Home > Work > Alchemy: The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don't Make Sense
1 " All too often, what matters is not whether an idea is true or effective, but whether it fits with the preconceptions of a dominant cabal. "
― Rory Sutherland , Alchemy: The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don't Make Sense
2 " The number of people who think they understand statistics dangerously dwarfs those who actually do, and maths can cause fundamental problems when badly used. "
3 " No living creature can evolve and survive in the real world by processing information in an objective, measured and proportionate manner. "
4 " What is important is how you behave, not knowing why you do. "
5 " Evolved human instinct may be a much better at statistics than modern economists "
6 " Not everything that makes sense works, and not everything that works makes sense. "
7 " People who are not skilled at mathematics tend to view the output of second-rate mathematicians with an high level of credulity, and attach almost mystical significance to their findings. Bad maths is the palmistry of the twenty-first century. "
8 " It is an enormous mistake to assume that what the translator conveys is what the speaker intended, and it is equally foolish to assume that what you intended to say is what will be understood. "
9 " Our conscious mind tries hard to preserve the illusion that it deliberately chose every action you have ever taken; in reality, in many of these decisions it was a bystander at best, and much of the time it did not even notice the decision being made. "
10 " the human mind does not run on logic any more than a horse runs on petrol "
11 " you are not thinking; you are merely being logical "
12 " It is much easier to be fired for being illogical than it is for being unimaginative. The fatal issue is that logic always gets you to exactly the same place as your competitors. "
13 " Irrational people are much more powerful than rational people, because their threats are so much more convincing. "
14 " the uber map is a psychological moonshot, because it does not reduce the waiting time for a taxi but simply makes waiting 90% less frustrating "
15 " It’s important to remember that big data all comes from the same place – the past. A new campaigning style, a single rogue variable or a ‘black swan’ event can throw the most perfectly calibrated model into chaos. "
16 " when you demand logic, you pay a hidden price: you destroy magic "
17 " Hillary thinks like an economist, while Donald is a game theorist, and is able to achieve with one tweet what would take Clinton four years of congressional infighting. That’s alchemy; you may hate it, but it works. "
18 " it is perfectly possible to be both rational and wrong. "
19 " And in reality ‘context’ is often the most important thing in determining how people think, behave and act: "
20 " We don’t value things; we value their meaning. What they are is determined by the laws of physics, but what they mean is determined by the laws of psychology. "
