Which Lottery Ticket To Buy File

: $1.00 cost, 1-in-4 chance to win $10.00 (Net average: $1.50 ).

The concept that is an informative feature used by cognitive scientist Steven Pinker in his book How the Mind Works . which lottery ticket to buy

: Different games have different "expected values" based on ticket price, prize pool, and odds of winning. : $1.00 cost

: In nature, nervous systems evolved to gather information and translate it into these "profitable decisions" (food, safety, mating) where the payoff is measured in surviving offspring. Practical "Lottery" Selection Strategy which lottery ticket to buy

: Pinker illustrates this with two hypothetical tickets: