Alchemy: The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don't Make Sense

TITLE PAGE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PROLOGUE
RORY’S RULES OF ALCHEMY
FOREWORD: CHALLENGING COCA-COLA
INTRODUCTION: CRACKING THE (HUMAN) CODE
PART 1: ON THE USES AND ABUSES OF REASON
	1.1 THE BROKEN BINOCULARS
	1.2 I KNOW IT WORKS IN PRACTICE, BUT DOES IT WORK IN THEORY? ON JOHN HARRISON, SEMMELWEIS AND THE ELECTRONIC CIGARETTE
	1.3 PSYCHOLOGICAL MOONSHOTS
	1.4 IN SEARCH OF THE ‘REAL WHY?’ UNCOVERING OUR UNCONSCIOUS MOTIVATIONS
	1.5 THE REAL REASON WE CLEAN OUR TEETH
	1.6 THE RIGHT THING FOR THE WRONG REASON
	1.7 HOW YOU ASK THE QUESTION AFFECTS THE ANSWER
	1.8 ‘A CHANGE IN PERSPECTIVE IS WORTH 80 IQ POINTS’
	1.9 BE CAREFUL WITH MATHS: OR WHY THE NEED TO LOOK RATIONAL CAN MAKE YOU ACT DUMB
	1.10 RECRUITMENT AND BAD MATHS
	1.11 BEWARE OF AVERAGES
	1.12 WHAT GETS MISMEASURED GETS MISMANAGED
	1.13 BIASED ABOUT BIAS
	1.14 WE DON’T MAKE CHOICES AS RATIONALLY AS WE THINK
	1.15 SAME FACTS, DIFFERENT CONTEXT
	1.16 SUCCESS IS RARELY SCIENTIFIC – EVEN IN SCIENCE
	1.17 THE VIEW BACK DOWN THE MOUNTAIN: THE REASONS WE SUPPLY FOR OUR EXPERIMENTAL SUCCESSES
	1.18 THE OVERUSE OF REASON
	1.19 AN AUTOMATIC DOOR DOES NOT REPLACE A DOORMAN: WHY EFFICIENCY DOESN’T ALWAYS PAY
PART 2: AN ALCHEMIST’S TALE (OR WHY MAGIC REALLY STILL EXISTS)
	2.1 THE GREAT UPSIDE OF ABANDONING LOGIC – YOU GET MAGIC
	2.2 TURNING LEAD INTO GOLD: VALUE IS IN THE MIND AND HEART OF THE VALUER
	2.3 TURNING IRON AND POTATOES INTO GOLD: LESSONS FROM PRUSSIA
	2.4 THE MODERN-DAY ALCHEMY OF SEMANTICS
	2.5 BENIGN BULLSHIT – AND HACKING THE UNCONSCIOUS
	2.6 HOW COLOMBIANS RE-IMAGINED LIONFISH (WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM OGILVY AND THE CHURCH)
	2.7 THE ALCHEMY OF DESIGN
	2.8 PSYCHO-LOGICAL DESIGN: WHY LESS IS SOMETIMES MORE
PART 3: SIGNALLING
	3.1 PRINCE ALBERT AND BLACK CABS
	3.2 A FEW NOTES ON GAME THEORY
	3.3 CONTINUITY PROBABILITY SIGNALLING: ANOTHER NAME FOR TRUST
	3.4 WHY SIGNALLING HAS TO BE COSTLY
	3.5 EFFICIENCY, LOGIC AND MEANING: PICK ANY TWO
	3.6 CREATIVITY AS COSTLY SIGNALLING
	3.7 ADVERTISING DOES NOT ALWAYS LOOK LIKE ADVERTISING: THE CHAIRS ON THE PAVEMENT
	3.8 BEES DO IT
	3.9 COSTLY SIGNALLING AND SEXUAL SELECTION
	3.10 NECESSARY WASTE
	3.11 ON THE IMPORTANCE OF IDENTITY
	3.12 HOVERBOARDS AND CHOCOLATE: WHY DISTINCTIVENESS MATTERS
PART 4: SUBCONSCIOUS HACKING: SIGNALLING TO OURSELVES
	4.1 THE PLACEBO EFFECT
	4.2 WHY ASPIRIN SHOULD BE REASSURINGLY EXPENSIVE
	4.3 HOW WE CAN ‘HACK’ WHAT WE CAN’T CONTROL
	4.4 ‘THE CONSCIOUS MIND THINKS IT’S THE OVAL OFFICE, WHEN IN REALITY IT’S THE PRESS OFFICE’
	4.5 HOW PLACEBOS HELP US RECALIBRATE FOR MORE BENIGN CONDITIONS
	4.6 THE HIDDEN PURPOSES BEHIND OUR BEHAVIOUR: WHY WE BUY CLOTHES, FLOWERS OR YACHT
	4.7 ON SELF-PLACEBBING
	4.8 WHAT MAKES AN EFFECTIVE PLACEBO?
	4.9 THE RED BULL PLACEBO
	4.10 WHY HACKING OFTEN INVOLVES THINGS THAT DON’T QUITE MAKE SENSE
PART 5: SATISFICING
	5.1 WHY IT’S BETTER TO BE VAGUELY RIGHT THAN PRECISELY WRONG
	5.2 (I CAN’T GET NO) SATISFICING
	5.3 WE BUY BRANDS TO SATISFICE
	5.4 HE’S NOT STUPID, HE’S SATISFICING
	5.5 SATISFICING: LESSONS FROM SPORT
	5.6 JFK VS EWR: WHY THE BEST IS NOT ALWAYS THE LEAST WORST
PART 6: PSYCHOPHYSICS
	6.1 IS OBJECTIVITY OVERRATED?
	6.2 HOW TO BUY A TELEVISION FOR YOUR PET MONKEY
	6.3 LOST AND GAINED IN TRANSLATION: REALITY AND PERCEPTION AS TWO DIFFERENT LANGUAGES
	6.4 MOKUSATSU: THE A-BOMB, THE H-BOMB AND THE C-BOMB
	6.5 NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN
	6.6 WHEN IT PAYS TO BE OBJECTIVE – AND WHEN IT DOESN’T
	6.7 HOW WORDS CHANGE THE TASTE OF BISCUITS
	6.8 THE MAP IS NOT THE TERRITORY, BUT THE PACKAGING IS THE PRODUCT
	6.9 THE FOCUSING ILLUSION
	6.10 BIAS, ILLUSION AND SURVIVAL
	6.11 HOW TO GET A NEW CAR FOR £50
	6.12 PSYCHOPHYSICS TO SAVE THE WORLD
	6.13 THE IKEA EFFECT: WHY IT DOESN’T PAY TO MAKE THINGS TOO EASY
	6.14 GETTING PEOPLE TO DO THE RIGHT THING SOMETIMES MEANS GIVING THEM THE WRONG REASON
PART 7: HOW TO BE AN ALCHEMIST
	7.1 THE BAD NEWS AND THE GOOD NEWS
	7.2 ALCHEMY LESSON ONE: GIVEN ENOUGH MATERIAL TO WORK ON, PEOPLE OFTEN TRY TO BE OPTIMISTIC
	7.3 SOUR GRAPES, SWEET LEMONS AND MINIMISING REGRET
	7.4 ALCHEMY LESSON TWO: WHAT WORKS AT A SMALL SCALE WORKS AT A LARGE SCALE
	7.5 ALCHEMY LESSON THREE: FIND DIFFERENT EXPRESSIONS FOR THE SAME THING
	7.6 ALCHEMY LESSON FOUR: CREATE GRATUITOUS CHOICES
	7.7 ALCHEMY LESSON FIVE: BE UNPREDICTABLE
	7.8 ALCHEMY LESSON SIX: DARE TO BE TRIVIAL
	7.9 ALCHEMY LESSON SEVEN: IN DEFENCE OF TRIVIA
CONCLUSION: ON BEING A LITTLE LESS LOGICAL
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ENDNOTES
INDEX
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