Thread by @pacificleo

A couple of days back I finished reading Alchemy: The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don't Make Sense by Rory Sutherland. It's an interesting book. A thread on key takeaways 1/n
amazon.in/s?k=alchemy+ro…

This is a book about Logic and how it dominates all sphere of decision making and how by focusing exclusively on logic we are missing out on a bigger force psycho-logic .2/n

Logic is usually the best way to succeed in an argument, but if you want to succeed in life it is not necessarily all that useful.3/n

Logic is a tool but making logic part of your identity is sub-optimal. One sign of logic being part of our identity is when we refuse to even consider( forget implement) any idea if it can't be strictly rationalized beforehand.4/n

Logical ideas often fail because logic demands universally applicable laws but humans, unlike atoms, are not consistent enough in their behavior for such laws to hold very broadly. 5/n

Business, creativity, and the arts are full of successful non-sense.If we allow the world to be run by logical people we will only discover logical things. But in real life things are not logical they are psycho-logical.6/n

Psycho-logic is a phenomenon that has always been present but its never been observed. Its a bit like gravity, no-one noticed it until someone named it. 7/n

Our obsession with logic stems from the security of the logical approach. You can never be fired for being logical. If you are reasonable but unimaginative than you won't get the blame. It is very likely that you will be fired for being illogical than for being unimaginative. 8/n

As someone who tries to live by logical rational thinking as much as possible, I was intrigued by the premise. For in real life it's often hard to differentiate between an illogical experiment and lazy thinking or lack of effort. 9/n

Why human beings behave in seemingly irrational ways? Because we don't know what we know. Our instinct and subconscious brain dictate our actions. The subconscious brain is the storehouse of the distilled wisdom of generations.10/n

Our conscious brain is primarily used for post facto rationalization. It is more like a press office which deluded into thinking that it is the oval office.11/n

Turns out there is an evolutionary advantage of NOT having access to the knowledge in our subconscious brain. If all our subconscious motivations are readable to us then It will impact our survival prospects. 12/n

That is precisely the reason why market research doesn't work well. People are sincere in their responses and feedback but they are not right about their true motivations. 13/n

Any effective communication should target our subconscious mind. We not only refuse to admit that we are driven by the forces we don't understand but we also resist the suggestion that we can be manipulated by someone who understands. like Pets and Kids 14/n

The moment we find the first logical answer we stop looking for more. There are always other factors that we never take into account. A case in point is the popular (knee jerk) reaction to vaping and e-cigarette 15/n

The commonly held ( and seemingly rational ) perception is that vaping is the gateway drug for mainstream smoking and other addictions like cocaine etc. But research doesn't support this hypothesis. 16/n

Our understanding of smoking addiction is also very logical. Ergo it only explains extreme cases of addiction. The majority of regular smokers are addicted to cigarettes for their perceptual and social value. 17/n

As someone who had his first cigarette decades ago after watching a stupid Bollywood movie and who mostly smokes to give other "company", I kinda agree with the assertion above 18/n

E-cigarette is essentially a delivery device for nicotine that recreates much of the effect of smoking without creating carcinogens which is produced by burning tobacco & lead to diseases. This deserves an open-minded consideration. We might be missing something big here 19/n

Placebo of drugs is not limited to e cigarette and teenagers. Gin drinking high court judges are also not immune from it 20/n

Our real and hidden motivations are different from the stated motivations. Be it smoking, eating ice cream, or visiting a doctor. As product designers its essential for us to look for them and thoroughly understand them.21/n

Most die-hard advocates of logic have a self-image of being a logical problem solver. They care more about that self-image than about really solving the problem. Logic is not one of the tools in their kit its usually the only tool.22/n

I once worked with a guy who insisted on redoing the entire search infra for a tiny increase in speed demanded by the customer. Other fellow created the same impression by a small tweak in gif of magnifying glass shown in search animation. He made it rotate faster. 23/n

For better or worse the first one was the one who got the highest raise and promotion the second guy is running his own mid-size IT service firm today. 24/n

These inbuilt instincts are not necessarily unscientific. Sometimes science is not evolved to explain them but thanks to evolution we do it reflexively. A case in point is our near-universal dislike toward feces ( 💩 ) which predates our knowledge of germs or microbes. 25/n

Instincts are inheritable but knowledge needs to be taught. From an evolutionary standpoint what's important is how you behave, Whether you understand why you do that is secondary. 26/n

The way evolution encourages behavior is by attaching a positive emotion with it and vice versa. Whether that emotion is authentic is not important. What's important is that its effective.27/n

Reason are secondary to the instinct for most people . Because reason arose in the human brain not to inform our actions and beliefs, but to explain and defend them to others. The reason is not the brain’s R&D function – it is the brain’s legal and PR department.28/n

Reason are secondary to the instinct for most people . Because reason arose in the human brain not to inform our actions and beliefs, but to explain and defend them to others. The reason is not the brain’s R&D function – it is the brain’s legal and PR department.29/n

Average doesn't mean anything for the individual decision-maker. He wants to increase his upside. 30/n

Probability doesn't make much sense to the individual decision-maker . He wants to protect his downside. 31/n

Since human beings are not rule-bound predictable automaton so does it make sense to have the same rule for everyone? Here the author offers a very interesting and unique perspective on the question of affirmative action, diversity, and inclusion. 32/n

The author talks about the seemingly counterintuitive idea of affordance led preference. A limited affordance of a device /service gives clarity of purpose ergo makes the decision easy. By removing a feature from a product we can make it more appealing. 33/n

The author explains how all the seemingly irrational but psycho-logically compliant behavior in humans is motivated by five basic techniques: Signalling, Subconscious hacking, Satisficing, and Psychophysics. 34/n

Signaling is a mechanism by which we convey intentions and cultivate trust. Signaling can be costly ( a black cab driver in London spends 3 years to memorize every corner of city ) but their commitment inspires trust. 35/n

Pre Commitment, Reciprocation, and Reputation are 3 ways to signal trust by design. All three of them are economically irrational 36/n

It's interesting how @Uber has communicated a lighter implementation of these signals to their users while taxi companies like Black Cab failed to communicate to their users that they have a deeper commitment to these values. 37/n

There is a chapter on Placebo which is fascinating. It shows that Branded Analgesics are more effective in spite of having the same chemical composition as their generic counterparts. Turns out expensive placebo signals the body to invest more in recovery. 38/n

I always thought the brand is a way to remove friction in making the purchase. Like that nudge to take the leap. But once the deal is done product has to stand on its substance and branding was not a tangible substance. Turns out I was wrong. 39/n

There are many such examples of people making choices which are sub optimal from a logical stand point but which are good long term decisions from psychological lense .40/n

Alchemy is art and science to observe , deconstruct and practice this psycho-logical motivation. Author is definitely on to something here. However while this book does a good job of "What" of Alchemy its not satisfactory on "How" Part .41/n

Alchemy is art and science to observe, de construct and practice this psycho-logical motivation. Author is definitely on to something here. However while this book does a good job of "What" of Alchemy its not satisfactory on "How" Part .42/n

Its a good book to quote from and talk about at cocktail parties . But if you do just that you can get a better value for money by the author's ted talks or listening to his podcast interview. 43/n