Are you looking for practical tips to disconnect, or ways to refocus your attention? If perhaps you stopped reading this sentence to check your email or another notification, we’ve got you covered with advice on optimizing your life, plus an update in the ongoing battle between humans and algorithms, some strategies for improving productivity, and hiring processes at work (and more) in the 10 articles Behavioral Scientist readers like you read most frequently this year.
#1: We Forget That Everything is Relative
By Dan Ariely and Jeff Kreisler
As H. L. Mencken once said, “No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.”
#2: The Benefits of Admitting When You Don’t Know
By Tenelle Porter
We might all be a bit better off by learning to say “I disagree with myself” every now and then.
#3: How to Identify Talent: Five Lessons From The NFL Draft
By Cade Massey
If there is one consistent yet underappreciated principle for making good hires, it’s that process beats technology.
#4: There Is More To Behavioral Economics Than Biases and Fallacies
By Koen Smets
Is a preoccupation with biases hindering behavioral economics?
#5: Bursty Communication Can Help Remote Teams Thrive
By Christoph Riedl and Anita Williams Woolley
Can remote teams achieve the productivity of the office and still allow the convenience of working from home.
#6: What To Do When Algorithms Rule
By Jason Collins
Is our reluctance to have our decisions and actions replaced by automated systems warranted?
#7: Try to Resist Misinterpreting the Marshmallow Test
By Keith Payne and Paschal Sheeran
Why does a new study of the famed test have both scientists and journalists drawing the exact wrong conclusions?
#8: The Real Reason You Shouldn’t Text While Driving
By Aline Holzwarth
We may recognize on a cognitive level that distracted driving is stupid, but we have no accompanying visceral feeling of fear.
#9: Remedies For The Distracted Mind
By Adam Gazzaley & Larry D. Rosen
Try closing all your open tabs and apps before reading
#10: Who’s Your Real Boss?
By Kristian Sørensen and Mikkel Holm Sørensen
Hint: it’s your smartphone. But it shouldn’t be.
