I wonder if the framing in the Bloomberg headline has something to do with our general difficulty in knowing when to think proportionally and when to go with absolute numbers. This reminds me of a 2015 experiment in the US when a bunch of forest agencies got together and decided to cull a tiny portion of the barred owl population to save the northern spotted owls that were enroute to going extinct. It raised a big hue and cry among citizens and that drew the attention of psychologists who used that as an example of how as humans we ignore percentages when the absolute numbers appear big (about 2500 barred owls were killed using lethal removal). That's how--through Katy Milkman's wonderful Choiceology podcast--I came to know of the story. I found this story with a quick Google search: https://www.voanews.com/a/science-health_owl-killings-spur-moral-questions-about-human-intervention/6180529.html
I love the reference to the 1/2 empty versus 1/2 full glass. In fact, if we can see the glass as being 50% full of liquid and 50% full of air, then technically the glass is full.
And this is where I believe context matters...
If one found oneself in a space suit running out of oxygen, one would almost certainly prefer the glass to be full of oxygen (ie, "empty"). Whereas in the desert, water would be the preference.
I wonder if the framing in the Bloomberg headline has something to do with our general difficulty in knowing when to think proportionally and when to go with absolute numbers. This reminds me of a 2015 experiment in the US when a bunch of forest agencies got together and decided to cull a tiny portion of the barred owl population to save the northern spotted owls that were enroute to going extinct. It raised a big hue and cry among citizens and that drew the attention of psychologists who used that as an example of how as humans we ignore percentages when the absolute numbers appear big (about 2500 barred owls were killed using lethal removal). That's how--through Katy Milkman's wonderful Choiceology podcast--I came to know of the story. I found this story with a quick Google search: https://www.voanews.com/a/science-health_owl-killings-spur-moral-questions-about-human-intervention/6180529.html
I remember really liking pieces in your newsletter a couple of years ago. Would you consider reposting them here?
Great points about framing Annie.
I love the reference to the 1/2 empty versus 1/2 full glass. In fact, if we can see the glass as being 50% full of liquid and 50% full of air, then technically the glass is full.
And this is where I believe context matters...
If one found oneself in a space suit running out of oxygen, one would almost certainly prefer the glass to be full of oxygen (ie, "empty"). Whereas in the desert, water would be the preference.