Comments on: Do You Have a ‘Risk-Taking’ Brain ?

By: EorrFU

EorrFU — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 06:43:46 +0000

Some research also suggest that addiction is a result of the same brain differences. This is why thrill seeking types of jobs also have much higher rates of addiction, i.e. pilots, race-car drivers, etc…
I wonder if alcoholism/addiction is higher amongst financial types than other industries. My experience says yes but there is little hard data to be found.

By: How the Common Man Sees It

How the Common Man Sees It — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 05:45:31 +0000

I’ve published articles in scientific journals where I couldn’t recognize my own work, once it ended up in popular press.

The do it on the ‘letters’ page too

By: MaxLdaMan

MaxLdaMan — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 00:34:10 +0000

Tx for that sage advice. Henceforth my flutters – calls, 3x short Etf, whatever – are limited to $1000. I can still get up and say, “Oh, yeah, made 15% last week. One week!” without anyone being the wiser

By: Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 21:14:05 +0000

Interesting.. I wonder if there are any structural differences between brains of ‘thrill-seekers’ and ‘troubleshooters’… Solving problems can be as addictive to troubleshooters as skydiving is to thrill-seekers..

By: jonhendry

jonhendry — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 21:03:07 +0000

Woo! The primary investigator of the neuroscience lab I work at, at Harvard Med, (ie, he’s my boss), is also the editor of the Journal of Neuroscience.

It’s always kinda weird when one of my blog haunts collides with another aspect of my life, be it real life, or another, orthogonal blog interest.

By: VennData

VennData — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 18:19:00 +0000

A rational humanist who would rightly scoff at alternative medicine, acupuncture and astrology… ridicule the scribblings of a Jean Dixon… mock the phoniness of a Deepak Chopra …but would treat prognosticators and stock pickers as scientific, value-added gurus. Don’ t forget your mantra.

By: karen

karen — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 16:54:40 +0000

This is one of my favorite topics and suggest a look at this book as well: “Inside the Investor’s Brain” by Richard L. Peterson.

By: doug

doug — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 16:32:58 +0000

BR, Thanks for the link to the apprenticed investor series. It is great info and I did not know it was there. Lots of reading for the next week. Good luck to all in 09 and thanks for allowing me to learn from your knowledge…

By: Mark E Hoffer

Mark E Hoffer — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 15:27:27 +0000

super_trooper Says: January 3rd, 2009 at 10:01 am

s_t,

no doubt the ‘popular press’ is thoroughly enstupified..

but, just to point out, BR, offered links, above, to : “The Journal of Neuroscience”.

this: “Why read primary literature? I’ve published articles in scientific journals where I couldn’t recognize my own work, once it ended up in popular press.” -though, is something Everyone should see for themselves–once you see/understand the content Delta, let alone the Time Lag, from the Primary, to the ‘Popular’…

By: Mark E Hoffer

Mark E Hoffer — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 15:07:16 +0000

“In order to understand how humans invest requires more than the study of economics; one also needs to comprehend behavioral psychology. Combining both cognitive science and behavioral economics can yield powerful insights into the conduct of investors.
I recommend Cornell professor Thomas Gilovich’s book How We Know What Isn’t So to investors all the time. ..”
–from the 1st link, above..

BR,

these are great topics..as well, much of the stuff that you did for TSC is Gold..

on the ‘old’ site, .typepad, you had a link to that body of work..I haven’t seen it on the ‘new’ site..

[BR: Next update . . . ]

w/this: “For the vast majority the aversion to financial ruin far outweighs getting rich, safely and security is more important than thrill seeking.

This presented a huge problem for the finance industry. As Benoit Mandelbrot explains in “The Misbehavior of Markets,” markets inherently entail not only risk, but extreme risk. For this reason there has been a deliberate, concerted effort on the part of the finance industry for the past 30 years to somehow, magically make the risk in markets disappear. But as in all magic acts, all their machinations were mere illusion.” Down South, above

Yes, that’s where EMH came from, along with “Diversify, Diversify, Diversify”–tonics offered to calm the senses of the cautious..it’s really twisted, from the same Claque you’ll hear that ‘covered-Call writing’ and/or ‘Put buying for ‘insurance’ purposes’ is tooo Risky..
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/claque

Contra the Claque, this: “All investors should have a good handle on their own personalities, and adjust their strategy and tactics to their own personality, risk tolerances, and natural tendencies.

Rather than make resolutions you won’t keep, try something different this year. Figure out your own brain tendencies — including personality type. Don’t try to become something you are not, and instead, adapt to your own physiology.”– strikes me as Sage advice..