New York Times Op-Ed columnist David Brooks has always been an astute observer of American cultural and behavioral phenomena. My first introduction to him was with his book, Bobos In Paradise, which he wrote about the melding of the Bourgeois and Bohemian classes here in the US upon his return from several years in Europe.
His column yesterday notes some of the counterintuitive “who would’ve thunk it” human behavior patterns, and how behavioral sciences are putting to test a number of public policies based on what he calls “bad psychology.”
There are numerous parallels here to Behavioral Marketing – where there’s usually a lot more than meets the eye with respect to “conventional wisdom” and what our performance data actually shows.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/11/opinion/brooks-beware-stubby-glasses.html?_r=0