Podcast Pick – The Big Man Can’t Shoot
Can 90% of people be above average drivers? Certainly not, yet multiple studies have shown that if you gathered 100 random people in a room, more than 80 would rate themselves as above average drivers. This phenomenon is known by several names, but is illustrated quite well in Garrison Keillor’s popular quote in reference to the fictional town of Lake Wobegon, where “all women are strong, all men are good looking and all children above average.”
Would you consider yourself an above average investor? If so, you’d be perfectly aware of your own blind spots and care little about how your neighbor is investing. Many of us care too much about what others think to make a brave choice. In this compelling episode of Malcolm Gladwell’s hugely successful podcast entitled Revisonist History, he discusses this concept in the context of Wilt Chamberlain’s horrendous free-throw shooting.
(Stay tuned for the cameo from behavioral economist Richard Thaler regarding how NFL teams could easily win more football games.)