform with publicly available profiles.
16:46What Caitlin doesn't know is that many people have already rated these faces for the same 12 traits that she
16:52rated earlier.
16:54This guy could probably be nice.
16:56I feel like they would actually probably bring me flowers from the gas station.
17:01Expert ratings are common in psychology, and they're often called consensus ratings.
17:07So people agree on how intelligent or confident or how sensitive or caring people in those dating profiles are.
17:16This may seem weird, but Andre points out that this is what people do when they swipe left or right
17:21on a dating app photo.
17:22They make snap judgments about whether or not they think a person looks smart or caring.
17:28Yeah.
17:29This guy's definitely in prison.
17:30He's just laying the groundwork for when he gets out.
17:36Andre does some clever calculations to find out if the traits Caitlin thinks she likes are the ones she actually
17:42likes.
17:44You mentioned that you like attractiveness a fair bit, right? Five out of seven.
17:49And if you look at the data, that's what it pans out, right?
17:53So the more attractive the targets were, the more you like the targets.
17:57So that's what that positive slope means here.
18:00Okay, cool.
18:01Confidence is another example.
18:02And sure enough, the more confident the targets were, the more you liked those targets.
18:08Okay.
18:08But Caitlin's likes and her choices in men, they don't always line up.
18:13So you mentioned that you care about caring.
18:16But if you look at the data, how caring targets were had no bearing on how much you liked them.
18:22If anything, the slope is going slightly down, which means that the more caring the targets were, you liked them
18:29actually a little less.
18:30Ah, interesting.
18:32How do you feel about that?
18:33I mean, my therapist would agree probably.
18:36Caitlin also got a surprising result for the aggressive trait.
18:41Oh, dear.
18:42Oh, dear.
18:44The more aggressive targets were, the more you liked them.
18:49Yeah, it's a steep slope.
18:50Yeah.
18:51This disconnect is something Caitlin's experienced before on dating apps.
18:55I will say, like, online dating, like, has felt overwhelming.
18:59And this is making sense if I'm not recognizing that I'm, think I want one thing, but I'm clearly not
19:05choosing that.
19:06Yeah.
19:07So, like, what can I do to make it better?
19:09Andre says the key is to get offline.
19:11Go to parties, meet friends with your friends, even go to speed dating, right?
19:15Just putting yourself out there, so, you know, let go of the filters, perhaps.
19:19You could be filtering out someone that you really have a spark with.
19:27Caitlin is taking Andre's advice and trying something new.
19:31Speed dating.
19:33Do you have any pets?
19:33Uh, no, I don't, I don't have, I just, I'm always traveling all the time, right, or whatever.
19:38You're so sad, you're like, no.
19:40No, I, I, I, I...
19:41The women stay put.
19:44Hi.
19:45Nice to meet you.
19:46And the men move from table to table.
19:48I love the tattoos.
19:49Thank you, yeah.
19:51I would wake up so early to put them on.
19:55When it's over, Andre checks in with Caitlin to see how in-person compares with online.
20:01In that short time, do you feel like you get a sense of these different people, like, what they're like?
20:06Compared to an app, much more, yes.
20:08Very much, yeah.
20:10Andre says the data overall shows that there's very little relation between the types of things people filter for and
20:16who they actually end up liking.
20:18Which is why meeting someone in person early on might be best.
20:22Let's imagine, right, that, like, you had met, met, you know, these guys online.
20:27Do you think you would have talked to them?
20:30Probably not.
20:32Okay.
20:32Like, maybe one, but that's a great point.
20:35Yeah.
20:36Great point.
20:38Okay.
20:39Think about that.
20:40Okay.
20:41See what you did there.
20:43Yeah.
20:48When making a decision, people tend to rely too much on the first piece of information they receive.
20:54What experts call the anchor.
20:57Nate Cheek is an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Maryland.
21:02He is a decision scientist, and anchoring is his research passion.
21:06Yeah.
21:06So I'm interested in how people make decisions and the kind of contextual factors that influence the judgments they make
21:11along the way.
21:11Oh, that is really cool.
21:13And actually, this is the perfect place for us today.
21:15Oh, the CN Tower?
21:16Yeah.
21:17I'm going to have people estimate how tall they think it is.
21:19Okay.
21:19What does that have to do with decision making?
21:21Well, I'm going to throw in a twist.
21:22I'm going to give people an anchor value, which is kind of like a simple random reference point.
21:26And we're going to see how that influences the estimates they make.
21:29That sounds awesome.
21:30I'm down for an experiment.
21:30Let's do it.
21:31Let's go.
21:31Okay.
21:32Our anchor in this experiment is a number that will ask people to choose out of a box.
21:37They'll do this before we ask the height of the CN Tower.
21:43You've got good penmanship, man.
21:45Well, I've got a box here filled with a bunch of random numbers.
21:49One of you guys is going to reach into the box, pull out a number, and just say it out
21:52loud.
21:52Okay.
21:53Go for it.
21:54Expert number puller.
21:56And your number is...
21:59250.
22:00250.
22:00So we have the CN Tower over here.
22:02If you had to guess, do you think it's taller or shorter than 250 meters?
22:06I'm going to let you in on a little secret.
22:08The numbers, they're not random.
22:10Each one is the same.
22:12250.
22:13That's our anchor.
22:14It's the number people here first.
22:16Nate wants to see how much it influences the answers they choose.
22:20258.
22:21Wow.
22:22Okay.
22:24Yeah.
22:25Any other guess?
22:28300.
22:29300.
22:30258, 300.
22:31Okay.
22:32The real number is...
22:33Yeah, so it turns out it's 553.
22:34Oh my God!
22:35With an anchor of 250, most guesses stay below 553 meters.
22:40How tall, if you had to guess, would you guess the tower is?
22:43350?
22:44350?
22:45That's your guess.
22:45And your guess?
22:46Yeah, let's go 175.
22:48Like 180?
22:50500?
22:52473.
22:53So you know the actual number.
22:54Yeah, it's 553 meters tall.
22:56Let's switch things up a little.
22:58Nate and I decide to go with a crazy high anchor number to see what happens.
23:02Go big or go home.
23:04Am I right?
23:05950.
23:06So we have the CN tower behind us.
23:08If you had to just guess off the top of your head, do you think it's taller or shorter
23:11than 950 meters?
23:15I want to say taller.
23:17Okay.
23:18Yeah.
23:18If you had to guess, how tall would you say it is?
23:213,000?
23:21First of all, your guess is not an unusual one.
23:24Okay.
23:25It is, however, not correct.
23:26The actual number is?
23:27553 meters tall.
23:29Yeah, so you are a little bit, a little bit too high.
23:35The 950 anchor brings in much higher estimates, way taller than any structure on the planet.
23:412,000 meters?
23:431,200, 1,500.
23:451,000?
23:461,500?
23:481,140 meters.
23:49Okay.
23:491,050?
23:501,050?
23:51Okay.
23:52So it's 553 meters tall.
23:54Yeah.
23:55Anchoring affects almost every aspect of our lives, from our shopping decisions to the
24:00way politicians present issues.
24:02The first price or the first piece of information we get can become our anchor.
24:07If you started shopping and the first pair of pants you happened to see was $200, that
24:11might set your price point higher for the rest of the experience, causing you to be okay
24:14spending more money than if you had seen maybe a pair of $30 pants to start with.
24:19Makes sense.
24:20Yeah, probably.
24:20Yeah, I get that.
24:20Well, that makes sense.
24:21Next time I comparison shop, I'm paying extra close attention to the price of the first
24:26thing I look at.
24:29What are some of the biggest decisions that are influenced by the anchor effect?
24:32I think some of the biggest decisions are choices that we don't make that often.
24:37So things like car purchases, house purchases, and other things that, you know, cost a fair
24:43amount of money.
24:43So when should people really be on the lookout for the anchor effect?
24:46Yeah, people should be most worried about anchoring in the areas that they know the least about.
24:50When you don't have any other knowledge you could potentially draw on, that's when you're
24:53most vulnerable to anchors.
24:54In cases like these, Nate says, do a little research ahead of time so you know what the average prices
25:00are.
25:01So Nate, you ever been to the CN Tower?
25:03No, I haven't.
25:03You know, you can walk around on the edge.
25:05You can see people out there doing it now.
25:06You want to try?
25:07I'm going to say no.
25:08Thank you to that.
25:09No, thank you.
25:10All right.
25:16The hardest decision you had to make?
25:19Separating.
25:20Yes.
25:21I agree.
25:21Same thing.
25:22That's tough.
25:23Yeah.
25:23What is my hardest decision?
25:26Um, that's a hard, difficult one.
25:29Do I choose to continue speaking with my parents?
25:32Probably to have myself sterilized and not have children.
25:36Every time that I would try talking with them, um, I would just walk away not feeling great
25:41about myself.
25:42I'd say the hardest decision I've made is breaking up with a girlfriend.
25:47We went from Eastern Germany to West Germany.
25:50I decided to like come here in a different country by myself and started like a new life.
25:55To leave our houses, our families, our parents.
25:58I think that will be the hardest decision I ever made.
26:09For most of us, deciding what to eat is a struggle because there is so much choice.
26:14And let's be honest, it's often harder to go for the healthier options.
26:20I've come to the University of Toronto to get my brain scanned and find out why I make
26:24the food choices I do.
26:27I like to think of myself as a fairly healthy eater.
26:31You calling me a liar?
26:33It's just like a warm Pop-Tart.
26:34Like many folks, I find it a challenge to make healthy food choices when I'm super busy
26:40or on the run.
26:41Hey there.
26:42Hey.
26:43Hey, how's it going?
26:44Good.
26:45So I've agreed to let Sendri Hutcheson, director of the Decision Neuroscience Lab, stick me
26:50in the MRI to see if the way my brain is wired affects the decisions I make about what
26:55I eat.
26:56Do you have any particularly unhealthy foods?
26:59I do.
26:59Poison of choice?
27:00Oh yeah?
27:00It's a little bit unusual.
27:01I love mayonnaise.
27:03Sendri started studying decision making because she wanted to find out why she made choices
27:08she regretted afterwards.
27:10We all make decisions every single day and are always asking ourselves, well, why did
27:16I do that?
27:16And so I just loved the way that the science allowed me to kind of understand myself and
27:23maybe hopefully to help other people understand themselves.
27:26My first brain scan ever.
27:28I'm stoked.
27:29So you can go ahead and lay down really carefully.
27:41All right, Anthony, can you hear us?
27:43Yes.
27:46Fantastic.
27:46Fantastic.
27:47In a bid to discover why people differ so dramatically in their ability to make good food choices,
27:52Sendri studies decisions that involve self-control.
27:56So for instance, where we have to decide whether to eat something delicious but unhealthy or try
28:02to deny ourselves a little bit and go for the salad.
28:06Just before I went in the MRI, Sendri had me rate a whole whack of foods to identify a food
28:11that I find totally neutral.
28:15Turns out it's the lowly soda cracker.
28:18She's going to use it as a baseline while I'm in the MRI.
28:22What we're doing right now is showing Anthony about 200 foods and just seeing whether he wants that food or
28:29the default food, the crackers.
28:32I get four options.
28:35One is a strong no, I won't eat that food over the soda cracker.
28:39Two is a weak no.
28:40Three is a weak yes.
28:42I'll eat it, but I don't feel strongly about it.
28:45Four is a strong yes.
28:47Chips.
28:47Four.
28:49Doing okay?
28:50Yep.
28:51Every once in a while, Sendri asks me to really think about healthy eating while I make my decisions.
28:57I do that until I'm told to go back to picking whatever I want.
29:01Fantastic.
29:01We're going to do another round.
29:03Okay.
29:05Celery?
29:06Yeah, that's a one.
29:07Is that soda cracker still an option?
29:08Yeah, so what we're doing here, as Anthony makes choice after choice, is we're taking images of his brain and
29:16we're really interested in focusing in on a couple of key areas that we think are crucial for decision making.
29:23When Sendri's done, she'll compare how those parts of my brain responded to healthy foods versus the unhealthy ones.
29:29Sendri will have my results in a few weeks.
29:39I'm worried, I'm wondering, you know, what you found.
29:42Was there anything weird about the way that my brain works or looks?
29:45You know, honestly, Anthony, you were a fantastic participant.
29:50I thank God.
29:50Oh, thank God.
29:51Sendri was looking at my brain to find out how much self control I have when it comes to food
29:55choices.
29:55So we're really interested in what's going on in the brain that causes somebody to want something, to like it,
30:03and then what's happening that allows them to shift what they want, to want the broccoli or to not want
30:10the ice cream.
30:10But before she shows me images of my brain, Sendri gives me a brutally honest overview of my food choice
30:17behavior.
30:17Now, the interesting thing is when we just said go with your gut, we didn't see any evidence in your
30:22behavior that healthiness mattered to you.
30:24The only thing that seemed to drive whether you said yes to it was, did you think it was delicious
30:29or not?
30:30But then as soon as we said, hey, think about the healthiness.
30:33Yeah.
30:33Now we saw that certainly tastiness still mattered, but it mattered a lot less, and healthiness mattered a lot more.
30:40So you were much more likely to say yes to things that you normally wouldn't because you were trying to
30:46focus on making healthiness the thing that you cared about.
30:50And we can see that also reflected in your brain.
30:52Oh my gosh, that is so cool.
30:54So that's you.
30:56Oh, weird.
30:56Yeah.
30:57Oh, that's so weird.
30:58It's a bit of a trip.
31:00When studying food decisions, Sendri focuses on three brain regions.
31:04First, the ventral striatum.
31:07Which we think is really important for things like craving, for automatic responses to food, maybe even responses more to
31:16junk foods rather than healthy foods.
31:18Another important region is the ventromedial prefrontal cortex.
31:22This is an area that's also really important for liking and maybe more for integrating all of the things that
31:29you care about into a single decision.
31:31Interesting.
31:32Not just taste, but also things like healthiness or cost.
31:36Okay.
31:37The third region is the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
31:40This is an area that we think is really important for what you might term thoughtful liking.
31:45So thinking especially about things like healthiness or really trying to exert self-control or willpower.
31:53So we've got those three areas.
31:55Which parts of my brain were lighting up when I was making decisions?
31:58Here, what I'm going to show you is what happened in your brain in response to healthy compared to unhealthy
32:04foods.
32:05The area that stands out is the ventromedial prefrontal cortex.
32:09It responds more to foods I like to eat and less to foods I don't.
32:14But in Sendri's experiments, this area did something pretty interesting.
32:18The ventromedial prefrontal cortex, lucky you, actually seemed to show more sensitivity to healthy foods.
32:26It acted like it likes healthy foods when you're really trying to eat healthy.
32:30So you're saying I can kind of try to like healthy foods?
32:34I mean, that feels like really good news, but I also noticed that that area looks like tiny.
32:38Like there's like no activation there.
32:41Would I want that as big as possible if I want to be able to make better choices?
32:44Certainly, I think the more you can get this region to respond to healthiness,
32:48the bigger that area or the more intensely that area cares about healthiness instead of something like tastiness, the better.
32:56Sendri says the way to do this is simple.
32:59Practice.
32:59Practice caring about healthiness.
33:02I know, easier said than done.
33:06Sendri's findings have potential widespread benefits.
33:09They could help identify people with brain markers for dieting success or failure.
33:14And they could give researchers targets for therapies to prevent or treat obesity and eating disorders.
33:21Okay, note to self.
33:23Ice cream is high in sugar.
33:25That's so good.
33:27Ah, it's high in fat too.
33:29But that's why it's so tasty.
33:33We may be able to train our brain to make better food choices, but on the flip side, when it's
33:39exhausted, scientists have discovered our decision-making abilities are compromised.
33:44Like everyone, I start making choices from the minute I wake up.
33:48Blue.
33:51And don't even get me started on which emails, texts, and calls to prioritize.
33:56Well, exactly.
33:58Yeah.
34:0045 new emails.
34:02Little decisions don't usually stress us out, but the weight of all the ones we make throughout the day adds
34:08up.
34:11And many of us experience decision fatigue.
34:16As we become mentally exhausted, our brain starts taking energy-saving shortcuts, which often means less than ideal decision-making.
34:24And often, procrastination.
34:26But there are solutions.
34:32One thing we can do is reduce the number of decisions we make by creating schedules, routines, and habits that
34:38we stick to if we can.
34:40I mean, I try to exercise the same time every day, so I don't have to think about it.
34:44I just do it.
34:49Yeah, yeah, okay.
34:52And I have the same yogurt, granola, and fruit every day, just so I don't have to choose what to
34:57eat.
35:00What else?
35:01Stop micromanaging if you can.
35:03Delegate.
35:04You've got lots of friends and family who want to help you.
35:09You don't always need the final say on where to go out to eat.
35:15And don't feel you always have to make the best choice, especially for something low stakes like what to have
35:21for dinner.
35:22Sometimes good enough is good enough.
35:31What would you say is your worst decision?
35:34Oh my god, not saving money.
35:37Ah.
35:37Yeah.
35:37My worst decision I ever made was not following my dreams.
35:42Getting into drugs, probably.
35:44Self-doubting myself at a certain stage of my life,
35:48because I just felt like, oh, there are people, better people out there than me.
35:53Do you have a decision you kind of regret? You're like, oh, I wish I'd thought differently about that, or...?
35:58Yeah, um, not transitioning sooner.
36:02That would involve a personal relationship, and I won't go into detail.
36:15It's an illusion to think we're always solely in control of our decisions.
36:20Sometimes there are other forces at play, and choices are made for us in ways we don't even realize.
36:26This is called a smash-breaker, right?
36:28It is a smash-breaker, correct.
36:29Is it what, like, do you make it the way it sounds like literally? Do you just, like, wham?
36:33A little more gentle, but yes.
36:35I've got the perfect experiment to find out just how in control of our choices we really are.
36:41Absolutely ready.
36:41It's based on a classic experiment done at the University of Iowa, involving, of all things, ground beef.
36:50I'm enlisting the help of Cody and the good folks at Cheese Heads.
36:55I want to find out if the way choices are presented to us affects what we choose.
37:00These things smell so good.
37:02While Cody tends to the grill, I'm going to do some recruiting.
37:07Burgers for science.
37:09Free burgers.
37:11You guys want burgers?
37:12They came up with, like, a new recipe for their burgers.
37:16The patties are ready, and I've got my first group of participants.
37:19All right.
37:20Thank you very much.
37:23And, all right.
37:26So, your job is simple.
37:28You're just going to enjoy these burgers.
37:29Now, one thing that's important to know is we want to know how the burgers taste themselves.
37:33This is a new recipe, and so these ones are 70% lean.
37:38We really want to know what you think about the meat in particular.
37:40So you can eat them with a bun, but it's good to take a couple bites at least without the
37:43bun and just the meat.
37:44We'll do it.
37:45We'll do it.
37:47It's good.
37:48Come on, wake up.
37:51I like the texture.
37:52Party.
37:54I don't want friends to influence each other, so I'm going to get their thoughts on the patty individually.
37:59So, you had the 70% lean recipe.
38:03Okay.
38:03What did you think?
38:04I enjoyed it.
38:05It wasn't too greasy.
38:07It was super tasty.
38:08I like that it wasn't greasy.
38:09I think with lean burgers, oftentimes you miss the fat, because fat kind of gives it a nice taste.
38:14But I didn't miss it.
38:16Consistently, people who ate the 70% lean burger used favorable words to describe the patties.
38:22It wasn't overly greasy.
38:23Okay.
38:24Okay.
38:24It was great.
38:25Pretty tasty.
38:26I'll say that for sure.
38:28Okay.
38:28Yeah.
38:28Yeah.
38:29I really enjoyed it.
38:31Okay.
38:32Time for a little switcheroo.
38:34Cody is cooking another batch of burgers using exactly the same recipe and ingredients.
38:38The only thing that will change is the way I describe them.
38:41Instead of calling them 70% lean, I'm going to call them 30% fat to new groups of eaters.
38:48There you are.
38:49Thanks, man.
38:50Appreciate it.
38:51All right.
38:52I hope you guys are hungry.
38:54You're going to take a bite of these burgers.
38:55These are a special recipe.
38:58So, these ones are 30% fat.
39:01So, we just want your feedback on them.
39:04I mean, it looks pretty good.
39:09Try to take a couple bites with just the meat on its own too.
39:12All right.
39:12Okay.
39:21You just got a free burger.
39:22Mm-hmm.
39:23What words come to mind?
39:24How would you describe it?
39:27Um, fatty.
39:28Only because like the first thing when I bit into it, it tastes, I did taste fat immediately.
39:33It was different.
39:34I haven't usually had something like that before.
39:36Okay.
39:37A little more greasy, I would say.
39:38The 30% fat burgers weren't as popular with eaters.
39:42Well, that rain feels like it came out of nowhere.
39:44So, I appreciate you hanging out with me still.
39:46What was the burger like?
39:47Probably chewier than usual.
39:49Chewy?
39:49Okay.
39:50A bit less flavorful.
39:51I still feel like I noticed a difference.
39:53How would you describe the taste?
39:54Oh, the taste.
39:55What taste?
39:56Oh!
39:57Overall, just not very pleasant.
39:59Even though the burger patties were identical, the two groups have described them differently.
40:04So, why does this happen?
40:07Well, it turns out that our eaters have fallen victim to something known as choice architecture.
40:11In other words, the way that options are presented to decision makers.
40:15That could be something as simple as the way I describe choices or the order that I put them in.
40:20Or, a menu is a great example of choice architecture.
40:25And in every example, the goal is the same.
40:28To influence or control the way you make decisions.
40:32And choice architecture is everywhere.
40:35You're probably guilty of using it yourself.
40:38When you ask someone where they want to go for dinner, do you usually present a couple of options?
40:44If so, you were being a choice architect.
40:48Think of the last time you bought something online.
40:51Online retailers are notorious for using choice architecture to influence your decisions.
40:56They'll do things like controlling the order that you see options in.
40:59Or highlighting featured items.
41:02I mean, can you really resist a best seller?
41:06None of us is immune.
41:08Yeah.
41:09Laser pulsing electric water gun?
41:11Purchase.
41:13Choice architecture isn't all bad, though.
41:16It can also be used for good.
41:17Take organ donation, for example.
41:20Research has shown that your decision to donate your organs is affected hugely by choice architecture.
41:26So, in some countries, you are automatically considered an organ donor by default.
41:31And if you don't want to donate them, then you have to actively opt out.
41:35But other countries do it exactly the opposite.
41:38Where you are automatically considered not to be a donor unless you opt in.
41:43For many, it's a difficult decision.
41:46Most of Canada uses the opt-in model.
41:50Other countries, like Spain, use the opt-out model.
41:54Canada is now ranked 14th in the world for organ donation.
41:58And Spain, number one.
42:04I've had an incredible time diving into the world of decision science.
42:08So, you can go ahead and lay down really carefully.
42:11Thanks to the awesome researchers I hung out with.
42:14How much does the ball cost?
42:16It's obvious our intuition fails us sometimes.
42:19And taking our time when making a decision can often yield better results.
42:22It should be five cents.
42:24You nailed it!
42:25And next time I shop, I'm watching out for the first price I see.
42:29So, I don't get burned by the anchor effect.
42:31If you had to guess, how tall would you say it is?
42:332,000 meters.
42:36I've also learned the key to making good choices quickly is practice, practice, practice.
42:45I also got to talk to some really lovely folks on the street who dropped some real wisdom on me.
42:50Every choice you make is like an opportunity and like a lot of them butterfly effect out into like larger
42:56things.
42:57I've learned not to blame other people for the decisions I've made.
43:02Decision I made that I regret?
43:04Nothing really because I think everything is a lesson.
43:07Sometimes I've decided something and it hasn't worked the way that I intended it, but it turned into something else.
43:13Another adventure, an experience that I wouldn't otherwise have had.
43:20I couldn't have said it better myself.
43:23Now, should I go down the boardwalk or do some work?
43:28Decisions, decisions.
43:29Or, you know, I could go to the gym.
43:32I could grab a bite to eat.
43:33Oh, there's a movie I've been wanting to see.
43:35I could play my guitar.
43:36Maybe I could try to learn how to build apps.
43:38That did mine.
43:41Oh.
43:53Oh.
44:01I can go back to the fellows.
44:02Can you assist?
44:02Hello.
44:02Hey.
44:02Hello.
44:06See.
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