How to Do Precisely the Right Thing at All Possible Times

Interesting lecture (23MB MP3) by Harvard's Daniel Gilbert at the South By Southwest 2006 conference on probability estimation and why humans do it so badly.

Why do people play the lottery? Why do we spend so much effort against terrorism when we could save many more lives with improved health care or reducing traffic accidents? Why is it that we are unhappy with our purchases after we make them? All these are answered and much more.

via A Jolly Socratic Science via Boing Boing