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Author

Alina Petrova

Editor-in-chief

Alina Petrova is a Year 12 student preparing to apply to university, and the founder and editor of The Unreasonable Human. She reads across psychology, economics, behavioural science and neuroscience, and writes about the gap between how people are supposed to decide and how they actually do.

Why she started the journal

Writing by Alina Petrova

A short history of the school run

We are far better at explaining our choices than at making them.

28 Mar 20268 min read

Pale pink blossom on thin branches in front of a raw concrete wall

What the shortcut teaches us about regret

Economists have a model. The rest of us have a Tuesday.

22 Mar 20267 min read

People crossing a sunlit concrete hall

What the long game teaches us about pride

We are far better at explaining our choices than at making them.

14 Mar 202614 min read

A lone figure climbing a pale stone staircase towards an arched window filled with light

The Reluctant Optimist

What feels like a preference is often just a default nobody questioned.

11 Mar 20266 min read

A lone figure climbing a pale stone staircase towards an arched window filled with light

Why we believe the confident

It looks like a flaw in the person. Mostly it is a feature of the situation.

7 Mar 20265 min read

Illustration of a bare tree over a faint grid, overlaid with rust-red, pale blue and black-spotted circles

The luck of the polite refusal

What feels like a preference is often just a default nobody questioned.

1 Mar 202612 min read

A short history of gossip

We are far better at explaining our choices than at making them.

22 Feb 20269 min read

Pale pink blossom on thin branches in front of a raw concrete wall

Measuring fairness, one lottery slip at a time

We are far better at explaining our choices than at making them.

19 Feb 20268 min read

Illustration of a bare tree over a faint grid, overlaid with rust-red, pale blue and black-spotted circles

Loyalty is a small bargain

It looks like a flaw in the person. Mostly it is a feature of the situation.

15 Feb 202614 min read

People crossing a sunlit concrete hall

Reluctant Thoughts

The cost is obvious, the benefit is diffuse, and so the benefit loses.

13 Feb 20265 min read

Illustration of a bare tree over a faint grid, overlaid with rust-red, pale blue and black-spotted circles

In praise of the deadline

What feels like a preference is often just a default nobody questioned.

9 Feb 20267 min read

A lone figure climbing a pale stone staircase towards an arched window filled with light

What the loyalty card teaches us about boredom

What feels like a preference is often just a default nobody questioned.

1 Feb 202610 min read

Illustration of a bare tree over a faint grid, overlaid with rust-red, pale blue and black-spotted circles