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Forcing people to bet on their opinions improves their decision-making quality

Maria Konnikova · #89 Maria Konnikova: Less Certainty, More Inquiry · Aug 4, 2020 · at 39:16

Psychologist and poker player Maria Konnikova discusses Immanuel Kant's view on betting from Critique of Pure Reason and its application to everyday reasoning.

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“Betting actually forms an integral part to improving your decision process and improving your level of certainty in something, because people can say all sorts of stuff and just make all sorts of pronouncements if they're not held accountable for it. However, if you're forced to put a monetary value on your opinion, on how certain you are of something you're saying, on how certain you are about You know, if you're a doctor, how certain you are about your diagnosis, if you have to bet on it, all of a sudden it forces you to stop for a second and think, okay, am I really this sure?”

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