The Decision Tree

Career

Ben Y Hayden Ph.D. on April 19, 2014

Utopian novels predict a future that is safe and easy but boring.

Cognition

Ben Y Hayden Ph.D. on March 30, 2014

I propose a new cryptocurrency where mining new coins requires solving science problems.

Career

Ben Y Hayden Ph.D. on March 16, 2014

The human brain is more complex than math these days.

Neuroscience

Ben Y Hayden Ph.D. on February 11, 2014

Wikipedia has great coverage of Pokemon but spotty coverage of science topics.

Leadership

Ben Y Hayden Ph.D. on August 24, 2013

Microsoft's stack rank system is great in theory, terrible in practice.

Teamwork

Ben Y Hayden Ph.D. on July 28, 2013

How about if instead of using the terms 'cooperation' and 'defection' we instead say 'collusion' and 'honesty'?

Law and Crime

Ben Y Hayden Ph.D. on July 17, 2013

Psychology dictates the appropriate fines for traffic violations.

Friends

Ben Y Hayden Ph.D. on July 7, 2013

I talk about my own scientific research at the TEDxRochester conference 2012.

Consumer Behavior

Ben Y Hayden Ph.D. on June 27, 2013

Pepsi's marketing department failed to understand diminishing marginal utility.

Consumer Behavior

Ben Y Hayden Ph.D. on June 17, 2013

People think we give engagement rings because advertising made us do it. It's more complicated than that.

Friends

Ben Y Hayden Ph.D. on June 9, 2013

Can the psychology of friendship and fandom explain why one restaurant –and maybe more soon – refuses to accept tips?

Media

Ben Y Hayden Ph.D. on May 31, 2013

The media has a story they want to tell about the meltdown. But it's not true.

Marriage

Ben Y Hayden Ph.D. on November 9, 2012

The campaign doesn't matter much, even though it feels like it does.

Politics

Ben Y Hayden Ph.D. on October 29, 2012

We humans have trouble understanding election probabilities.

Bias

Ben Y Hayden Ph.D. on October 24, 2012

An obscure bias that explains so much about how elements of artwork are organized in time.

Behavioral Economics

Ben Y Hayden Ph.D. on July 21, 2012

How wine tastes is largely determined by your expectations. That's not a bad thing.

Self-Control

Ben Y Hayden Ph.D. on July 13, 2012

No one can tell me why we eat dessert last. Why not first?

Politics

Ben Y Hayden Ph.D. on June 13, 2012

Neuroscience

Ben Y Hayden Ph.D. on May 28, 2012

The data collection is moving faster than the statistical analysis techniques.

Happiness

Ben Y Hayden Ph.D. on May 22, 2012

Mountain climbing is miserable and then it's over. Why do mountain climbers continue to climb?