Stephen Dubner

Curtis, you will recall, is a professional disgustologist with a background in public health and anthropology. I got to wondering whether the field of economics had anything worthwhile to say about disgust. Economists don't usually think about disgust.

Repugnance would seem at least moderately linked to disgust as it often centers around the human body.

Repugnance would seem at least moderately linked to disgust as it often centers around the human body.

Repugnance would seem at least moderately linked to disgust as it often centers around the human body.

He set out to answer this question with a set of experiments. Even though Ambul says he was thinking about repugnance, he plainly understands disgust because he built his experiments around the eating of insects. Yeah, that's right.

He set out to answer this question with a set of experiments. Even though Ambul says he was thinking about repugnance, he plainly understands disgust because he built his experiments around the eating of insects. Yeah, that's right.

He set out to answer this question with a set of experiments. Even though Ambul says he was thinking about repugnance, he plainly understands disgust because he built his experiments around the eating of insects. Yeah, that's right.

He used mealworms and silkworm pupae and a variety of crickets.

He used mealworms and silkworm pupae and a variety of crickets.

He used mealworms and silkworm pupae and a variety of crickets.

Maybe because the people who knew they'd throw up were the ones who opted out of eating insects during the experiment because you were given that choice.

Maybe because the people who knew they'd throw up were the ones who opted out of eating insects during the experiment because you were given that choice.

Maybe because the people who knew they'd throw up were the ones who opted out of eating insects during the experiment because you were given that choice.

Ambul wanted to measure how both financial and informational incentives affected the decisions that his research subjects made. There was a separate experiment to see how much he'd have to pay students to eat a whole scorpion.

Ambul wanted to measure how both financial and informational incentives affected the decisions that his research subjects made. There was a separate experiment to see how much he'd have to pay students to eat a whole scorpion.

Ambul wanted to measure how both financial and informational incentives affected the decisions that his research subjects made. There was a separate experiment to see how much he'd have to pay students to eat a whole scorpion.

This goes back to the idea of whether financial incentives might skew someone's judgment towards selling their kidneys or eggs.

This goes back to the idea of whether financial incentives might skew someone's judgment towards selling their kidneys or eggs.

This goes back to the idea of whether financial incentives might skew someone's judgment towards selling their kidneys or eggs.

In other words, the bigger incentive increases their appetite to persuade themselves that what they're about to do is a good idea. Among the research subjects who were offered just $3 to eat the insects, around a third decided to do it, even without access to a video.