What David Heinemeier Hansson thinks about behavioural science
Creator of Ruby on Rails, CTO of 37signals, and creator of Omarchy.
Everything they publish, on ppll ↗ Who they are, on wiqqi ↗
David Heinemeier Hansson did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
24 dated positions, 2021 to 2026, in their own words. Our reading of what David Heinemeier Hansson has said — not written or endorsed by them.
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Their wordsOnce you understand that the world is full of highly neurotic people who need a doom's day scenario to validate their emotions, it all makes much more sense: Malthusian starvation, pandemic, climate, and now AI.
- 8 months earlier
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Their wordsPaying $20/month for unlimited music and the same again for a broad selection of shows and movies is clearly a deal most consumers are happy to make
- 10 months earlier
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Their wordsHumans are rigid in the short term, but flexible in the long term
- 2 weeks earlier
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Their wordsWe buy a good conscience washing trash so we don't have to feel guilty setting new records flying for fun
↗We wash our trash to repent for killing Godworld.hey.com 2nd of 2 in this piece
- 7 months earlier
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Our readingPeople tend to say in surveys that they want more options than they actually use or want in practice
Their wordsOf course, everyone says they want something simple, but the way they buy reveals that they usually don't.
↗Merchants of complexityworld.hey.com 1st of 2 in this piece
- 4 months earlier
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Their wordsOne where colleagues earn a spot by being really good in their given position
↗You're not guaranteed a spot on the teamworld.hey.com 1st of 3 in this piece
- 2 months earlier
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Their wordsI think most people, when it comes down to it, believe that their smartphone is indeed a real computer
↗We need a Right To Computeworld.hey.com 1st of 2 in this piece
- 3 days earlier
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Our readingMost people optimize for their own interests
Their wordsmost everyone, save for a few saints, has themselves and their families closest
- 5 months earlier
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Their wordsThe smarter we are, the more creative we can get at coming up with those self-deceivingly compelling rationalizations for why, actually, in this one case, the world is not what it appears
- 1 day earlier
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Their wordsDeciphering what they don't actually care about is harder still
- 3 weeks earlier
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Their wordsBeing obsessive about specific, short-term risks often sits in opposition to worrying about fuzzy, long-term risks
↗Don't lose your unreasonable sense of urgencyworld.hey.com 2nd of 2 in this piece
- 4 weeks earlier
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Their wordsThe insidious nature of inertia is in its ability to compound the cost of action as time goes on
↗Breaking the inertia of mediocrityworld.hey.com 1st of 2 in this piece
- 3 weeks earlier
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Their wordsThe more exposure to more challenges, the quicker most people will find themselves familiar with what's required of them
↗Start them in the deep endworld.hey.com 1st of 2 in this piece
- 3 months earlier
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Our readingActions are more persuasive than arguments
Their wordsOnly actions can pry open a locked mind, and most minds remain locked most of the time
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Their wordsThis is why we listen more to those who do than those who merely opine
- 3 months earlier
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Their wordsHumans are terrible at estimating anything complicated that involves novel attempts at problem solving
- 1 day earlier
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Their wordsBuilding that faith, broadly and deeply, just happens much faster when we tap into the human connections established by a disarming smile, eye contact, and the open minds that follow.
↗We can't have good faith on a flat social batteryworld.hey.com 3rd of 3 in this piece
- 7 months earlier
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Our readingThe cost of a good habit falls in the present and the cost of a bad habit falls in the future
Their wordsWhen the gravy gets spooked, and you have to get by on your own cooked cabbage until you can afford better, that's when you learn the basics
- 7 days earlier
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Their wordsWhat difference did it make to know all the daily infection numbers?
- 2 months earlier
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Their wordsThat eventually the algorithmic optimization will optimize us all to be these resentful, angry people online
↗This just wouldn't happen on Twitterworld.hey.com 3rd of 3 in this piece
- 2 weeks earlier
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Their wordspushing on by downplaying these deaths might well have harmed the overall trust in vaccines even more
↗Spotify's completely reasonable healthcare content policyworld.hey.com 2nd of 2 in this piece
- 9 days earlier
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Their wordsWhen you give something away for free for years, and then suddenly show up with a demand for payment, people are rightfully going to feel like it's a stickup
- 3 days earlier
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Their wordsWhen a story fits a contentious narrative someone already believes, they tend to become strikingly gullible
- 5 weeks earlier
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Their wordsthat humans are bound to suffer from greed, inflict injustice, and habor phobias