Skip to main content

Drama of the Thai Boys



Hollywood is already salivating.  Could they rope in Tom Hanks to play some part perhaps.   Which studio gets the sole rights?  So on and on.  This after what the media has dubbed 'heroic rescue' by a team of international divers to save a dozen unknown Thai teenagers from a swampy cave in this SE Asian Buddhist country.

Why the fascination with someone who made poor decisions?  Of all places how come a story in remote Thailand garnered the attention of everyone from CNN to Elon Musk?  Ironically a large ferry carrying passengers in Thailand sank around the same time, not far from shore and killed dozens.  No one knows the name of a single dead.

I guess the answer came in the form of a coincidence.  I was recently e-reading.  Whoa.  Yes my readership knows that I am a paper version reader.  But now with laziness has come some change.  I discovered an e-book on Behavioral Economics at my local (online) library.  This one is written by professor Richard Thaler and titled - Misbehaving.

It highlights as its primary message that people are not economist but human and therefore susceptible more often than not to make irrational decisions.  As such it is littered with studies and references and an occasional joke and anecdote.

One of the references IMHO highlights the prominence of the Thai boys story.  Thaler cites an essay by another professor Schelling titled - The Life You Save May Be Your Own.  In that essay he gives an example of how people will donate their last cent to save a six year old Emily dying from cancer if the treatment prolongs her life by a month but not shed a tear and definitely not approach their checkbook if a county puts out an ad for expanding their local hospital.

He refers to this phenomenon as 'An Identified Life' vs. 'A Statistical Life'.  Abstract just does not work.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Of chocolates

I like chocolates. Godiva Dark with Almonds - not sure of the naked woman on the horse to be the icon of some choice cocoa based products but tastes good. Started in Belgium but now owned by some Turks. Cadburys - Fruit and Nut Milk Bars - awesome combination of dried fruit pieces along with a medley of nuts makes your toungue dance - started by a Brit now owen by Kraft USA. Lindt Hazelnut spheres - made by a Swiss confectioner are divine balls that melt in your mouth with a lingering nutty taste Ghirardelli Milk Crisp Squares - crunchy and light these milk squares are easy on the palate but pack some serious calories - all good I say! Originally founded by an Italian who moved around till he landed in SF Bay today also owned by the Swiss Lindt empire.
Post a Comment
Read more

Columbia SC

 The Palmetto state.  One of the confederate kinds. History dating couple centuries back.  We visited the capital yet again this time to take in the SC State Museum. Occupying the former digs (literally remodeled) of an erstwhile cotton mill this structure is an amazing piece of reimagination.  Four floors of excitement for kids and young at heart alike. Located on the shores of the Congaree River formed when the Broad meets up with the Saluda River, this edifice is approx. 60 years old.  The front of the building has a more modern planetarium that was added about a decade ago.  The museum itself has different areas of interest segregated on each of its four floors. The first floor has gift shop and a diorama of some of the local geography including the swamps and the state beaches with audio guides to help understand what fauna thrives locally. The second floor is all about natural history and showcases animal kingdom that may have survived on this latitud...
Post a Comment
Read more

Cost of entrepreneurship

Last night I attended a guest lecture on the subject of disruptive technology and entrepreneurship.  Lecture was free but it was used as a pitch by the University that hosted it to attract new customers. The speaker was somewhat respectable fellow who happened to hail from India and spoke eloquently.   One of the key message was around how the professors in this university were ranked among the very best money can buy. Cost of the MBA program mere $110,000 and oh we also buy some dinner if you have late class.  So now the math is simple-  is learning to be entrepreneurial worth the cost of entry? That is assuming you end up being one.   What of those that do not?  or the ones that are not successful at being the entrepreneur?  Is that being a pessimist before even being handed the glass. What I found strange is that people will bet big money on the glimmer of hope that they might just make a entrepreneurial debut and hit it big.  The unive...
2 comments
Read more