Nudge

Simply put nudge means to push against gently, especially in order to gain attention or give a signal. I see it on my kindle as a choice in the game Words with friends and sometimes I push it and send a nudge on its way. I am not sure how that nudge looks on the other end though. These days we are always being nudged, just not in obvious ways, because there is a science to nudging. Nudging works because we are predictable and it’s practiced in lots of places with the intent to sway our decision making. This is one of the reasons I hate to go into WalMart, I always come out with things I didn’t intend to purchase, even when I go in with a list. An example of another nudge that works is one used in Chicago on Lake Shore Drive. In order to reduce the number of accidents, the city painted white stripes on the approaches to the sharp turns getting progressively closer together to give the illusion that you are speeding up, thus nudging you to slow down. Then there’s the political nudge, the phone calls on the eve of the election and the mailing campaigns, all with the intent to nudge. I blogged last year about the default option for organ donations, in some European countries citizens are automatically registered unless they opt out. This default option is a type of nudge and of course citizens are nudged not to opt out even though it’s an easy process. I am for the nudge that helps get more organ donors. But here is where I think I don’t trust all these nudges, I think about food labeled as healthy or  low fat in order to get me to eat more of it and now I’m bombarded with how this is a mistake. My scale isn’t lying! Basically we are being nudged all the time whether we are aware of it or not, the real dilemma lies in whether or not we should trust the nudgers.