In a scene that could have easily featured in an episode of the US television sitcom The Big Bang Theory, the late US physicist Richard Feynman once turned a visit to a Thai restaurant he often dined at into a mathematical riddle: how adventurous should we be in trying new dishes' Feynman promptly solved this on a sheet of paper. Feynman's dilemma is one that will be familiar to any restaurant-goer. Do we keep ordering the best dish we've had so far, or do we explore the menu in the hope of finding something better' A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on 1 June probes this question, and includes experimental findings that participants adopt meal-choosing strategies that closely approximate Feynman's mathematical solution1. Behavioural scientist Shoham Choshen-Hillel at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem says that the authors wrote a 'super creative article'. 'The restaurant example stands in for decisions in many settings,' she adds. Real-life...
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