“Free personality tests are more reliable and efficient than the paid variety”

BPS Research Digest reports: Free personality tests are more reliable and efficient than the paid variety In most areas of life, we expect the free versions of products to be sub-standard compared with the “premium” paid-for versions. After all, why would anyone pay for something if the free equivalent were better? However, a new study […]

Instruction for those who would behave too rationally

Ig Nobel Prize winner Dan Ariely is teaching a new online course called “A beginner’s guide to irrational behavior.” Perhaps irrationally, it’s free. Ariely and colleagues Rebecca L. Waber, Baba Shiv, and Ziv Carmon were awarded the 2008 Ig Nobel Prize in medicine for  demonstrating that high-priced fake medicine is more effective than low-priced fake medicine. [REFERENCE: “Commercial Features of Placebo […]

Announcing the e-book version of the Annals of Improbable Research

We are now publishing each issue of our magazine — the Annals of Improbable Research — as an e-book, as well as on paper. We think our little invention is a big deal for anyone who publishes magazines — and for anyone who reads them. We invite you to download a free e-book issue of the Annals of […]