Ben Y Hayden Ph.D.

About

Ben Hayden, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the University of Rochester. He studies self-control, decision-making, and counterfactual reasoning. He is the recipient of a career development award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Outstanding Young Investigator from the Society for Neuroeconomics.

Recent Posts

Do we need work to be happy?

Utopian novels predict a future that is safe and easy but boring.

Big Science Needs Its Own Cryptocurrency

I propose a new cryptocurrency where mining new coins requires solving science problems.

Can a Computer Know You Better Than You Know Yourself?

The human brain is more complex than math these days.

Wikipedia Needs to Hire Professional Science Writers

Wikipedia has great coverage of Pokemon but spotty coverage of science topics.

It's a Jungle in There

Microsoft's stack rank system is great in theory, terrible in practice.

Microsoft's stack rank system is great in theory, terrible in practice.

Rethinking the Morality of the Prisoner's Dilemma

How about if instead of using the terms 'cooperation' and 'defection' we instead say 'collusion' and 'honesty'?

How about if instead of using the terms 'cooperation' and 'defection' we instead say 'collusion' and 'honesty'?

If a Traffic Camera Catches You, Your Fine Should Be Less

Psychology dictates the appropriate fines for traffic violations.

Psychology dictates the appropriate fines for traffic violations.

Why Do Monkeys Like to Gamble?

I talk about my own scientific research at the TEDxRochester conference 2012.

I talk about my own scientific research at the TEDxRochester conference 2012.

The Time Pepsi Offered a Billion Dollars and Nobody Cared

Pepsi's marketing department failed to understand diminishing marginal utility.

Pepsi's marketing department failed to understand diminishing marginal utility.

Why Do We Give Diamond Engagement Rings?

People think we give engagement rings because advertising made us do it. It's more complicated than that.

People think we give engagement rings because advertising made us do it. It's more complicated than that.