The downside of real-time feedback

Decision-Making

Imagine the horrifying paralysis of trying to write a novel on a platform where the whole world has real-time access to each page. Critics brutalized the most famous novels of the twentieth century. The Great Gatsby came out to awful reviews- “unimportant,” “painfully forced,” “a dud”-and weak sales. Virginia Woolf called James Joyce’s Ulysses “a memorable catastrophe- immense in daring, terrific in disaster.” If novelists had perfect foresight of how the public would greet their work, they might never lift a quill or tap a keyboard.

Behavioural principles

Behavioural ideas at play in this post

Short, plain-English explanations of the principles behind this post, with links to related books and examples in the archive.

Social proof

Other people's behaviour acts as a cue for what to do, buy, or believe.

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Overconfidence effect

We are often more certain than the evidence really allows.

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Base-rate neglect

We focus on vivid specifics and ignore the wider statistical odds.

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The downside of real-time feedback

Behavioural ideas at play in this post

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