Política e irracionalidad

Muy interesante artículo en Reason sobre las decisiones racionales, la aversión al riesgo y el “paternalismo libertario”:

Brain scans can identify who is more "rational" and who is more "emotional," says a new study in the current issue of the journal Science. Researchers at University College London put subjects into a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner and watched their brain activity as they sorted through some artfully structured choices.

The researchers posed classic Tversky/Kahneman choices framed as gain and loss scenarios. In this case, the subjects were initially told that they would receive £50, but then were told that they had to choose between a "sure" option and "gamble" option. In so-called Gain frame, the choice was framed as choosing between keeping £20 or taking a 40 percent chance of keeping the entire £50. In the Loss frame, the choice was framed as losing £30 or taking a 40 percent chance of keeping it all. Just as Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky demonstrated 25 years ago, when the choice is framed as a gain, people tend to be risk averse and pick the sure option; when it is described as a loss, more people become risk-seeking and tend to gamble. Yet, the expected value of both choices is the same. Rationally, people should be indifferent between the two.