"Optimizing human behavior for Pokemon Go"

#PokemonGO: We don't just play Pokemon Go--Pokemon Go plays us. Sometimes it's easier to avoid behavioral traps when they have a name from behavioral economics, psychology, etc. Here are a few I try to avoid. Others?(1)ESCALATION OF COMMITMENT. This is "throwing good money after bad", or throwing the 10th ball at a Weedle because you just can't let it go. When you invest resources in something you become willing to invest more, even though the thing hasn't become any more valuable. Avoid this by giving yourself a ball budget at the start of any encounter, say 2 for Pidgey, infinite for Snorlax.(2)SCARCITY TRAPS (FOMO). Did the game change that much for you after you spent hours trying to catch Ditto? After you cleared egg inventory to hatch Gen 2 babies? Nope. When something novel comes out, try to put it in terms of things you already know to assess if it's worth sinking time and/or coins into. For example, Igglybuff is just a cuter version of Rattata, so don't buy a bunch of incubators to hatch one. Yes, I realize it evolves into a useful prestiger, but it's still fat pink Rattata until you dump a bunch of expensive candy and dust into it. (If you just hate gaps in your Pokedex, that's on you.)(3)HALO EFFECT. You know and like a Pokemon from a context outside Pokemon Go (the card games, electronic games, movies, whatever) and apply that positive assessment to the same mon in Pokemon Go. Pikachu is an amazingly cute and powerful beast in the anime, so we like it and feel affectionate for it in the game, but it's pretty crappy and certainly not worth the investment (low catch rate). The mons in this game are not the mons you know from elsewhere, they just have the same wrapping.Yes, the game is supposed to be fun and there's no harm in just catching a bunch of Sandshrew because you like them. But it's always worth wondering why we do things and if we're actually satisfied that we do them. This can be applied to the whole game, too, but that's a lot of self-reflection for the holidays. via /r/TheSilphRoad http://ift.tt/2i2AsAI