The Fine Line Between Shared and Manipulated Medical Decisions

See some coverage in Forbes on a debate I participated in at a recent meeting, discussing when decisions are really decisions and when nudges are really shoves.
Click here.

See some coverage in Forbes on a debate I participated in at a recent meeting, discussing when decisions are really decisions and when nudges are really shoves.
Click here.
The MacOS has a new self control app called, straightforwardly, SelfControl. The app has an ominous icon, which looks like a cross between a poker game gone wrong and the warning symbol on a bottle of poisonous chemicals: The app gives users the ability to temporarily block websites, which they know they are wasting too…
Imagine for a moment you are suffering from an illness that makes you feel like your soul has been run over by an angry defensive lineman, a disease that interferes with your desire to sleep, eat and make love. Oh, and this illness will continue to make you feel this way for the rest of your life. How much would you be willing to pay for a treatment makes you feel normal again?
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In what academics call neoclassical economics, human beings are largely rational, self-interested decision-makers. This stereotypical human, often referred to as Homo economicus, is a creature of coldly calculated selfishness, dispassionately maximizing its best interests even if that comes at the expense of others. A study in Japan shows that Homo economicus makes up only a…
Sarcopenia: a mysterious disorder that causes people’s muscles to shrink away. 25%, 30%, even greater loss of strength… until the victim is struggling to make it up to the second floor bedroom. Would you undergo a treatment for this disorder if it was safe and effective? And do you think your insurance company should pay…
Politics in the US is discouragingly partisan. National politics has become increasingly partisan since at least the late ’60s, when the passage of civil rights legislation influenced many conservative southern Democrats to join the Republican Party. Even state politics has become more partisan, where even famously nice people in Wisconsin have found themselves battling their neighbors across…
Here’s a new study I conducted with Peggy Liu, Jim Bettman, and Arianna Uhalde on calorie range information. Check it out below. Liu, Peggy J., James R. Bettman, Arianna R. Uhalde, and Peter A. Ubel (forthcoming), “How Many Calories Are in My Burrito? Improving Consumers’ Understanding of Calorie Range Information,” Public Health Nutrition. DOI link….