Sciencespeaking topic
The default effect: why do donation rates soar when yes is pre-checked on an organ donor form? Is our laziness making our decisions for us?
— Johnson & Goldstein, the default effect
practice with this topic
Set the timer (5-30 min), take 20 seconds of prep if you like, start talking. Jot your thoughts onto the sticky-note board.
similar topics
- Why was the discovery of the Higgs boson important for confirming the mechanism that gives particles their mass?
- Ad hoc hypotheses: when your theory makes a wrong prediction, you add a new assumption to save it. When is this an honest correction, and when is it self-deception?
- Overvaluing the present cost: why does paying in installments make something feel cheaper? Why does the pain of paying fade when it's spread over time?
- Why did the discovery of DNA's double helix structure change biology so fundamentally?
- Mitochondria, the organelles that produce energy for your cells, were once independent bacteria; billions of years ago they slipped inside another cell and stayed. They still carry their own DNA. So with every breath you draw, you are using the legacy of an ancient guest living inside you.