Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life

by Rory Sutherland

‘there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so’.

loss-aversion, the mental mechanism that causes us to experience more pain from losing £100 than pleasure from winning £100.*

The job of the alchemist is to find out which framing works best.

conventional logic is hopeless in marketing – as you end up in the same place as your competitors.

if you never do anything differently, you’ll reduce your chances of enjoying lucky accidents.

evolution cares about fitness rather than objectivity, and if the ability to present oneself in a good light has certain reproductive advantages, then it will be prioritised.

An admission of a downside makes a claim more plausible.