Die Wien-Verzerrung

Heute möchte ich mich einer kognitiven Verzerrung widmen, die in der Literatur (noch) nicht zu finden ist: die Wien-Verzerrung. Nach 25 Lebensjahren in Wien genießt Bruce seit 2016 das Leben in Graz. Nur dem Wiener Kaffeehaus trauert er nach. Obwohl es auch in Graz Kaffeehäuser gibt, ist er der Meinung, diese seien nicht so, wie …

One XL Asspizza with everything please

While we use WordPress for this blog, we use Wix (yes, German speakers, I know – an incredibly poor name choice that does Georg Danzer proud) as the design tool for our company homepage. As such, we receive Wix promotional mailings. Yesterday I got an email from Wix with the following enticing link: Need some …

To err is human

One of my favorite professors keeps classes lively by interspersing presentations of cognitive biases into his lectures on propositional logic and analytical philosophy. So far this semester he has expounded on: the framing effect – drawing different conclusions from the same information, depending on how that information is presented.the conjunction fallacy – a tendency to …

Hello, I love you, won’t you tell me your name?

In an excellent lecture last week on George Simmel’s essay Die Großstädte und das Geistesleben, my professor presented Simmel’s theory that the meaningful interpersonal relationships found in rural societies cannot be replicated in metropolises. Simmel argues that the sheer number of available relationship options coupled with urban anonymity overwhelm city dwellers. Effects on the individual …

How to be Austrian

I am Austrian by choice and people often ask me: “What makes one Austrian?” To paraphrase F. Scott Fitzgerald: “Being Austrian is the ability to express two opposing emotions at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” Allow me to illustrate with an anecdote. This morning at the post box I saw one of my neighbors …

Plant a Tree – Save the Planet?

Recent analysis of NASA satellite data shows that despite the loss of vast tracts of tropical forest, the Earth has grown markedly greener since the turn of the millennium. Researchers at Boston University used satellite data to track the total surface area covered by leaves in the planet’s vegetated zones. They found that between 2000 …