Happy Monday, money nerds! J.D. here with another week of recent money news. To start, let’s look at the psychological side of things. Today’s articles are all about our mindset. (I leave it up to you to see how these apply to your financial life. 😉 )
Babies’ random choices become their preferences. [Johns Hopkins University] — “Though researchers have long known that adults build unconscious biases over a lifetime of making choices between things that are essentially the same, findings from Johns Hopkins University indicate that even babies engage in this phenomenon, suggesting that this way of justifying choice is intuitive and somehow fundamental to the human experience.” Confirmation bias starts young, my friends.
Being a n00b. [Paul Graham] — “It’s not pleasant to feel like a noob. And the word ‘noob’ is certainly not a compliment. And yet today I realized something encouraging about being a noob: the more of a noob you are locally, the less of a noob you are globally.”
We learn faster when we aren’t told what choices to make. [Scientific American] — “The role for choice found here suggests that our sense of control in a situation influences how we learn—or do not learn—from our experiences. This insight could also help explain delusional thinking, in which false beliefs remain impenetrable to contrary evidence. An outsize feeling of control may contribute to an unflagging adherence to an erroneous belief.”
Working from home is making a lot of people miserable. [Slate] — “We traditionally tend to think of working from home as a perk. You can do your laundry while you work. You can stay in pajamas and control your own thermostat. You can take the dog for a walk. But after being abruptly forced to work from home full time this year, a lot of people have discovered they don’t like it nearly as much as they thought they would.”
Our final article today has nothing to do with money…but I liked it. Dolly Parton is a national treasure. This explains why.
The United States of Dolly Parton. [The New Yorker] — “A voice for working-class women and an icon for all kinds of women, Parton has maintained her star power throughout life phases and political cycles…The country-music establishment can be about as partisan as they come, a rope line of old-school apple-pie values and unquestioning patriotism. But Parton is a true diplomat.”
And, of course, I can’t leave you without sharing a fun video. This one’s strange. It’s all about how one guy decided to see if could play the classic computer game Doom…using only potatoes for power.
Okay, folks. I’ll be back tomorrow with more money news. See you then!