Here’s a new blog with a few blog posts up about Chicago’s food scene. Great. What about the brain part? you might ask.

I admit I’ve been slacking a little bit on writing posts, but I can probably find a psychology theory somewhere that I can use on myself to help me stick to a schedule going forward.

I was motivated to start writing again because of a LinkedIn influencer post that a Wharton Professor wrote. Adam Grant is the top rated professor at my alma mater. Though I did not get a chance to attend his course, some of my friends have and said he was one of the best, if not the best. Trained in Organizational Psychology, he now works in the Management department and recently published the book Give and Take (great read, btw).

The article he recently wrote “Why Behavioral Economics is Cool, and I’m Not” talks about how the field, Behavioral Economics, seems to have more credibility than the field of Psychology. This is puzzling especially because most behavioral economics theories are written by Psychologists. In actuality, Behavioral Economics are just applications of Psychology theories – precisely what is blog is about. 

The article also points out the perception of Psychology as common-sense, but it really isn’t.

For example:

1. Is shorter pain better than longer pain?

2. Why do most people buy a Grande at Starbucks?

3. Should I explain myself with an irrelevant reason or don’t give a reason at all?

These are topics that I hope to address in my future blog posts as well. This blog will be about the applications of psychology = Behavioral Economics. The blog post also mentions a number of my FAVORITE books – Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking Fast and Slow, as well as Cass Sunstein & Richard Thaler’s Nudge. I would highly, highly recommend these books because it really shaped how I think about my actions and how I view the world.

For the time being, the answers to the previous questions are

1. not always

2. compromise theory

3. any reason > no reason

For Professor Grant’s Article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/20140612161548-69244073-why-behavioral-economics-is-cool-and-i-m-not