Is That a Bird in Your Hand...
...or are you just happy to see me?
Virginia Postrel has a neat article on the relationship between numeracy and willingness to take risks. Particularly flabbergasting are the number of people who'd choose $500 over a 15% chance of $1,000,000. I mean, $5,000, maybe. It's still a terrible deal, but it's a more comprehensible one. Accepting the $500 isn't risk-averseness, it's lunacy!
Anyway, worth a read. And when you're done, ponder: a) how this relates to who plays the lottery, b) how this relates to what kinds of people play what kind of casino games (slot machines vs. craps vs. blackjack vs. poker).
Virginia Postrel has a neat article on the relationship between numeracy and willingness to take risks. Particularly flabbergasting are the number of people who'd choose $500 over a 15% chance of $1,000,000. I mean, $5,000, maybe. It's still a terrible deal, but it's a more comprehensible one. Accepting the $500 isn't risk-averseness, it's lunacy!
Anyway, worth a read. And when you're done, ponder: a) how this relates to who plays the lottery, b) how this relates to what kinds of people play what kind of casino games (slot machines vs. craps vs. blackjack vs. poker).
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