We make countless decisions throughout our lives that range from the mundane to the monumental. But how do you decide how you decide? That is the fundamental question in our esteemed guest, Cass R. Sunstein’s new book Decisions about Decisions: Practical Reason in Ordinary Life. Cass currently serves as the Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard University and is the founder and director of the Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy at Harvard Law School. He is also a prolific author, with one of his most notable works being the hugely popular and impactful book, Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness, which he co-wrote with Richard Thaler in 2008. In today's conversation, we sit down with Prof. Sunstein to discuss the difficulties inherent to understanding why people make the decisions they make and what the latest research teaches us about how we should approach decision-making to maximize our well-being. Cass provides insight into second-order thinking strategies, the difference between picking and choosing, and why delegating a particular decision is sometimes the right call. We also unpack what to consider when making major life choices, the strengths and weaknesses of algorithms when it comes to decision-making, and much more. To hear Cass’s many insights on the topic of behaviour, knowledge, and decision-making, be sure to tune in! Timestamps: 0:00:00 Intro 0:04:30 What makes it difficult to understand why people make the decision that they make 0:06:16 Why people would want to make second-order decisions as opposed to on-the-spot decisions 0:10:03 How Cass suggests choosing a second-order strategy 0:17:33 What people should aim to maximize when making big, transformative, and irrevocable decisions 0:23:22 How people decide whether or not to obtain information that could help them make better decisions 0:27:08 When Cass thinks it makes sense to seek information even if it will make you feel bad 0:30:30 How people decide what information to believe, and when to change their beliefs 0:35:15 How ppeople can improve the symmetry in how they update their beliefs 0:43:50 What causes people to make inconsistent decisions 0:47:18 How evaluating a big purchase, like a home, jointly vs. individually could affect the decision 0:52:49 How people should decide what to value in making decisions 0:57:46 How useful Cass thinks algorithms are to making good decisions 1:00:55 Other cases when are algorithms not useful for decision-making 1:07:24 How people should deal with the possibility that their decisions are being manipulated 1:09:03 How nudges are different from manipulation 1:12:14 Cass defines success in his life Participate in our Community Discussion about this Episode: https://community.rationalreminder.ca/t/episode-266-prof-cass-sunstein-practical-reason-in-ordinary-life-discussion-thread/24797 Books From Today’s Episode: Decisions About Decisions: Practical Reason in Ordinary Life — https://amzn.to/3OTi2Un Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness — https://amzn.to/3YwcEtz Links From Today’s Episode: Rational Reminder on iTunes — https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-rational-reminder-podcast/id1426530582. Rational Reminder Website — https://rationalreminder.ca/ Shop Merch — https://shop.rationalreminder.ca/ Join the Community — https://community.rationalreminder.ca/ Follow us on X — https://twitter.com/RationalRemind Follow us on Instagram — @rationalreminder Benjamin on X — https://twitter.com/benjaminwfelix Cameron on X — https://twitter.com/CameronPassmore Cass R. Sunstein on on X — https://twitter.com/CassSunstein/ Cass R. Sunstein — https://hls.harvard.edu/faculty/cass-r-sunstein/