DUBNER: How much time did you think youd have to waste on Mazzs silly idea? Hes the C.E.O. There are many broad categories by which compassion for patients can be beneficial, and the first is physiological. It doesnt take much time or effort, they tell you. DUBNER: You know, psychologists particularly social psychologists like you are constantly saying that if we experience an emotion or have a behavior, that its definitely fulfilling some evolutionary instinct. Their book cites several research papers that take a variety of approaches. The politicians and the campaigns seem to be offering something of high value that will translate into better society, good ideas, and so on. His economics degree from New York University has been put to surprisingly good use. I will leave you today with the signoff weve been using since early in the pandemic its a signoff, I now realize, that indicates my own appetite for a little more compassion all around. Another study, this one from Michigan State University, also used a randomized experiment. DUBNER: So what is it about your fandom that lets you override so many of your priors? Compassion the thing that doctors need to show is the very thing that doctors need. And so all I can think is that you have a driver. But Nelson Dellis claims he was born with an average memory and that anyone can learn his tricks. But he accidentally recorded the whole procedure. Ford is a transplant himself from New Orleans, originally. Youre not going to go through this alone. I am here with you. In fact, just in the I.C.U. in sociology at Oberlin College and studied audio documentary at the Salt Institute. Morgan Levy Park City of Doral As an Amazon Associate, Freakonomics may earn commissions from qualifying purchases made through links on this site. In 2018, we put out an episode called Americas Hidden Duopoly. Here, from that episode, is Katherine Gehl, an ex-C.E.O. Rift in the Rock Morgan Levy So if a pill could mimic the effects of working out, why wouldnt we want to take it? Morgan Levey Archives - Freakonomics RIESS: Burnout is defined when a few things are happening, called depersonalization, where patients are seen more like as a number or a diagnosis, one on a list instead of like real people. How does it affect healthcare? Stay up-to-date on all our shows. Steve Levitt talks to Kwon about his debilitating childhood anxieties, his compulsion to choose the hardest path in life, and how Kwon used his obsession with game theory to stage a come-from-behind victory onSurvivor. You put all that in one sentence? One of the things about human nature is that were very flexible in the identities that we hold. So, lets interrogate this evidence. And then there is the supply side, which are the parties themselves and the candidates. How do you see the relationship between obsession and fandom? They looked at the speeches of political candidates over like 100 years in Australia, and the candidates who won political office were twice as likely to use collective pronouns in their speeches, like we and us. And so people feel connected to them, they feel a sense of shared purpose, but also theyre more willing to maybe vote, volunteer, donate some money. Manchester United, or Man U., is one of the top soccer clubs in England, and the study was led by the psychologist Mark Levine at Lancaster University. And he pushed back in the following way. When shes not planning her next hiking trip, you can find her dodging pigeons while running in Central Park. . psychology professor, offers up three particularly compelling arguments. View in: PubMed Mentions: 1 Fields: The question actually came from a school homework assignment. A is for affect; the T is for tone of voice; the H is for hearing the patient, the entire patient. Over 20 years ago, he and Steve began studying the impact of legalized abortion on crime. TRZECIAK: The question was, What is the most pressing problem of our time?. Whats missing in this equation? Freakonomics - amazon.com How did this priming happen? Theres nobody who is a partisan of the two-party system. A baseball manager and player named Ted Sullivan claimed to have originated the word in 1883. As with most political endeavors, this action prompted a reaction. TRZECIAK: And the hypothesis is: Compassion matters. But partisanship is not declining, at least not yet. And some people would argue there should be no time dimension at all. Jay VAN BAVEL: Every single society thats ever been studied on Earth, you can find coalitions or groups of people. And Rahm explains that while he believes in the power of the federal government, as former mayor of Chicago, he says that cities are where problems really get solved. Steve asks Robert why we value human life over animals, why hes lost faith in the criminal justice system, and how to look casual when youre about to blow-dart a very large and potentially unhappy primate. RIESS: Empathy is in part a shared experience. Find out why Steve nearly moved to Silicon Valley to be part of Khans latest venture. Okay, lets hear some of the evidence that Trzeciak and Mazzarelli compiled. How has the pandemic changed the equation? You see so many patients here. So more compassion, lower burnout; lower compassion, higher burnout. VAN BAVEL: Okay. It had been popular for decades in Europe, Asia, parts of South America, but now it was stagnating under its longtime C.E.O. But once Angela gives Steve a quick tutorial on goal conflict, he is suddenly a fan. MAZZARELLI: When I started medical school, compassion wasnt a part of the curriculum. That all changed when the U.S. firm Liberty Media acquired Formula 1 for $8 billion, and they set to work building an American audience. I just think that our system right now is working to get the outcome that were seeing. Many of my patients are so sick that they cant talk. Im guessing compassion is not a keyword in all these medical studies. Tim Harford lives in England, where hes made it his mission to help the public understand statistics and hosts the podcast Cautionary Tales. The authors argue that humans usually make decisions based on the incentives for their actions. LEVEY: I mean, were doing this conversation about my love of Formula 1. SHAH: One of the nice things about being a specialist is I dont deal with that. The 10 Best Formula 1 Drivers Ever: Hamilton, Schumacher & More, Lewis Hamilton Inspires F1 to Accelerate Diversity Initiatives, Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix on ABC Attracts Record 2.6 Million Viewers; Largest Live F1 U.S. TV Audience Ever, Liberty Media: Netflix Drive to Survive a Win All the Way Around, Miami Grand Prix solidifies F1s push into America, The Power of Us: Harnessing Our Shared Identities to Improve Performance, Increase Cooperation, and Promote Social Harmony, Exclusive: F1 Boss Bernie Ecclestone on His Billion-Dollar Brand, Power through Us: Leaders Use of We-Referencing Language Predicts Election Victory, Identity and Emergency Intervention: How Social Group Membership and Inclusiveness of Group Boundaries Shape Helping Behavior, Basking in Reflected Glory: Three (Football) Field Studies. Neal studied psychology at the University Michigan and enjoys running, reading, and spending time with his wife, two sons, and their dog, in the suburbs outside New York City. Morgan Levey is a Senior Producer at Freakonomics based in Washington, District of Columbia. Freakonomics. TRZECIAK: In many ways, the touch of a trusted other can reduce ones experience of pain. Somewhat less surprising are the reported psychological benefits. Or at least that theyre taught compassion during medical school. of Gehl Foods. . So if a pill could mimic the effects of working out, why wouldnt we want to take it? LEVEY: I think my obsession was even though it was quite quick, it sort of crept up on me. And it was an Apple ad where it shows this woman and this Big Brother-type of person droning on to all these people, kind of like hypnotized by it. And in healthcare, when people feel afraid, small and vulnerable, that gaze actually means a lot. LEVEY: On a normal basis, I can just watch Formula 1 T.V. And weve found associations in the data between more caring and fewer errors. Helen Riesss argument is that if you want to increase compassion among doctors and other healthcare personnel, you have to start with empathy. Morgan Levey - Snr. Producer of "People I (Mostly) Admire" hosted by In addition to publishing best-selling books about pregnancy and child-rearing, Emily Oster is a respected economist at Brown University. Whereas if it was just a random person wearing no jersey whatsoever, most people would stop to help. We have some very close friends who like Formula 1, and when my husband and I are with them, often the conversation naturally gravitates towards Formula 1. I am an Edmonton Oilers fan. He would always say to me, Look, were not making arguments. of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), which, under his charge, exposed the most celebrated American cyclist as a cheater. She also helped negotiate a landmark contract for the leagues players. By 1856, with the country bitterly split over the expansion of slavery, the electoral scene was dominated by the Democrats and the Republicans. TRZECIAK: Compassion actually takes almost no time. And so all of us contain multitudes. It could be community-level factors, like what your neighbors are doing, what the norms are in the environment. Morgan Levey on LinkedIn: I'm Your Biggest Fan! - Freakonomics And I assure you, thats not a good place to be. DUBNER: Give me a simple example of a physician failing to exercise compassion. TRZECIAK: Right. But if youre feeling a little like something tilted there we encourage taking some moments to reflect back on what just happened. DUBNER: Oh, thats discouraging, isnt it? His varied and curious approach to economics, and his succession of published papers, paid off. And then he went on and on about it. He likes to plan overly ambitious backpacking trips and too often ends the day with a big bowl of ice cream. RIESS: Id say its about four-and-a-half. They get to cheer on, post things on social media. DUBNER: Ideas, policies, careful-reasoned debate and politics, did you say? TRZECIAK: Ive been at Cooper for 17 years. Epi Epidemiology Translation: Humans Addressing rainfall data selection uncertainty using connections between rainfall and streamflow. It goes like this: Well be back next week. he was awarded his PhD in 1994 and, following a period as a research fellow at Harvard, was offered a post in arguably the most prestigious economics department in the US, at the University of Chicago. Morgan Levy - Chicago, Illinois, United States - LinkedIn Why do we want to identify with a genre of literature or a football team? And we found five other studies which show that it is less than a minute. . But if you want to make an argument for the lack of compassion in healthcare, its a good example. People who know Mazzarelli call him Mazz. Our staff also includesAlison Craiglow,Greg Rippin,Mary Diduch,Mark McClusky,Zack Lapinski, Daphne Chen, andMatt Hickey. But Joshua Jay is also an author, toymaker, and consultant for film and television. The way that we ought to treat patients. J.P. Morgan. Is it the way you touch someone that you might not have touched before? Riess argues that this scenario is a big driver of physician burnout. I'm the producer of People I (Mostly) Admire for Freakonomics Radio and the creator and co-host of Unconventional Paths for Soil Centric. Rebecca has a masters degree from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, and before joining the Freakonomics team, she worked as a journalist and multimedia producer on stories about science, mental health, and technology. Trzeciak and Mazzarelli wound up writing a book that tries to answer these questions. Is youre sitting at home alone in your living room cheering and you feel some sense of accomplishment or excitement when the team scores a touchdown or gets an interception, even though you had no part in it. As a thinly-veiled ploy to improve his own game, Steve talks to two titans of the sport: Greg The Shark Norman, who was the worlds top-ranked golfer for more than six years; and Mark Broadie, a Columbia professor whose data analysis changed how pros play the game. Sue Bird: You Have to Pay the Superstars., Yul Kwon: Dont Try to Change Yourself All at Once., Yul Kwon (Part 2): Hey, Do You Have Any Bright Ideas?, Tim Harford: If You Can Make Sure Youre Not An Idiot, Youve Done Well., Joshua Jay: Humans Are So, So Easy to Fool., Emily Oster: I Am a Woman Who Is Prominently Discussing Vaginas., Robert Sapolsky: I Dont Think We Have Any Free Will Whatsoever., Marina Nitze: If You Googled Business Efficiency Consultant, I Was the Only Result., John Donohue: Im Frequently Called a Treasonous Enemy of the Constitution., Pete Docter: What If Monsters Really Do Exist?, Sal Khan: If It Works for 15 Cousins, It Could Work for a Billion People., Greg Norman & Mark Broadie: Why Golf Beats an Orgasm and Why Data Beats Everything, Amaryllis Fox: What Does This New Version of Mutually Assured Destruction Look Like?, Sam Harris: Spirituality Is a Loaded Term., Memory Champion Nelson Dellis Helps Steve Train His Brain, Daniel Kahneman on Why Our Judgment is Flawed and What to Do About It. Her research focuses on understanding interactions between the . It usually binds you to a community of other people in other situations and allows you to make common ground with complete strangers. That, at least, is the argument put forth by Trzeciak and Mazzarelli. He doesnt mean the question from Mazzarelli. Khan Academy grew out of Sal Khans online math tutorials for his extended family. First of all, medicine has become a business, and whereas we used to have time to get to know patients and to really form relationships, its much more about throughput now, and how many people you can squeeze into an afternoon. She loves looking at maps but frequently forgets the directions. I produced an episode for Freakonomics on compassion in health care. Before joining the Freakonomics Radio team he co-owned a recording studio in upstate New York where he spent a decade recording bands and singer-songwriters. How can the most caring of caring professions be lacking in compassion? RIESS: On a walk in the woods one day, it kind of came to me that the word empathy could act as an acronym for all seven ways that we connect. One of them which you may be familiar with, depending on where you live is called ranked-choice voting: GEHL: Heres how ranked-choice voting works. You can followFreakonomics RadioonApple Podcasts,Spotify,Stitcher, orwherever you get your podcasts. This kind of problem is driven in large part by how doctors are compensated. This time, the researchers recruited some Man U fans but had them answer a different set of survey questions not about their Man U fandom but rather about their love of soccer generally, things like when they first became a fan, what being a fan meant to them, and what they had in common with other soccer fans. or our trade deficit? One way is nasty and vulgar, like this: Tiffany INGHAM: Well, why are you looking then, retard? We wanted to test the hypothesis that compassion matters in measurable ways for patients and for those who care for patients. Freakonomics // The Movie - amazon.com DUBNER: And moralization. How is that defined in this context? Helen RIESS: Yes. Prior to joining theFreakonomics Radioteam full-time, she was nominated for an Emmy for mixingLast Week Tonightwith John Oliver. March 11, 2011. And what have been the drivers of this increased partisanship? Freakonomics by Steven Levitt Plot Summary | LitCharts Because it doesnt take any extra time to treat somebody with compassion. That theyre doing something morally abhorrent. Sometimes its called the helpers high, driven perhaps by, Dispensing compassion can also activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which. Formula 1 now wanted to go after younger viewers, especially younger women, and as part of that initiative, they gave Netflix access to produce Drive to Survive. The treatment group that is, the patients whod received the compassionate care showed 47 percent less activation in the region of the brain known for experiencing pain. Frisco, he points out, is hardly the only city nearby to have grown very fast. In the past few years, Alaska and Maine have installed ranked-choice voting across all elections; more than 50 U.S. cities or states use it in some elections; its also used in Ireland and Australia, with more countries coming on-board. I'm Your Biggest Fan! - Freakonomics Lyricis a production associate for the Freakonomics Radio Network. Coming up after the break: corporate fandom at its finest: VAN BAVEL: I think Apples done a better job of building identity than almost any other company I can think of. LEVEY: Yes. First of all, define some terms. So that seems to be part of human nature. DUBNER: So that sounds both alluring and a little frightening, because I know theres an old phrase from, I guess, social psychology, if I think of Robert Cialdini way back when, called basking in reflected glory, which is what youre describing right now. Lets put this within an economic framework, and consider the benefits and costs. And youll see why 1984 wont be like 1984.. Morgan Levy Passion for helping people and businesses through delivering quality service to humanity, leadership and empathy. And in each of these systems, Van Bavel says: VAN BAVEL: We try to make sense of them and try to figure out how to fit in. Shes won multiple championships, including four Olympic gold medals and four W.N.B.A. Im fine that I was manipulated in this way. Basically, theyre seeing what they want to see. The study consisted of two experiments. How about reinventing in-school learning, too? They take a vow to uphold a standard. What are you telling me for? And, also, dont dont mention it to me, because Im not interested. And so, if your patient is really worried about something, and youre sitting there flatline, youre not catching any of the emotion. It is so far removed from the rest of my day, and interests, and routine. But what was most striking is that it only took 40 seconds for the intervention. And while were there, lets talk about Google and Samsung and everybody else. Research | Morgan Levy Hand hygiene, for instance, as basic as that now seems. But, yeah, probably. But why do we become fans of these things? Hes a former World Bank economist who became a prolific journalist and the author of one of Steve Levitts favorite books, The Undercover Economist. My fandom shields me from embarrassment. For example, Levitt traces the drop in violent crime rates to a drop in violent criminals . Its a behind-the-scenes reality show produced by Netflix and Formula 1. He studied Classical Piano at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and earned a Masters Degree in Music Technology from New York University. A lot of the research they looked at involved a 10-question survey called the CARE Measure. VAN BAVEL: The thing that the documentary does is it makes it human, right? I practice critical care and there are a lot of times when the outcome is not something that can be changed. We promise no spam. Jay Van Bavel is a professor of psychology and neuroscience at N.Y.U. Steve talks to Carl about his new book, Drug Use for Grown-Ups, and Carl tells Steve why decriminalizing drugs is as American as apple pie. TRZECIAK: Theres evidence that human connection also modulates or can affect ones autonomic nervous system. Most people use a podcast app on their smartphone. Julie is the senior producer ofFreakonomics, M.D. Now, you might assume that most people who choose medicine as a profession do so in part because they are compassionate. I wasnt on the field. The consultant did what consultants do and suggested ways for the hospital to strengthen its bottom line. VAN BAVEL: The moralization, I think, is the key piece, which means that the other group is not just wrong, but theyre evil. Nellie is a Bostonian who studied Italian language and literature at UConn before doing a stint in Lisbon, Portugal. First came the Federalists, who wanted a strong central government. A strong two-party system a duopoly, if you will is essentially built to create partisanship. I think motorcycles are incredibly dangerous. Morgan Levy | UCSD Profiles At the end of that discussion, she said, You dont remember me, do you? And I said, Im sorry, I dont. And she said, I wouldnt think that you would. Empathy is a human capacity that allows us to perceive, process and respond to others emotional states. Each patient was then given a painful stimulus while being shown an image of the doctor whod seen them. So I am a father. Consider Trzeciaks first claim: TRZECIAK: Compassion for patients can actually modulate a patients perception of pain. Everybody wants one of them and not the other. And yet, they say, there is still a huge deficit in compassionate care. Hes one of the worlds leading competitors, having won four U.S. memory tournaments and holding the record for most names memorized in 15 minutes (235!). Very different is Alex Gibney . Nothing about me screams car racing fan, nothing. The treatment group got the compassionate version, with the doctor engaging in warm conversation, trying to make the patient feel at ease, and encouraging follow-up questions. Soloman SHAH: He keeps mentioning it like its the first time hes ever talked to anyone about it. It followsa group of first-year residents at work in the hospital the house of God is their name for the hospital itself. That's health economist Catherine MacLean. And the lack of data on nurse suicide is even worse. We have data about hospitals that have higher margins that have better patient experience. How did they reach that conclusion? I mean, he dominated the sport for years. Thats what I was skeptical about. But even ordinary fans can experience a distorted sense of reality. Jeremy is an audio engineer for the Freakonomics Radio Network. LEVEY: I think so. So it works. Think of Boeing and Airbus in jet airliners; think of Coke and Pepsi. On the other hand, if you want to make an argument that having compassion can save money, as Mazzarelli and Trzeciak argue, you can use this lawsuit as an example where the lack of compassion can be very expensive. And theres one more reason why it needs to happen. DUBNER: When I was a little kid, I was a big sports fan, but I was particularly a fan of a football team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, who no one else I knew was a fan of because I wasnt anywhere near Pittsburgh. Consider a survey done by the Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare, which included 800 recently hospitalized patients and more than 500 doctors. RSS. Several studies have linked compassion or empathy to lower levels of burnout. My research program was hitting every metric for success. And what they found is that if the person distressed was wearing a Liverpool jersey, which is the archrival of Manchester, very few Manchester fans stopped to help. If its a team youre a fan of, it matters whether your team wins or loses. Heres one passage: Before the House of God, I had loved old people. Last year, the National Academy of Medicine published a report putting the rate of physician burnout in the U.S. between 40 and 54 percent. It uses live and virtual sessions to teach anyone but mainly healthcare workers how to be more empathetic. But in reality, my take is that they treat it as much as a game as the demand side does. Heres Trzeciak again: But there also appears to be a perception gap between physicians and patients. The Freakonomics authors ("Rogue" Levitt and "Journalist" Dubner) supply introductory and linking materials and appear in all but one of the documentaries. And ask yourself, Was I abrupt? The bad news is the subject pool was tiny: just nine patients. In this interview, first heard on Freakonomics Radio last year, Steve talks with the former top adviser to presidents Clinton and Obama, about his record and his reputation. MANSFIELD: The Jeffersonians didnt believe in a two-party system. Jay Van Bavel, professor of psychology and neuroscience at New York University. and I.C.U. How does it affect people? MANSFIELD: A little bit more Republican than conservative, because I like to win. So Ill give you one study as an example. Steve Levitt talks to him about how magicians construct tricks, how Joshuas academic studies of magic have influenced Levitts life, and whether Jesus might have been a magician. I cant even believe Im willing to admit that. Could fixing the first problem solve the second? Consumers. Those four candidates will all be listed on the general election ballot, and you vote for them in order of preference. LEVEY: Yeah, I did I did need a minute. It led me to search for what is the most pressing problem of our time. Oh, my God. Did I seem rushed? Of course it couldnt be farther from the truth. We promise no spam. It can have immune-system effects. TRZECIAK: Sure. The theory is that in a ranked-choice system, candidates wont try to appeal to just to their hardcore fans; theyll have to appeal to everyone. We promise no spam. Another way is in studies where theres really patient-centered care, the proportion of patients who were referred to specialists was 59 percent lower while those who underwent diagnostic testing was 84 percent lower. Trzeciaks son was 12 years old. So whats this have to do with compassion? Its not an either/or, its an and. Most recently, Neal led NPRs news podcasting strategy, which is built around major podcasts likePlanet Money,Up First,andInivisbilia. Sue Bird tells Steve Levitt the untold truth about clutch players, her thoughts about the pay gap between male and female athletes, and what it means to be part of the first gay couple in ESPNs The Body Issue.