full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Tom Griffiths: 3 ways to make better decisions -- by thinking like a computer

Unscramble the Blue Letters


If you want to maximize the probability that you find the very best place, you should look at 37 percent of what's on the mkaret, and then make an offer on the next place you see, which is better than anything that you've seen so far. Or if you're looking for a month, take 37 percent of that time — 11 days, to set a standard — and then you're ready to act.

We know this because trying to find a plcae to live is an example of an optimal siponptg problem. A class of problems that has been studied extensively by mathematicians and computer scientists.

I'm a computational cognitive scientist. I spend my time trying to understand how it is that human minds work, from our amazing seuscsecs to our dismal failures. To do that, I think about the computational structure of the porelbms that arise in eyavedry life, and compare the ideal solutions to those problems to the way that we actually behave. As a side effect, I get to see how apnypilg a little bit of computer scecnie can make human decision-making easier.

Open Cloze


If you want to maximize the probability that you find the very best place, you should look at 37 percent of what's on the ______, and then make an offer on the next place you see, which is better than anything that you've seen so far. Or if you're looking for a month, take 37 percent of that time — 11 days, to set a standard — and then you're ready to act.

We know this because trying to find a _____ to live is an example of an optimal ________ problem. A class of problems that has been studied extensively by mathematicians and computer scientists.

I'm a computational cognitive scientist. I spend my time trying to understand how it is that human minds work, from our amazing _________ to our dismal failures. To do that, I think about the computational structure of the ________ that arise in ________ life, and compare the ideal solutions to those problems to the way that we actually behave. As a side effect, I get to see how ________ a little bit of computer _______ can make human decision-making easier.

Solution


  1. place
  2. applying
  3. science
  4. problems
  5. stopping
  6. market
  7. successes
  8. everyday

Original Text


If you want to maximize the probability that you find the very best place, you should look at 37 percent of what's on the market, and then make an offer on the next place you see, which is better than anything that you've seen so far. Or if you're looking for a month, take 37 percent of that time — 11 days, to set a standard — and then you're ready to act.

We know this because trying to find a place to live is an example of an optimal stopping problem. A class of problems that has been studied extensively by mathematicians and computer scientists.

I'm a computational cognitive scientist. I spend my time trying to understand how it is that human minds work, from our amazing successes to our dismal failures. To do that, I think about the computational structure of the problems that arise in everyday life, and compare the ideal solutions to those problems to the way that we actually behave. As a side effect, I get to see how applying a little bit of computer science can make human decision-making easier.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
computer scientists 7
computer science 5
pretty good 4
fast memory 4
computational structure 2
long time 2
filing system 2
quickly find 2
simpler problems 2


Important Words


  1. act
  2. amazing
  3. applying
  4. arise
  5. behave
  6. bit
  7. class
  8. cognitive
  9. compare
  10. computational
  11. computer
  12. days
  13. dismal
  14. easier
  15. effect
  16. everyday
  17. extensively
  18. failures
  19. find
  20. human
  21. ideal
  22. life
  23. live
  24. market
  25. mathematicians
  26. maximize
  27. minds
  28. month
  29. offer
  30. optimal
  31. percent
  32. place
  33. probability
  34. problem
  35. problems
  36. ready
  37. science
  38. scientist
  39. scientists
  40. set
  41. side
  42. solutions
  43. spend
  44. standard
  45. stopping
  46. structure
  47. studied
  48. successes
  49. time
  50. understand
  51. work