Thomas C. Schelling: 3 ideas worth knowing

3 ideas from Thomas C. Schelling, each explained in a minute and credited to the original work. Free on Savvy.

How strangers agree on where to meet without talking
Thomas Schelling showed that when people can't coordinate directly, they often converge on the same choice anyway by picking whatever option feels most obvious or prominent. Asked …
— Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict
A single named victim gets far more help than a crowd of nameless ones
Economist Thomas Schelling observed that a story about one specific, named person in danger provokes far more concern, donations and action than statistics about thousands facing t…
— Thomas Schelling, Identifiable Victim Effect
In the game of Chicken, throwing away your own steering wheel can be a winning move
Two drivers race toward each other; whoever swerves first is 'chicken' and loses face, but if neither swerves, both crash. Game theorist Thomas Schelling showed the trick is to cre…
— Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict

Five ideas worth knowing, every week