Trick of the light

Multistable perception phenomena are fascinating. They're also a rare inescapable element of either/or in a world that I generally try to see in both/and terms. Percieving the image one way excludes seeing it the other; you can switch back and forth, but you can't see it both ways at the same time.

This sort of thing is also a reminder that it's important not to forget actual cognitive capacity when theorizing about social systems. We may live in a world built of words, but we're still made of meat. Our physiological makeup always underlies our abstract reasoning, and often reveals itself in surprising ways.

That's the key observation of U of C authors Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein in their new book Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness. They argue that if personal decisions are influenced by perception and environment, then everything from cafeterias to highway interchanges can be designed to guide our decisions in socially useful ways.

A local example: the irregular spacing of lines on Chicago's Lake Shore Drive causes drivers to feel like they're going faster, making them more likely to decrease speed when approaching a dangerous curve. Simple, effective, and cheaper than either traditional deterrent (traffic tickets) or educational (more street signage) methods.

The book has a companion web site containing excerpts, interviews, and a chance for readers to submit their own examples of "nudges" they've encountered. The U of C has also posted a video interview, where the authors talk about the Lake Shore Drive example.

It's all a little Big Brothery, I suppose, but not in any way I can put my finger on. Unlike, say, the Big Brothery-ness of CCTV cameras, where the greater regulation of public areas could lead to a dampening of free public expression, legal or otherwise--and then it's hello Pleasant Valley zombie-town. I guess in both cases, the reaction one has to this kind of government paternalism depends on how much one trusts the Man. And I'm pretty ambivalent about that: Big Brother scares me, sure, but I'll admit to having a lot of respect for Mustapha Mond.