Your Brain’s Being Hijacked: The Hidden Psychology Behind Everyday Decisions (#247)
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Who are the speakers and what is the episode about?
Although most of us think of ourselves as rational, we're much more prone to irrational behavior than we realize. My guest today has some stunning examples of irrationality. One of the most shocking to me is why the head of flight safety for a major airline, an experienced pilot with thousands and thousands of hours of flight experience, took off at a busy airport without getting clearance from airport traffic control? What psychological forces make us act in irrational ways and when are we most vulnerable to them? Hi, everyone. I'm Lynn Thoman, and this is Three Takeaways. On Three Takeaways, I talk with some of the world's best thinkers, business leaders, writers, politicians, newsmakers, and scientists.
Each episode ends with three key takeaways to help us understand the world and maybe even ourselves a little better. Today, I'm excited to be with Ori Brafman. Ori is a distinguished teaching fellow at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business and a New York Times bestselling author. His most recent books include The Starfish and the Spider and Sway, which is about the irresistible pull of irrational behavior. Today, I'm excited to talk to him about the hidden forces that make us act irrationally. Welcome, Ori, and thanks so much for joining Three Takeaways today.
Thank you, Lynn. It's great to be here.
It is my pleasure. Let's start with some stories. Tell us about the pilot who took off without requesting clearance from air traffic control.
Why did an experienced pilot take off without clearance?
So this is Captain Jacob Van Zanten. And Van Zanten was literally the poster child for KLM Airlines. He was in charge of safety and he was also known as getting people there on time. Van Zanten just finished running a course about safety in the cockpit when he was behind the cockpit of a 747. He was heading from Holland to the Canary Islands. And when he was still mid-flight, the destination airport radioed in saying that they had a terrorist threat and that his flight would be diverted to a much smaller airport in Tenerife. He lands there and immediately what he starts thinking about is that he's been in the air for so long that if he's on the ground for too long, his crew would have to be replaced or get some rest.
And that would mean that all the passengers would have to deplane, they'd have to stay overnight, and they wouldn't get there on time. So he does everything he can to try to hurry things along. But this is a small airport. The tower was a little busy. They were distracted because they were watching a soccer game. And he tries everything to get, come on, let's get back in, let's get back in, let's get back in. And finally, the terrorist threat in the destination airport is lifted. And they're able to get going. And he's just like, come on, come on, come on, let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go. But by the time that he leaves the gate, a thick fog descended upon the airport. And that's when Jacob Van Zanten does the unthinkable. He starts taking off without clearance. And unfortunately, there was a Pan Am plane that was blocking the runway. He couldn't see the plane as it was careening down. He tries to lift up, but it's too late. And he slams into the Pan Am flight. And this is the biggest loss of life in aviation history in terms of an accident.
And what's interesting is KLM, one of the first people they called in order to investigate the accident was Van Zanten, the head of safety, not knowing that he was the one who actually caused the crash. And you think about it, why would the head of safety for the airlines take off without clearance? And I wrote this book with my brother, who's a psychologist. And we looked at specific elements that create irrational behavior. And with Van Zanten, there's a couple of elements. The first is the escalation of commitment. The idea that he just needs to go, he needs to go, and he starts being stressed out about it.
What psychological forces contributed to the Tenerife airport crash?
And think about in your life, how many times you're like, I'm doing this, I'm doing this, I've already committed, I'm running, I'm running, I'm running. And the second is this hugely powerful force of loss aversion. We feel the pain of the potential for loss, much more than the happiness we get from a gain. He was so afraid of being late.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
Who are the speakers and what is the episode about?
0:02–1:52
2
Why did an experienced pilot take off without clearance?
1:52–4:42
3
What psychological forces contributed to the Tenerife airport crash?
4:42–8:54
4
How does value attribution affect NBA players and job candidates?
8:54–10:31
5
What happened with the substitute professor and how does labeling affect perception?
10:31–13:11
6
How do first impressions influence learning and evaluation?
13:11–14:48
7
What is the example involving Israeli soldiers and officers?
14:48–16:24
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from 3 Takeaways™
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