Think Like A Freak

by Steven D. Levitt

history clearly shows, most people, whether because of nature or nurture, generally put their own interests ahead of others’.

How are you supposed to get everyone to pull in the same direction when they are all pulling primarily for themselves?

“Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion but not to their own facts.”)

ultracrepidarianism, or “the habit of giving opinions and advice on matters outside of one’s knowledge or competence.”

The next time you run into a question that you can only pretend to answer, go ahead and say “I don’t know”—and then follow up, certainly, with “but maybe I can find out.”

“we call it a ‘transpoosion.’ ”

Nearly 40 percent of low-income adults consider the lottery their best chance to ever acquire a large sum of money. As a result, low earners spend a much bigger share of their income on the lottery than higher earners.

more precisely, we’ll say what we think other people want to hear and then, in private, do what we want.

The key is to think less about the ideal behavior of imaginary people and more about the actual behavior of real people.

Never, ever think that people will do something just because it is the “right” thing to do.

smart people simply have more experience with feeling they are right, and therefore have greater confidence in their knowledge, whatever side of an issue they’re on. But being confident you are right is not the same as being right.

it’s important to acknowledge the flaws in your argument and keep the insults to yourself, but if you really want to persuade someone who doesn’t wish to be persuaded, you should tell him a story.

The plural of anecdote is not data.)