Dr. Todd Rose

What I'm saying is that that voice has to be put in the broader context of the broader range of opinions that exist in this society, because if we don't do that, then we get these collective illusions and nobody wins.

So it's the same example in terms of this.

One of the traps we fall into that can lead us to illusions is this copycat kind of behavior where we think other people must know something we don't.

As you know, there are so many more people who need kidneys than we ever have healthy kidneys every year.

A lot of people die from this.

What was shocking to me

is to find out that a very decent percentage, I think close to like 20%, of healthy kidneys are discarded.

And here's why that was happening, and then we did solve for it, which is it was the way the kidney list was structured.

So basically you get on the list, and it's based on fit, like your type, if it doesn't work for you.

But then a kidney becomes available, and you get it 48 hours before it's no longer good.

And they just go down that list, right?

So they start with the first person and you get a very small amount of time for you and your doctor to make a decision.

Do I take the kidney or not?

Well, first of all, if I'm number one on the list, I can be a little patient, right?

I can wait for a really great kidney because I'll get another bite of that apple.

But what happened was the way that the list was structured is if I'm number 10 on the list and that kidney comes to me, all I know is that the previous nine people rejected it.

So what happens is as it starts to tumble, once it gets past like the 10th list, people just say no to a healthy kidney because they're like, why did everybody else reject it?

It turns out that the reason people reject them often is like, I'm not in town.

I couldn't get there in time.

A whole bunch of other practical reasons.