1. #1
    cruyff
    cruyff's Avatar Become A Pro!
    Join Date: 08-09-08
    Posts: 1,041
    Betpoints: 140

    Six minutes of video that will prove you are no better a gambler than a monkey

    I've quit gambling, but came across a video that reminded me so much of this place that I just had to come back and post.

    http://www.ted.com/talks/laurie_santos.html


    The entire video is about 20 minutes, feel free to watch the whole thing if interested.. but the part you really need to watch is 10:45 to 16:45. Pay attention, after this you'll never think the same way about being in the red again.

  2. #2
    CrimsonQueen
    CrimsonQueen's Avatar Become A Pro!
    Join Date: 08-12-09
    Posts: 1,068
    Betpoints: 1660

    This doesn't belong in the think tank...but it was an interesting video nonetheless. what's better than gambling monkeys?!

  3. #3
    DukeJohn
    DukeJohn's Avatar Become A Pro!
    Join Date: 12-29-07
    Posts: 1,779
    Betpoints: 254

    Quote Originally Posted by cruyff View Post
    I've quit gambling, but came across a video that reminded me so much of this place that I just had to come back and post.

    http://www.ted.com/talks/laurie_santos.html


    The entire video is about 20 minutes, feel free to watch the whole thing if interested.. but the part you really need to watch is 10:45 to 16:45. Pay attention, after this you'll never think the same way about being in the red again.
    Interesting video on the risk, play it safe or gain vs our perception when you change the thinking to loss at least on a purely gambling model.


  4. #4
    JustinBieber
    JustinBieber's Avatar Become A Pro!
    Join Date: 05-16-10
    Posts: 324
    Betpoints: 149

    God this is so basic, is this woman really trying to pass herself off as an academic? These are just simple EV calculations but obviously a lot of people still take -EV decisions like playing the lottery. Nothing new, interesting or groundbreaking here.

  5. #5
    cruyff
    cruyff's Avatar Become A Pro!
    Join Date: 08-09-08
    Posts: 1,041
    Betpoints: 140

    Justin, the EV calculations weren't being presented as her findings. Admittedly, that's nothing new. But it adds context to the similarity between how we and the monkey's think alike.

  6. #6
    uva3021
    uva3021's Avatar Become A Pro!
    Join Date: 03-01-07
    Posts: 537
    Betpoints: 381

    This is essentially John Maynard Smith's evolutionary stable system 101, avoidance of loss is what leads an organism into a certain degree of risk taking, as long as the loss avoidance directly coincides with the well-being of that organism

  7. #7
    brumbies
    sail close to the wind
    brumbies's Avatar SBR PRO
    Join Date: 02-21-09
    Posts: 1,314
    Betpoints: 7784

    FYI, there's a transcript for those who do not wish to watch.

  8. #8
    That Foreign Guy
    I got sunshine in a bag
    That Foreign Guy's Avatar Become A Pro!
    Join Date: 07-18-10
    Posts: 432
    Betpoints: 3069

    LOL, I totally did this last night by turning a failed arb in to a meh reverse middle rather than locking in a loss. It's a classic behavioural economics thing - really interesting that monkeys have the same biases that we do though.

    I also like that capucins started monkey prostitution in this experiment.

  9. #9
    thebestthereis
    thebestthereis's Avatar Become A Pro!
    Join Date: 03-01-09
    Posts: 11,459
    Betpoints: 8056

    do they get the same results after the monkeys do a keg stand?

  10. #10
    chaseman
    chaseman's Avatar Become A Pro!
    Join Date: 01-06-09
    Posts: 1,195
    Betpoints: 562

    TED is a great site. I get lost on there sometimes

  11. #11
    secret007
    secret007's Avatar Become A Pro!
    Join Date: 01-12-09
    Posts: 1,786
    Betpoints: 332

    Interesting video. It shows how people can loss a lot more just to avoid a "smaller" lose.

  12. #12
    wrongturn
    Update your status
    wrongturn's Avatar Become A Pro!
    Join Date: 06-06-06
    Posts: 2,228
    Betpoints: 3726

    It could be summarized to a few sentences though. Human (so as those monkeys) take choice of certain gain over risky choice of bigger gain, take risky choice to avoid loss over choice of certain less loss.
    Last edited by wrongturn; 08-25-10 at 08:32 AM.

  13. #13
    Peep
    Peep's Avatar Become A Pro!
    Join Date: 06-23-08
    Posts: 2,295

    Quote Originally Posted by wrongturn View Post
    It could be summarized to a few sentences though. Human (so as those monkeys) take choice of certain gain over risky choice of bigger gain, take risky choice to avoid loss over choice of certain less loss.
    Malcom Gladwell talks about this in What the Dog Saw as well. Interesting read.

  14. #14
    u21c3f6
    u21c3f6's Avatar Become A Pro!
    Join Date: 01-17-09
    Posts: 790
    Betpoints: 5198

    Quote Originally Posted by That Foreign Guy View Post
    LOL, I totally did this last night by turning a failed arb in to a meh reverse middle rather than locking in a loss. It's a classic behavioural economics thing ...
    Thanks for sharing.

    The hardest thing I had to learn when trading stock options was how to take/accept a loss. It is that lesson learned/experience that I apply to my hedge/live sports wagers.

    Before I learned the lesson, I would try to get out of a loss which actually only served to put me more at risk and have a negative effect on my overall performance. The trick for me was to recognize that each set-up was only one of many more set-ups to come and that the overall result of those set-ups was positive if I contained the losses. I did not have to profit from each set-up and trying to do so was detrimental to my results.

    Joe.

  15. #15
    brumbies
    sail close to the wind
    brumbies's Avatar SBR PRO
    Join Date: 02-21-09
    Posts: 1,314
    Betpoints: 7784

    I realized that Laurie did not show the video of the monkeys for the risk taking part. Until I see the video, I don't believe what she says.

  16. #16
    cruyff
    cruyff's Avatar Become A Pro!
    Join Date: 08-09-08
    Posts: 1,041
    Betpoints: 140

    Quote Originally Posted by chaseman View Post
    TED is a great site. I get lost on there sometimes
    Me too man. Most of the stuff on there really makes you feel like a more complete person for having watched.

  17. #17
    That Foreign Guy
    I got sunshine in a bag
    That Foreign Guy's Avatar Become A Pro!
    Join Date: 07-18-10
    Posts: 432
    Betpoints: 3069

    Quote Originally Posted by u21c3f6 View Post
    The hardest thing I had to learn when trading stock options was how to take/accept a loss. It is that lesson learned/experience that I apply to my hedge/live sports wagers.

    Before I learned the lesson, I would try to get out of a loss which actually only served to put me more at risk and have a negative effect on my overall performance. The trick for me was to recognize that each set-up was only one of many more set-ups to come and that the overall result of those set-ups was positive if I contained the losses. I did not have to profit from each set-up and trying to do so was detrimental to my results.
    Weirdly I can cut my losses when it comes to financial investing / trading - thinking about it now it's because I force myself to put stops in on any position when I open it so the decision on when to get out is made rationally. However because I haven't committed to that course of action in sports betting I can make excuses when a market moves against me to avoid having to take a certain loss.

    There's a guy called Dr Steve Peters (he's a sports psychologist by trade) who is somewhat famous now for his concept of "putting the chimp in the box" - basically it's about taking emotion out of your performance. The other book that is helping me get better at the mental game at the moment is Fooled by Randomness.

  18. #18
    Peep
    Peep's Avatar Become A Pro!
    Join Date: 06-23-08
    Posts: 2,295

    Teleb's The Black Swan is good on the high probability of inprobable events. Easily applied to sportsbetting.

  19. #19
    That Foreign Guy
    I got sunshine in a bag
    That Foreign Guy's Avatar Become A Pro!
    Join Date: 07-18-10
    Posts: 432
    Betpoints: 3069

    Yeah, I have that book too - the problem with trying to apply Black Swan ideas to sportsbetting IMO is that it's unusual to get sufficient payouts on massively improbable events (I don't count 5% events as black swans). Another problem is that black swans are very difficult to quantify.

    It's still a good book but I think Fooled by Randomness is much better - especially the parts about coinflippers comparing records.

  20. #20
    Peep
    Peep's Avatar Become A Pro!
    Join Date: 06-23-08
    Posts: 2,295

    Thanks Foreign Guy. I will pick up a copy of fooled by Randomness.

  21. #21
    durito
    escarabajo negro
    durito's Avatar Become A Pro!
    Join Date: 07-03-06
    Posts: 13,173
    Betpoints: 438

    Sporting events don't really have black swans. Maybe something like Monica Seles getting stabbed during a match, but that wouldn't have that big of an effect on the gambling market.

    Big underdogs winning once is while is not unusual either. They're usually priced reasonably well.

  22. #22
    donjuan
    donjuan's Avatar Become A Pro!
    Join Date: 08-29-07
    Posts: 3,993
    Betpoints: 7537

    Quote Originally Posted by durito View Post
    Sporting events don't really have black swans. Maybe something like Monica Seles getting stabbed during a match, but that wouldn't have that big of an effect on the gambling market.

    Big underdogs winning once is while is not unusual either. They're usually priced reasonably well.
    But they can have kurtotic distributions and aren't black swans essentially that?

  23. #23
    DaddyWarBuck$
    DaddyWarBuck$'s Avatar Become A Pro!
    Join Date: 08-21-10
    Posts: 87
    Betpoints: 12

    Very informative video regardless of how basic it might be. Really made me take a look at some of my irrational decision making.

Top