Don't Take Advice from Fiction

A lot of our biases come, I think, from expecting real life to be like fiction. For example, when we have negative opinions on important subjects, we tend too much to expect that we should explicitly and directly express those negative opinions in a dramatic conversation scene. We should speak our mind, make it clear, talk it through, etc. This usually a bad idea. We also tend to feel bad about ourselves when we notice that we avoid confrontation, and back off when from things we want when we encounter resistance. But such retreat is usually for the best.

Robin Hanson, "Biases Of Fiction"

Wasteful Signaling: The Time Dimension

I think about this a lot: you’re young, you come from a smart, wealthy family, you’re somehow supposed to show that you’re successful quite quickly. Banking, law, consultancy allow you to do this; engineering, science and entrepreneurship less so. Your friends expect it, your parents, your potential mates do ... So we see so many talented people very quickly having to signal how smart they are but that may not be the longest-term social productivity.

Tyler Cowen, quoted in "Lunch with the FT: Tyler Cowen", by Josh McDermott

Game Theory

If you lack the willpower to resist your kids' rent-seeking on an issue, magnanimously give them what they would have extracted from you under duress.  You won't get your way, but at least you won't blatantly reinforce their bad behavior.

Bryan Caplan, "10 More Things I Learned in My First 10 Years of Parenting"