Behavioral Scientist

09/13/2025

In this weekend’s read from the archive, Evan Nesterak interviews Nobel Prize winner Simon Johnson about the relationship between technological progress and prosperity, including how societies have made these choices in the past.

We speak with Nobel Prize winner Simon Johnson about the relationship between technological progress and prosperity, including how societies have made these choices in the past and what our decisions about the current wave of AI could mean for our future.

09/06/2025

Americans Are Overworked. Could AI Change That? — AI promises to help us get more done in less time. It’s an opportunity to reverse the trend of American overwork, but powerful structural factors stand in the way.

AI promises to help us get more done in less time. It’s an opportunity to reverse the trend of American overwork, but powerful structural factors stand in the way.

09/06/2025

Questions of who we are or what we’re worth can send us into a tailspin. But the very same processes that pull us down can propel us up, too.

Why We Spiral By Gregory M. Walton

Questions of who we are or what we’re worth can send us into a tailspin. But the very same processes that pull us down can propel us up, too.

09/06/2025

Your weekend read, from the archive: Michael Muthukrishna and Evan Nesterak explore whether energy is the sine qua non of understanding the human world.

The common constraint for all life is the ability to find and use energy, yet we take it for granted, says Michael Muthukrishna. In his new book, he makes the case that energy should be central in how we understand ourselves and how we design our world.

09/05/2025

"Without enough alone time, I feel disconnected from myself. But too much alone time makes me feel like I’m losing part of myself, too—the part of me that comes alive when I’m with other people."

The Art of Balancing Solitude and Connection By Elizabeth Weingarten

Without enough alone time, I feel disconnected from myself. But too much alone time makes me feel like I’m losing part of myself, too—the part of me that comes alive when I’m with other people.

09/05/2025

Many leaders mistakenly believe that their organizations thrive under constant pressure. But overloaded systems are broken systems—to fix them, we must learn our way to the right amount of work.

How to Rescue an Overloaded Organization by Nelson P. Repenning and Donald C. Kieffer —

Many leaders mistakenly believe that their organizations thrive under constant pressure. But overloaded systems are broken systems—to fix them, we must learn our way to the right amount of work.

08/30/2025

In this weekend’s read from the archive, Evan Nesterak and Michael Muthukrishna plumb a sweeping “theory of everyone,” a possible key to advancing social and behavioral science.

Michael Muthukrishna wants to integrate the science of human beings, from genes to culture to our environments, into ‘a theory of everyone.’ Doing so, he says, is key to advancing social and behavioral science.

08/23/2025

In this weekend’s read from the archive, Rory Sutherland makes the case that a little bu****it makes behavioral science better.

BS (behavioral science) without creativity—indeed BS without a tiny little whiff of BS (meaning bu****it)—is actually suboptimal.

08/16/2025

Your weekend read: Greg Power explains why attempts to improve governance fail because they’ve been based on the rational design of formal institutions rather than the behavioral logic of the individuals that work inside them.

From the archive:

Attempts to improve governance in the world’s most troubled states have failed because they’ve been based on the rational design of formal institutions rather than the behavioral logic of the individuals that work inside them.

08/09/2025

In this weekend’s read, Andrés Casas and Boaz Hameiri explore the behavioral science underlying an effort to maintain peace after decades of conflict in Colombia. Hearing stories transformed how people understood their former enemies.

From the archive:

To help build peace in Colombia, we gave the people most affected by the conflict—victims and ex-combatants—a platform to share their stories with other Colombians across the country. Hearing those stories transformed how people understood their former enemies.

08/02/2025

In this weekend’s read from the archive, Heather Graci amasses a range of voices trying to answer: How do you balance dreams of peace with the complex reality of achieving it?

Behavioral scientists working in peace and conflict grapple with questions of how prejudice becomes violence, how exclusion begets extremism, and how capable we are of change. The answers are far from simple, but not out of reach.

08/01/2025

4 great reasons to read 1984 with Behavioral Scientist this summer!

1. Read a great book
2. Find out for yourself
3. Learn from expert conversations
4. Join a great community

Find out more about this summer's book club and how to join here:

https://mailchi.mp/behavioralscientist/nr-ng-nm-4-great-reasons-to-read-1984-with-behavioral-scientist-this-summer