Book Review: Nudge

Thaler, Richard H. and Cass R. Sunstein. Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness. New York: Penguin Books (2009)

Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein’s Nudge provides amusing and often humorous insights into decision making in our increasingly fast-paced society. The context in which decisions are made, which Thaler and Sunstein call choice architecture, is rarely neutral, and humans are therefore constantly nudged, or influenced, in day to day decisions. As Thaler and Sunstein propose, health, wealth, and the happiness of human beings could be substantially improved if government and private institutions were to provide choice architecture systems that influenced consumers to make decisions that would improve their lives.

In the early chapters of the book, the author’s layout a framework for human decision making. They contrast decisions made by an Econ – a theoretical individual who makes all decisions using perfectly rational and logical thinking, and the Human – the more realistic individual who attempts to make rational decisions, but is often influenced by the biases and blunders of the human mind. These biases and blunders include a long list of tendencies and phenomenon’s that lead human beings to make choices that are not rational or in their best interest. The “availability” heuristic, for instance, developed in the 1970’s by psychologists Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, says that the human mind will assess the danger of risks based on information that is vivid and accessible. The vivid images of plane crashes deter many from flying in airplanes, yet these same individuals have no problem getting in an automobile – an event that, probability-wise, is far more risky. An Econ would use perfect rationale to consider the risks of flying versus driving in a car, but a Human will fall victim to the flaws of the human mind.

In part II of the book, Thaler and Sunstein explore how nudges could improve retirement plans, credit markets, healthcare, the environment, and education. They “nudge” through a theory which they coin libertarian paternalism – libertarian, in the sense that they believe in preserving freedom of choice; paternalistic, in the sense that it is legitimate for choice architects to “influence choices in a way that will make choosers better off, as judged by themselves” (5). A nudge in education to encourage high schoolers toward college, for instance, is to bring in college admission teams to talk about the benefits of college, and give admissions exams. This nudge resulted in an 11 percentage point increase of high school students attending college at a Texas high school.

I thought the beginning half of this book, which focused on behavioral economics and the science that goes into daily decision making, was interesting, informative, and relevant. In a world where we are constantly faced with decisions that affect our well-being and happiness, the influences that drive decision making are a central and important topic. It is valuable to be aware of the biases and blunders that drive our decision making. Moreover, awareness of the phenomena that drive human decision making holds significant power, as you can drive others to make decisions. It is because of this last reason – the power to drive others to make certain decisions – that I thought this book would be relevant to the field of education.

As a teacher (and hence choice architect of my classroom), I will try to capitalize on the flaws of the human mind by implementing nudges in my classroom. For instance, the “bandwagon” theory suggests that individuals will be influenced to make decisions based on what other people are doing. If the general citizen is told that “86% of the population votes” (as opposed to “14% of the population doesn’t vote”), research shows that individuals will be more likely to vote (everyone else is doing it, so it must be the right thing to do...). Therefore, in nudging students to complete homework, I have been emphasizing how many students are completing homework rather than how many are not. Furthermore, I will use what Thaler and Sunstein call priming – a hint or idea of a concept that can stimulate action (71). For instance, according to Thaler and Sunstein, research shows that if I ask students if they are going to do their homework, when they are going to do their homework, and where they are going to do their homework, they will be more likely to actually complete their homework because they have the vague idea in their head that they will work on their homework.

As Thaler and Sunstein write, the human mind is powerful and talented, but it is not immune to flaws. Our minds have not yet evolved to function in our new, high-paced, high-technology world. Because of this, there are certain tendencies of the mind which choice architects can capitalize on to influence decision making. If done the correct way, in what Thaler and Sunstein would call libertarian paternalism, choice architects have the potential to improve the human condition. As a choice architect in my classroom, I will be mindful of these opportunities, and work to nudge my students in the correct direction whenever possible.