Nudges
A “nudge” is a gentle push a friend gives you/to get your attention.// However,/you can also be nudged by strangers/for other purposes.// What’s more,/you may not even know what’s happening.//
　　You are at a subway station/in Stockholm,/Sweden.// You get off the subway/and look for a way/to get to the street.// You find stairs of black and white keys/—like huge piano keys—/leading up to the exit.// When you step on the keys,/they make piano-like sounds.// You can take the escalator if you want,/but you’ll probably choose the musical stairs/because they are so much fun.// At the same time,/you will be exercising.// The experimental piano stairs/resulted in a 66% increase/in the use of steps.//
　　A “nudge” is a little change/that leads you to do something/you may not have planned to do.// Nudges came to popular attention in 2008/when Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein/published Nudge:/Improving Decisions about Health,/Wealth,/and Happiness.// The basic idea is to design an environment/which makes it easy for people/to do the right thing,/or at least to do/what you want them to do.// In many countries,/nudges have proved to be effective.//

　　Also in Sweden,/there was an experiment to encourage people/to throw their trash away properly.// A loudspeaker and a sensor/were placed inside an ordinary trash can.// When you dropped something into the can,/it made a long falling sound/as if the bottom was deep underground.// People loved it/and because of the little nudge,/the streets became much cleaner.//
　　The Indian city of Mumbai/is known as “the honking capital of the world.”// Mumbai drivers are always honking.// They even honk at traffic lights.// To encourage better manners,/police have come up with/the “Honk More, Wait More” system.// The system resets the red signal/every time the sound of horns/goes above 85 decibels:/a little nudge to be patient.//
　　We can also find examples of nudges/in schools.// Many schools in the U.S./use a nudge in their cafeterias/to encourage healthy choices.// Research shows/that if you put fruit in an attractive bowl/at the start of the line,/more students make the healthy choice:/they choose fruit.//

　　Not all nudges promote/healthy or socially beneficial behavior.// Some nudges are neither healthy/nor beneficial.//
　　Some online services/offer free trial subscriptions,/and then automatically charge you/when the trial period ends.// The nudge of a free trial leads you/to make involuntary purchases.// It targets careless people.// Canceling the subscription/can be a lot of trouble.// You might have to contact a call center/at strange hours/or argue with the sales staff.// You will have been tricked by a nudge.//
　　Sometimes/nudges lead us to do things/that are not in our best interests/or those that are even dangerous.// An example is a part-time taxi driver/who has finished work for the day.// She is too tired to drive safely,/but the taxi company wants her/to stay on the job.// They could simply order her/to stay on.// However,/one American company uses nudges/rather than orders.// They send the driver a notice/that she is close to meeting a target/which will raise her salary.// They also send the location of a nearby customer.// The driver decides on her own/to stay on the job.// She has been “nudged” to do something/which is neither healthy/nor socially beneficial.//

　　Nudges are supposed to give people/a gentle reminder to do something/they are already interested in doing/or which will be socially beneficial.// But as we have seen,/nudges are powerful tools/that can lead us to do things/that may not be in our best interests.// It is best to be cautious.//
　　Richard H. Thaler, the author of Nudge,/proposes three principles:/
　　1. All nudging should be clear/and never misleading.//
　　2. It should be as easy as possible/to reject a nudge.//
　　3. There should be good reasons to believe/that the encouraged behavior will improve the welfare/of those who are being nudged.//
　　These are the keys to deciding/whether a nudge is proper or improper.// Now,/think about the nudges you have just read about/and evaluate them/on the basis of Thaler’s principles.//
　　You are being nudged all day.// Pay attention.// Welcome the good nudges.// Don’t let yourself be fooled/by the bad ones.//