Author: Daniel Keem
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Risk perception drives purchases more than reality
Consumer spending follows fear, not data. Home security, supplements, and extended warranties thrive on perceived risk that rarely matches actual probability.
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Expensive baby gear isn’t always safer
Premium baby gear markets safety as a feature, but the testing standards are the same across price points. Here’s what you’re actually paying for.
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Why people ignore low-probability, high-impact risks
Humans systematically underweight rare but catastrophic risks, from pandemics to earthquakes. Here’s why the brain miscalibrates and what actually helps.
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0% APR offers are a trap most people fall for
Zero percent APR offers look like free money but the fine print is engineered to extract interest. Here’s how the trap is set and who pays.
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St. Paul Sandwich
The St. Paul sandwich is a Missouri-exclusive Chinese-American creation: an egg foo young patty between white bread with mayo, pickles, and lettuce.
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Tax-loss harvesting is a wash sale waiting to happen
Tax-loss harvesting promises free alpha, but the wash sale rule, behavioral traps, and modest real benefit make it less compelling than fintech ads suggest.
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Flexibility training is often ignored
Flexibility work is the part of fitness most people skip, but the cost shows up in injury rates, posture, and lost range of motion as you age.
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Annuities make sense for almost everyone and the FIRE community is wrong
The FIRE crowd treats annuities as predatory products to avoid. The retirement research community has spent 40 years showing the opposite is closer to true.
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Therapy culture is making us more fragile
Therapy helps many people, but therapy-speak culture may increase fragility. Here’s what the research suggests and what still works about treatment.
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Products can’t replace good judgment
Every product promises to solve a problem that judgment used to handle. The trade-off is rarely neutral, and the cost shows up where you least expect it.