The Power of Fifty Bits

The Power of Fifty Bits is Bob Nease's 2016 business book on the gap between what people intend to do and what they actually do. Its title comes from the contrast between the very large quantity of information the senses take in each second and the very small quantity that conscious attention handles, a comparison Nease takes from the popular literature on consciousness. His argument is that the shortfall in fields such as health is not mainly a shortfall of information or of motivation, because people already intend the thing, but a failure of attention and follow through, and that the remedy is to design the moment of action rather than to argue harder. He sets out seven strategies, among them requiring a choice rather than offering one, locking in a decision ahead of time, letting it ride by setting a good default, and getting in the flow of what people are already doing. Nease was chief scientist at a pharmacy benefit manager and the examples are largely from that setting.

Written from the public record for the book.

What this vault takes from it

Nothing yet. The title appears in the registry because it has been mentioned in passing, and no concept or person note currently draws on it.

Reliability

Not audited here. 0 notes in this vault draw on it.