Are we in control of our decisions? | Dan Ariely

Translator: Luz Leirós Reviewer: Serv. de Norm. Lingüística U. de Santiago de Compostela

I'll tell you a little bit about irrational behavior.

Falareilles un pouquiño sobre o comportamento irracional.

Not yours, of course -- other people's.

Non do seu, claro; do doutra xente.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

So after being at MIT for a few years,

Despois de estar algúns anos no MIT,

I realized that writing academic papers is not that exciting.

decateime de que non é emocionante escribir artigos académicos.

You know, I don't know how many of those you read,

Non sei cantos leron,

but it's not fun to read and often not fun to write --

pero non é divertido lelos e, ás veces, escribilos tampouco;

even worse to write.

escribilos é incluso peor.

So I decided to try and write something more fun.

Así que decidín tentar escribir algo máis divertido.

And I came up with an idea that I would write a cookbook.

E ocorréuseme a idea de escribir un libro de cociña.

And the title for my cookbook was going to be,

E o título do meu libro de cociña sería,

Comer sen migallas: A arte de comer sobre o vertedoiro da cociña.

"Dining Without Crumbs: The Art of Eating Over the Sink."

(Laughter)

(Risas)

And it was going to be a look at life through the kitchen.

E sería unha perspectiva da vida a través da cociña.

I was quite excited about this.

O que me tiña bastante emocionado.

I was going to talk a little bit about research,

Ía falar un pouco das miñas investigacións,

a little bit about the kitchen.

e un pouco de cociña.

We do so much in the kitchen, I thought this would be interesting.

Facemos tantas cousas na cociña que pensei que sería interesante.

I wrote a couple of chapters, and took it to MIT Press and they said,

Escribín un par de capítulos, e leveinos á editorial do MIT, onde me dixeron,

"Cute, but not for us. Go and find somebody else."

"Ben, pero non para nós. Busque a alguén máis."

I tried other people, and everybody said the same thing,

Intenteino con outras persoas e todas dicíanme o mesmo:

"Cute. Not for us."

"Ben, pero non para nós."

Until somebody said,

Até que alguén me dixo:

"Look, if you're serious about this,

"Mira, se de verdade queres facer isto

you have to write about your research first; you have to publish something,

primeiro tes que escribir da túa investigación; tes que publicar algo,

then you'll get the opportunity to write something else.

e entón terás a oportunidade de escribir outra cousa.

If you really want to do it, you have to do it."

Se de verdade o queres, tes que facelo."

I said, "I don't want to write about my research.

Eu dixen: "Non quero escribir sobre a miña investigación.

I do it all day long,

Iso fágoo todo o tempo.

I want to write something a bit more free, less constrained."

Quero escribir algo un pouco máis libre, menos restrinxido."

And this person was very forceful and said,

Esta persoa foi moi insistente e díxome:

"Look, that's the only way you'll ever do it."

"Mira, ese é o único xeito de conseguilo."

So I said, "Okay, if I have to do it --"

Así que dixen: "Vale, se teño que facelo...".

I had a sabbatical.

Tiña un sabático.

I said, "I'll write about my research, if there's no other way.

Dixen: "Escribirei da miña investigación, se non hai outro modo.

And then I'll get to do my cookbook."

E logo farei o meu libro de cociña"

So, I wrote a book on my research.

Así que escribín un libro sobre a miña investigación

And it turned out to be quite fun in two ways.

e resultou ser bastante divertido, en dous aspectos.

First of all, I enjoyed writing.

En primeiro lugar, gocei escribindo.

But the more interesting thing was that I started learning from people.

Pero o máis interesante foi que empecei a aprender da xente.

It's a fantastic time to write,

É un momento fantástico para escribir,

because there's so much feedback you can get from people.

porque podes conseguir moita retroalimentación da xente.

People write to me about their personal experience,

A xente escríbeme sobre as súas experiencias persoais,

and about their examples, and where they disagree,

e sobre os seus exemplos, e onde non están de acordo,

and their nuances.

e sobre os seus matices.

And even being here -- I mean, the last few days,

Mesmo estando aquí, é dicir, nos últimos días,

I've known heights of obsessive behavior

coñecín moitos comportamentos obsesivos

I never thought about.

que xamais imaxinei.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

Which I think is just fascinating.

Paréceme simplemente fascinante.

I will tell you a little bit about irrational behavior,

Falareilles un pouquiño sobre a conduta irracional

and I want to start by giving you some examples of visual illusion

e quero comezar dándolles algúns exemplos de ilusións visuais

as a metaphor for rationality.

coma unha metáfora da racionalidade.

So think about these two tables.

Así que pensen sobre estas dúas mesas.

And you must have seen this illusion.

Seguramente xa viron esta ilusión.

If I asked you what's longer, the vertical line on the table on the left,

Preguntaranse cal é máis longa: a liña vertical da mesa da esquerda,

or the horizontal line on the table on the right,

ou a liña horizontal na mesa da dereita?

which one seems longer?

Cal parece máis longa?

Can anybody see anything but the left one being longer?

Pode alguén ver algo que non sexa que a da esquerda é máis longa?

No, right? It's impossible.

Non, verdade? É imposible.

But the nice thing about visual illusion is we can easily demonstrate mistakes.

Pero o mellor das ilusións visuais é que podemos demostrar os erros facilmente.

So I can put some lines on; it doesn't help.

Entón, podo poñer algunhas liñas así; pero non axuda.

I can animate the lines.

Podo mover as liñas.

And to the extent you believe I didn't shrink the lines,

E, namentres crean que non encollín as liñas,

which I didn't, I've proven to you that your eyes were deceiving you.

que non o fixen, probei que os seus ollos estábanos a enganar.

Now, the interesting thing about this is when I take the lines away,

Agora, o máis interesante disto é que, cando retiramos as liñas,

it's as if you haven't learned anything in the last minute.

é coma se non aprenderan nada no último minuto.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

You can't look at this and say, "Now I see reality as it is."

Non poden mirar isto e dicir: "Agora vexo a realidade tal e como é."

Right? It's impossible to overcome this sense that this is indeed longer.

Certo? É imposible superar a sensación de que esta é, de feito, a máis longa.

A nosa intuición realmente engánanos

Our intuition is really fooling us

in a repeatable, predictable, consistent way.

dun xeito repetible, predicible e consistente.

and there is almost nothing we can do about it,

E case que non hai nada que facer ao respecto,

aside from taking a ruler and starting to measure it.

agás coller unha regra e comezar a medir.

Here's another one. It's one of my favorite illusions.

Aquí temos outra. É unha das miñas ilusións favoritas.

What color is the top arrow pointing to?

A que cor sinala a frecha superior?

Audience: Brown. Dan Ariely: Brown. Thank you.

Audiencia: Marrón. Dan Ariely: Marrón. Grazas.

The bottom one? Yellow.

E a frecha inferior? Amarela.

Turns out they're identical.

Pois resulta que son idénticas.

Can anybody see them as identical?

Alguén pode ver que son idénticas?

Very, very hard.

Moi, pero moi difícil.

I can cover the rest of the cube up.

Podo cubrir o resto do cubo.

If I cover the rest of the cube, you can see that they are identical.

Se cubro o resto do cubo, poden ver que son idénticas.

If you don't believe me, you can get the slide later

Se non me cren, poden conseguir logo a diapositiva,

and do some arts and crafts and see that they're identical.

facer manualidades e ver que son idénticas.

But again, it's the same story, that if we take the background away,

Pero, de novo, é a mesma historia, se retiramos o fondo,

the illusion comes back.

a ilusión regresa.

There is no way for us not to see this illusion.

Non hai modo de eliminar a ilusión.

I guess maybe if you're colorblind, I don't think you can see that.

Supoño que, se es cego á cor, quizais non a podas ver.

I want you to think about illusion as a metaphor.

Quero que pensen na ilusión como nunha metáfora.

Vision is one of the best things we do.

A visión é unha das cousas que mellor facemos.

We have a huge part of our brain dedicated to vision --

Gran parte do noso cerebro dedícase á visión,

bigger than dedicated to anything else.

moito máis ca a calquera outra cousa.

We use our vision more hours of the day than anything else.

Empregamos a visión máis horas ao día ca calquera outra cousa.

We're evolutionarily designed to use vision.

Estamos deseñados evolutivamente para ver.

And if we have these predictable repeatable mistakes in vision,

E se cometemos estes erros repetitivos e predicibles na visión,

which we're so good at,

algo no que somos tan bos,

what are the chances we won't make even more mistakes

que probabilidade existe de que non cometamos máis erros

in something we're not as good at, for example, financial decision-making.

en cousas nas que non somos tan bos, por exemplo, en decisións financeiras.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

Something we don't have an evolutionary reason to do,

Algo para o que non temos ningunha necesidade evolutiva,

we don't have a specialized part of the brain for,

non temos unha parte especializada do cerebro,

and we don't do that many hours of the day.

e tampouco o facemos tantas horas ao día.

The argument is in those cases,

O argumento, neses casos,

it might be that we actually make many more mistakes.

é que poderíamos, de feito, estar a cometer moitos máis erros.

And worse -- not having an easy way to see them,

E o peor é que non temos un xeito fácil de velos,

because in visual illusions, we can easily demonstrate the mistakes;

porque é fácil demostrar os erros nas ilusións visuais;

in cognitive illusion it's much, much harder

nas ilusións cognitivas é moitísimo máis difícil

to demonstrate the mistakes to people.

amosarlles os erros ás persoas.

So I want to show you some cognitive illusions,

Así que quero mostrarlles algunhas ilusións cognitivas,

or decision-making illusions, in the same way.

ou ilusións na toma de decisións, da mesma maneira.

And this is one of my favorite plots in social sciences.

E esta é unha das miñas gráficas favoritas en ciencias sociais.

It's from a paper by Johnson and Goldstein.

É dun artigo de Johnson e Goldstein.

It basically shows the percentage of people who indicated

Basicamente, amosa a porcentaxe de persoas que indicaron

they would be interested in donating their organs.

o seu posible interese en doar os seus órganos.

These are different countries in Europe.

Estes son diferentes países europeos.

You basically see two types of countries:

Basicamente, vemos dous tipos de países:

countries on the right, that seem to be giving a lot;

os países da dereita, que parecen dar moito,

and countries on the left that seem to giving very little,

e os países da esquerda, que parecen dar moi pouco,

or much less.

ou moito menos.

The question is, why?

A pregunta é, por que?

Why do some countries give a lot and some countries give a little?

Por que algúns países dan moito e outros países dan pouco?

When you ask people this question,

Cando lle preguntamos isto á xente,

they usually think that it has to be about culture.

adoitan pensar que é algo cultural.

Canto che importa a xente?

How much do you care about people?

Giving organs to somebody else

Doar os teus órganos ten que ver,

probablemente, co teu interese pola sociedade, coa túa vinculación con ela.

is probably about how much you care about society, how linked you are.

Or maybe it's about religion.

Ou quizais é cuestión de relixión.

But if you look at this plot,

Pero se miran esta gráfica,

you can see that countries that we think about as very similar,

poden ver que países que consideramos moi similares,

actually exhibit very different behavior.

en realidade, exhiben comportamentos moi diferentes.

For example, Sweden is all the way on the right,

Por exemplo, Suecia está totalmente á dereita

and Denmark, which we think is culturally very similar,

e Dinamarca, á que consideramos culturalmente similar,

is all the way on the left.

está totalmente á esquerda.

Germany is on the left, and Austria is on the right.

Alemaña está á esquerda, e Austria á dereita.

The Netherlands is on the left, and Belgium is on the right.

Holanda está á esquerda, e Bélxica á dereita.

And finally, depending on your particular version

E finalmente, dependendo da súa versión particular

of European similarity,

da similitude europea,

you can think about the U.K. and France as either similar culturally or not,

poden considerar ao Reino Unido e Francia como similares culturalmente, ou non.

but it turns out that with organ donation, they are very different.

Pero resulta que, en canto á doazón de órganos, son moi diferentes.

By the way, the Netherlands is an interesting story.

Por certo, Holanda representa un caso á parte.

You see, the Netherlands is kind of the biggest of the small group.

Ven que Holanda é o máis grande dos pequenos.

It turns out that they got to 28 percent

Resulta que chegaron ao 28 por cento

after mailing every household in the country a letter,

despois de enviar unha carta a cada casa do país,

begging people to join this organ donation program.

rogándolle á xente que se unira ao programa de doazón de órganos.

You know the expression, "Begging only gets you so far."

Xa coñecen a expresión: "Rogar non te leva moi lonxe".

It's 28 percent in organ donation.

Só un 28 por cento en doazón de órganos.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

But whatever the countries on the right are doing,

Pero o que sexa que están a facer os países da dereita,

they're doing a much better job than begging.

estalles saíndo mellor ca rogar.

So what are they doing?

Así que, que están a facer?

Turns out the secret has to do with a form at the DMV.

Resulta que o segredo está nun formulario do Departamento de Tráfico (DXT).

And here is the story.

Velaquí a historia:

The countries on the left have a form at the DMV

Os países da esquerda teñen un formulario de tráfico

that looks something like this.

parecido a este.

"Check the box below if you want to participate in the organ donor program."

"Marque o recadro se quere participar no programa de doazón de órganos".

And what happens?

E que ocorre?

People don't check, and they don't join.

A xente non o marca, e non se afilian.

The countries on the right, the ones that give a lot,

Os países da dereita, os que dan moito,

have a slightly different form.

teñen un formulario lixeiramente diferente.

It says, "Check the box below if you don't want to participate ..."

Nel di: "Marque o recadro se non quere participar...".

Interestingly enough, when people get this,

Curiosamente, cando a xente le isto,

they again don't check, but now they join.

tampouco o marcan, pero agora afílianse.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

Now, think about what this means.

Agora, pensemos no que isto significa.

You know, we wake up in the morning and we feel we make decisions.

Xa saben, levantámonos pola mañá e sentimos que tomamos decisións.

We wake up in the morning and we open the closet;

Levantámonos pola mañá e abrimos o armario;

we feel that we decide what to wear.

e sentimos que decidimos o que imos poñer.

we open the refrigerator and we feel that we decide what to eat.

Abrimos a neveira e sentimos que decidimos o que imos comer.

What this is actually saying,

O que realmente quere dicir isto,

is that many of these decisions are not residing within us.

é que moitas desas decisións non residen en nós.

They are residing in the person who is designing that form.

Residen na persoa que está deseñando ese formulario.

When you walk into the DMV,

Cando un vai ata a DXT,

the person who designed the form will have a huge influence

a persoa que deseñou o formulario terá unha enorme influencia

on what you'll end up doing.

no que acabaremos facendo.

Now, it's also very hard to intuit these results.

Agora, tamén é moi difícil intuír estes resultados.

Think about it for yourself.

Pensen en vostedes mesmos.

How many of you believe

Cantos de vostedes cren

that if you went to renew your license tomorrow,

que se tiveran que renovar o permiso de conducir mañá,

and you went to the DMV,

e foran á DXT,

and you encountered one of these forms,

e atoparan un deses formularios,

that it would actually change your own behavior?

iso cambiaría realmente o seu propio comportamento?

Very hard to think that it would influence us.

É moi difícil pensar que iso podería influírnos.

We can say, "Oh, these funny Europeans, of course it would influence them."

Podemos dicir: "Oh, que graciosos os europeos; claro que lles influiría".

But when it comes to us,

Pero cando se trata de nós,

we have such a feeling that we're in the driver's seat,

nós temos a sensación de estar ao mando,

such a feeling that we're in control and we are making the decision,

de que temos o control e que estamos a tomar nós a decisión,

that it's very hard to even accept the idea

que é moi duro aceptar a idea

that we actually have an illusion of making a decision,

de que, en realidade, temos a ilusión de tomar unha decisión,

rather than an actual decision.

no canto de tomar unha decisión real.

Now, you might say,

Ben, vostedes poderían dicir,

"These are decisions we don't care about."

"Estas decisións non nos importan".

In fact, by definition, these are decisions

De feito, por definición, esas son decisións

about something that will happen to us after we die.

sobre algo que non ocorrerá ata despois de morrer.

How could we care about something less

Como podería importarnos algo, menos

than about something that happens after we die?

que unha cousa que ocorre despois da morte?

So a standard economist, somebody who believes in rationality,

Entón un economista típico, alguén que cre na racionalidade,

would say, "You know what?

diría: "Sabes que?

The cost of lifting the pencil and marking a "V" is higher

O custo de levantar o lapis e marcar un "V", é maior

than the possible benefit of the decision,

que o posible beneficio da decisión,

so that's why we get this effect."

por iso temos este efecto."

(Laughter)

(Risas)

But, in fact, it's not because it's easy.

Pero, de feito, non é porque sexa fácil.

It's not because it's trivial. It's not because we don't care.

Non é porque sexa trivial. Non é porque non nos importe.

It's the opposite. It's because we care.

É o contrario. É porque nos importa.

It's difficult and it's complex.

É difícil e é complexo.

And it's so complex that we don't know what to do.

E é tan complexo que non sabemos que facer.

And because we have no idea what to do,

E, como non temos nin idea de que facer,

we just pick whatever it was that was chosen for us.

simplemente eliximos aquilo que elixiron para nós.

I'll give you one more example.

Voulles dar outro exemplo.

This is from a paper by Redelmeier and Shafir.

Isto provén dun artigo de Redelmeier e Shafir.

And they said, "Would this effect also happens to experts?

Eles din: "Ocorrería tamén este efecto con suxeitos expertos?

People who are well-paid, experts in their decisions,

Xente ben pagada, expertos en tomar decisións,

and who make a lot of them?"

e que toman moitas?"

And they took a group of physicians.

E colleron un grupo de médicos.

They presented to them a case study of a patient.

E presentáronlles un estudo de caso dun paciente.

They said, "Here is a patient. He is a 67-year-old farmer.

Dixeron: "Velaquí un paciente. É un granxeiro de 67 anos.

He's been suffering from right hip pain for a while."

Leva un tempo sufrindo dor na súa cadeira dereita."

And then, they said to the physicians,

Entón dixéronlles aos médicos:

"You decided a few weeks ago

"Hai unhas semanas, vdes. decidiron

that nothing is working for this patient.

que este paciente non estaba ben.

All these medications, nothing seems to be working.

Toda a medicación, nada parece funcionar.

So you refer the patient for hip replacement therapy.

Así que vdes. recomendáronlle unha substitución de cadeira.

Hip replacement. Okay?"

Substitución de cadeira. De acordo?"

So the patient is on a path to have his hip replaced.

De modo que o paciente está esperando que a súa cadeira sexa substituída.

Then they said to half of the physicians,

Despois, dixéronlles á metade dos médicos,

"Yesterday, you reviewed the patient's case,

"Onte revisaches o caso deste paciente,

and you realized that you forgot to try one medication.

e decatácheste de que esqueceras probar unha nova medicina.

You did not try ibuprofen.

Non probaches ibuprofeno.

What do you do? Do you pull the patient back and try ibuprofen?

Que fas? Anulas a operación e probas co ibuprofeno?

Or do you let him go and have hip replacement?"

Ou deixas que siga adiante a operación de cadeira?"

Well, the good news is that most physicians in this case

Ben, a boa noticia é que a maioría dos médicos, neste caso,

decided to pull the patient and try ibuprofen.

deciden anular a operación e probar co ibuprofeno.

Very good for the physicians.

Moi ben polos médicos.

To the other group of physicians, they said,

Ao outro grupo de médicos, dixéronlles:

"Yesterday when you reviewed the case, you discovered there were two medications

"Onte, cando revisaches o caso, descubriches dúas medicinas

you didn't try out yet -- ibuprofen and piroxicam."

que aínda non probaras: ibuprofeno e piroxicam."

You have two medications you didn't try out yet.

Tes dous medicamentos que aínda non probaches.

What do you do? You let him go, or you pull him back?

Que fas? Continúas coa operación, ou anúlala?

And if you pull him back, do you try ibuprofen or piroxicam? Which one?"

E, se decides anulala, probas ibuprofeno ou piroxicam? Cal?"

Now, think of it:

Agora, pensen nisto:

This decision makes it as easy to let the patient continue with hip replacement,

Esta decisión facilita deixar que o paciente continúe coa operación,

but pulling him back, all of the sudden it becomes more complex.

porque anulala fai que, de repente, todo se complique.

There is one more decision.

Hai unha decisión máis que tomar.

What happens now?

Que pasa agora?

The majority of the physicians now choose to let the patient go

A maioría dos médicos escollen que o paciente continúe

for a hip replacement.

coa substitución de cadeira.

I hope this worries you, by the way --

Por certo, espero que isto os preocupe...

(Laughter)

(Risas)

when you go to see your physician.

cando teñan que ir ao seu médico.

The thing is that no physician would ever say,

A cuestión é que ningún médico diría,

"Piroxicam, ibuprofen, hip replacement. Let's go for hip replacement."

"Piroxicam, ibuprofeno, substitución de cadeira... Adiante coa substitución".

But the moment you set this as the default,

Pero no momento en que consideras esta opción como por defecto,

it has a huge power over whatever people end up doing.

ten un enorme poder sobre o que a xente termina por facer.

I'll give you a couple of more examples on irrational decision-making.

Dareilles un par de exemplos máis sobre a toma irracional de decisións.

Imagine I give you a choice:

Imaxinen que lles deixo escoller:

Do you want to go for a weekend to Rome, all expenses paid --

Queres ir a unha fin de semana a Roma, con todos os gastos pagos...

hotel, transportation, food, a continental breakfast, everything --

hotel, transporte, mantenza, almorzo continental... todo.

or a weekend in Paris?

Ou unha fin de semana en París?

Now, weekend in Paris, weekend in Rome -- these are different things.

Fin de semana en París, fin de semana en Roma... son cousas diferentes.

They have different food, different culture, different art.

Teñen diferente comida, diferente cultura, arte diferente.

Imagine I added a choice to the set that nobody wanted.

Imaxinen que engado unha opción que ninguén quixera.

Imagine I said, "A weekend in Rome,

Imaxinen que digo: "Fin de semana en Roma,

a weekend in Paris,

fin de semana en París,

or having your car stolen?"

ou que che rouben o coche?

(Laughter)

(Risas)

It's a funny idea, because why would having your car stolen,

É unha idea graciosa, porque, que valor ten o roubo do coche

in this set, influence anything?

neste grupo, inflúe en algo?

(Laughter)

(Risas)

But what if the option to have your car stolen was not exactly like this?

Pero, que pasaría se a opción de roubar o coche non fora exactamente así.

What if it was a trip to Rome, all expenses paid,

Que tal se fora unha viaxe a Roma, con todos os gastos pagos,

transportation, breakfast,

transporte, almorzo,

but it doesn't include coffee in the morning?

pero non inclúe café polas mañás?

If you want coffee, you have to pay for it yourself, it's two euros 50.

Se queres café, telo que pagar e costa 2,5 euros.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

Now in some ways,

Dalgún xeito,

given that you can have Rome with coffee,

dado que podes ter Roma con café,

why would you possibly want Rome without coffee?

por que quererías Roma sen café?

It's like having your car stolen. It's an inferior option.

É como que che rouben o coche. É unha opción inferior.

But guess what happened?

Pero, saben que pasa?

The moment you add Rome without coffee,

No momento en que engadimos Roma sen café,

Rome with coffee becomes more popular, and people choose it.

Roma con café vólvese máis popular, e a xente escólleo.

The fact that you have Rome without coffee

O feito de ter Roma sen café,

makes Rome with coffee look superior,

fai que Roma con café pareza superior,

and not just to Rome without coffee -- even superior to Paris.

e non só a Roma sen café, senón incluso superior a París.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

Here are two examples of this principle.

Aquí teño dous exemplos deste principio.

This was an ad in The Economist a few years ago

Este era un anuncio de The Economist de hai algúns anos

that gave us three choices:

que nos daba tres opcións:

an online subscription for 59 dollars,

Unha subscrición en liña por 59 dólares,

a print subscription for 125 dollars,

unha subscrición da edición impresa por 125 dólares,

or you could get both for 125.

ou podías ter as dúas por 125.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

Now I looked at this, and I called up The Economist,

Cando vin isto, chamei a The Economist,

and I tried to figure out what they were thinking.

trataba de comprender que estaban pensando.

And they passed me from one person to another to another,

Pasáronme dunha persoa a outra, e outra,

until eventually I got to the person who was in charge of the website,

ata que, finalmente, pasáronme coa persoa a cargo da web,

and I called them up, and they went to check what was going on.

e aviseinos, e foron comprobar que estaba a ocorrer.

The next thing I know, the ad is gone, no explanation.

O seguinte que souben foi que o anuncio desaparecera, sen explicacións.

So I decided to do the experiment

Así que decidín facer un experimento

that I would have loved The Economist to do with me.

que me encantaría que The Economist fixera comigo.

I took this and I gave it to 100 MIT students.

Collín o anuncio e déillelo a 100 estudantes do MIT.

I said, "What would you choose?"

Dixen, "Cal escollerías?

These are the market shares -- most people wanted the combo deal.

Estes son os resultados: a maioría escolleu a opción combinada.

Thankfully, nobody wanted the dominant option.

Afortunadamente, ninguén quixo a opción dominante.

That means our students can read.

Isto significa que os nosos estudantes saben ler.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

But now, if you have an option that nobody wants,

Pero agora, se tes unha opción que ninguén quere,

you can take it off, right?

pódela retirar, non si?

So I printed another version of this,

Así que imprimín outra versión disto,

where I eliminated the middle option.

na que eliminei a opción media.

I gave it to another 100 students. Here is what happened:

Déillela a outros 100 estudantes. E isto foi o que pasou:

Now the most popular option became the least popular,

Agora a opción máis popular volveuse a menos popular,

and the least popular became the most popular.

e a menos popular volveuse a máis popular.

What was happening was the option that was useless,

O que estaba a pasar era que a opción que era inútil,

in the middle, was useless in the sense that nobody wanted it.

a opción media, era inútil porque ninguén a quería.

But it wasn't useless in the sense that it helped people figure out

Pero non o era en canto lle axudaba á xente a comprender

what they wanted.

que era o que quería.

In fact, relative to the option in the middle,

De feito, con respecto á opción media,

which was get only the print for 125,

que era ter só a versión impresa por 125,

the print and web for 125 looked like a fantastic deal.

a versión impresa máis web por 125 parecía unha opción fantástica.

And as a consequence, people chose it.

E, en consecuencia, a xente escollíaa.

The general idea here, by the way,

A idea xeral aquí é

is that we actually don't know our preferences that well.

que en realidade non coñecemos tan ben a nosas preferencias.

And because we don't know our preferences that well,

E como non as coñecemos tan ben,

we're susceptible to all of these influences from the external forces:

somos susceptibles ao influxo de forzas externas:

the defaults, the particular options that are presented to us, and so on.

os valores por defecto, as opcións presentadas, e cousas así.

One more example of this.

Outro exemplo disto.

People believe that when we deal with physical attraction,

A xente cree que, cando falamos de atracción física,

we see somebody, and we know immediately whether we like them or not,

vemos a alguén e, inmediatamente, sabemos se nos gusta ou non,

if we're attracted or not.

se nos atrae ou non.

This is why we have these four-minute dates.

Por iso, se fan esas citas de catro minutos.

So I decided to do this experiment with people.

Así que decidín facer un experimento con persoas.

I'll show you images here, no real people, but the experiment was with people.

Amosareilles imaxes, non de persoas reais, aínda que a proba foi con persoas.

I showed some people a picture of Tom, and a picture of Jerry.

Eu mostraba unha foto de Tom e unha foto de Jerry.

and I said, "Who do you want to date?

E preguntaba: "Con quen queres saír?

Tom or Jerry?"

Tom ou Jerry?"

But for half the people, I added an ugly version of Jerry.

Pero, para á metade da xente, eu engadía unha versión fea de Jerry.

I took Photoshop and I made Jerry slightly less attractive.

Collía o Photoshop e facía a Jerry lixeiramente menos atractivo.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

For the other people, I added an ugly version of Tom.

Para as outras persoas, engadíamos unha versión fea de Tom.

And the question was, will ugly Jerry and ugly Tom

E a pregunta era, o Jerry feo e o Tom feo

help their respective, more attractive brothers?

axudarán a facer máis atractivo ao seu respectivo irmán?

The answer was absolutely yes.

A resposta foi un contundente si.

Cando o Jerry feo aparecía, o outro Jerry era popular.

When ugly Jerry was around, Jerry was popular.

When ugly Tom was around, Tom was popular.

Cando o Tom feo aparecía, o outro Tom era popular.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

This of course has two very clear implications

Isto ten, claro, dúas implicacións evidentes

for life in general.

para a vida en xeral.

If you ever go bar-hopping, who do you want to take with you?

Cando saes de bares, con quen queres ir?

(Laughter)

(Risas)

You want a slightly uglier version of yourself.

Queres unha versión lixeiramente máis fea ca ti.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

Similar, but slightly uglier.

Parecida, pero lixeiramente máis fea.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

The second point, or course, is that if somebody invites you to bar hop,

O segundo punto, por suposto, é que se alguén te convida a ir de bares,

you know what they think about you.

xa sabes o que pensan de ti.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

Now you get it.

Agora si que o entenderon.

What is the general point?

Cal é o obxectivo xeral?

The general point is that,

O obxectivo xeral é que,

when we think about economics, we have this beautiful view of human nature.

cando pensamos en economía, temos esta bonita visión da natureza humana.

"What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason!"

"Que marabilla de home! Que razoable! "

We have this view of ourselves, of others.

Temos esta visión de nós mesmos, dos outros.

The behavioral economics perspective is slightly less "generous" to people;

A perspectiva da economía condutual é lixeiramente menos xenerosa coa xente.

in fact, in medical terms,

De feito, en termos médicos,

that's our view.

esa é a nosa perspectiva.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

But there is a silver lining.

Pero hai un lado positivo.

The silver lining is, I think,

Eu penso que o lado positivo

kind of the reason that behavioral economics is interesting and exciting.

é o tipo de razón pola cal a economía condutual é interesante e emocionante.

Are we Superman, or are we Homer Simpson?

Somos Superman, ou somos Homer Simpson?

When it comes to building the physical world,

Cando se trata de construír o mundo físico,

we kind of understand our limitations.

parece que entendemos as nosas limitacións.

We build steps.

Construímos chanzos.

And we build these things that not everybody can use, obviously.

E construímos esas cousas que non todos poden usar, obviamente.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

We understand our limitations,

Entendemos as nosas limitacións,

and we build around them.

e construímos arredor delas.

Pero, por algunha razón, cando se trata do mundo mental,

But for some reason, when it comes to the mental world,

when we design things like healthcare and retirement and stock markets,

ao deseñar cousas como sistemas de saúde e xubilación, e mercado bolsista,

we somehow forget the idea that we are limited.

dalgún xeito, esquecemos as nosas limitacións.

I think that if we understood our cognitive limitations

Creo que, se entendéramos as nosas limitacións cognitivas

in the same way we understand our physical limitations,

do mesmo xeito en que entendemos as limitacións físicas,

even though they don't stare us in the face the same way,

aínda que non sexan tan evidentes coma estas últimas,

we could design a better world, and that, I think,

poderíamos deseñar un mundo mellor, e esa, creo,

é a esperanza disto.

is the hope of this thing.

Thank you very much.

Moitísimas grazas.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)