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Why can a lucky ritual survive so many misses?

A lucky shirt gets credit when the team wins. A defeat may be dismissed as an exception. That uneven accounting raises a useful question: what would count as evidence that a ritual actually changes an outcome?

3–7 min

Questions you could explore

  • Which successes and failures would a fair comparison need to include?
  • How could remembering a ritual's occasional successes more readily than its failures preserve belief in it?

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Psychology

Can an option nobody wants change what people choose?

Choosing between two offers can feel different when a third appears beside them. A decoy is less attractive than one option on the relevant features, but its presence does not reliably change every decision.

5–7 min

Can an option nobody wants change what people choose?

Psychology5–7 minChoosing between two offers can feel different when a third appears beside them. A decoy is less attractive than one option on the relevant features, but its presence does not reliably change every decision.

How can you miss something that is right in front of you?

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Psychology

When a question reshapes a memory

After a car crash or a crime, the way an investigator phrases a single question can change what a witness remembers seeing. Research on eyewitness reports separates what someone originally observed from information introduced afterward, making question wording a crucial part of the evidence problem.

3–7 min

When a question reshapes a memory

Psychology3–7 minAfter a car crash or a crime, the way an investigator phrases a single question can change what a witness remembers seeing. Research on eyewitness reports separates what someone originally observed from information introduced afterward, making question wording a crucial part of the evidence problem.

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