Cautionary Tales · November 20, 2019 · 38m

DANGER: Rocks Ahead!

Cautionary Tales

The wreck of the Torrey Canyon — one of the world's largest supertankers, deliberately steered toward deadly rocks by a captain fixated on making his schedule. Harford examines how goal fixation overrides rational risk assessment.

Canon

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Environment shapes behavior — the shipping industry's incentive structure rewarded risk-taking

Harford shows how the captain wasn't personally reckless — the shipping industry's economic incentives (penalties for late delivery, rewards for speed) systematically encouraged the exact risk-taking that caused the disaster.

Claude ChatGPT Gemini

Highlights

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Goal fixation makes intelligent people take irrational risks

The Torrey Canyon's captain knew the rocks were dangerous. He steered toward them anyway because he was fixated on making the tide at his destination. The goal overrode the risk assessment.

Claude ChatGPT Gemini