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The Unreasonable Human
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Long reads on how we actually think, decide and live.

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Economics

The price of being kind

Generosity looks irrational on a spreadsheet. Over a lifetime it is the best trade most of us ever make.

By Alina Petrova14 Sept 20266 min read
Illustration of a head in profile facing two overlapping rust-red circles and a cluster of thin vertical lines
Behaviour

Loyalty is a small bargain

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

By Alina Petrova15 Feb 202614 min read
People crossing a sunlit concrete hall
Psychology

What the waiting room teaches us about expertise

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

By Alina Petrova28 Jan 202612 min read
Illustration of a head in profile facing two overlapping rust-red circles and a cluster of thin vertical lines
Series

Fair enough

People will pay to punish unfairness. Markets have never quite accepted this.

By Alina Petrova2 Dec 20257 min read
Illustration of a head in profile facing two overlapping rust-red circles and a cluster of thin vertical lines
Economics

A short history of the group chat

Before we try to fix people, it is worth understanding what they are for.

By Alina Petrova17 Sept 202511 min read
Illustration of a head in profile facing two overlapping rust-red circles and a cluster of thin vertical lines
Series

What gossip teaches us about habit

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

By Alina Petrova19 Jul 20256 min read
Illustration of a bare tree over a faint grid, overlaid with rust-red, pale blue and black-spotted circles
Economics

The case against the sunk cost

Before we try to fix people, it is worth understanding what they are for.

By Alina Petrova10 Dec 202412 min read
People crossing a sunlit concrete hall
Essays

What the group chat teaches us about kindness

The evidence is clear, the incentives are not, and the incentives usually win.

By Alina Petrova13 Oct 202412 min read
Pale pink blossom on thin branches in front of a raw concrete wall

Ideas worth reading. Every week.

Essays, data and ideas on economics, rationality and why we do what we do.

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