But because human being tend to focus on short-term benefits and our own immediate needs, such tragedies of the commons occur frequently .

Not all debt is bad. From time to time we should get into debt when there's a good reason for that.

Brands communicate in two directions: they help us tell other people something about ourselves, but they also help us form ideas about who we are.

Ownership is not limited to material things. It can also apply to points of view. Once we take ownership of an idea - whether it’s about politics or sports - what do we do? We love it perhaps more than we should. We prize it more than it is worth. And most frequently, we have trouble letting go of it because we can’t stand the idea of its loss. What are we left with then? An ideology - rigid and unyielding.

We need to believe that we're good people, and we'll do just about anything to maintain that perception.

But suppose we are nothing more than the sum of our first, naive, random behaviors. What then?

People are irrational - and predictably so.