Director of UQ Centre for Unified Behavioural and Economic Sciences. Editor of the Journal of the Economic Science Association. Book: ‘Optimally Irrational’, Substack: https://www.optimallyirrational.com/https://bsky.app/profile/lionelpage.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/lionelpage.bsky.social/post/3mqks34ecak25Many thanks to everyone who follows Optimally Irrational! I am very glad that this Substack devoted to presenting deep insights into human behaviour in an accessible form has found such a large audience. www.optimallyirrational.com13 Jul 2026 22:57 +0000at://did:plc:fof5fmfhqjht6n2hbumevtcc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqks34ecak25https://bsky.app/profile/lionelpage.bsky.social/post/3mj5bml4gjk2tHow do we agree on what is “fair” without endless haggling? A post on the psychology and game theory of fairness, with a solution to the egalitarian vs utilitarian debate. https://www.optimallyirrational.com/p/how-we-decide-what-is-fair-in-everyday?r=7eiyw10 Apr 2026 12:01 +0000at://did:plc:fof5fmfhqjht6n2hbumevtcc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mj5bml4gjk2thttps://bsky.app/profile/lionelpage.bsky.social/post/3mhxui574lc2mFairness is not some mysterious moral force binding our actions. It is a social solution to a pervasive problem: once cooperation creates gains, who gets what? https://www.optimallyirrational.com/p/what-is-fairness26 Mar 2026 14:57 +0000at://did:plc:fof5fmfhqjht6n2hbumevtcc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhxui574lc2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/lionelpage.bsky.social/post/3mgmtntlxjs22One of the most important insights of game theory is that cooperation is often rational. Indeed, it helps us understand why cooperation exists and how it works in practice. https://www.optimallyirrational.com/p/the-game-theory-of-cooperation09 Mar 2026 12:18 +0000at://did:plc:fof5fmfhqjht6n2hbumevtcc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mgmtntlxjs22https://bsky.app/profile/lionelpage.bsky.social/post/3mf4twi2ovs2aEvolution is often framed as a cosmic struggle of all against all. Yet everything we observe about life is the product of cooperation. Understanding how cooperation is sustained is a key insight for thinking about how to organise society. https://www.optimallyirrational.com/p/cooperation-is-the-scaffolding-principle18 Feb 2026 10:15 +0000at://did:plc:fof5fmfhqjht6n2hbumevtcc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mf4twi2ovs2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/lionelpage.bsky.social/post/3me76uigerk2iKant is notoriously hard to read. Here I explain his moral philosophy simply, and I criticise it, drawing on the careful thinking about rationality forged in game theory. https://www.optimallyirrational.com/p/dekanting-moral-philosophy?r=7eiyw06 Feb 2026 15:11 +0000at://did:plc:fof5fmfhqjht6n2hbumevtcc/app.bsky.feed.post/3me76uigerk2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/lionelpage.bsky.social/post/3mcuhoxqu3k2pThe seizure makes no strategic sense for the US. It would be one of the biggest acts of geopolitical self-harm a US President has ever committed. https://www.optimallyirrational.com/p/what-if-the-us-seizes-greenland?r=7eiyw20 Jan 2026 15:25 +0000at://did:plc:fof5fmfhqjht6n2hbumevtcc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mcuhoxqu3k2phttps://bsky.app/profile/lionelpage.bsky.social/post/3mbr4oa2pc22bIs morality relative to each society? This view is common in the public but unpopular among philosophers. We can see morality as grounded in a society’s social contract--and thus relative--without the usual “anything goes” associated with "relativism". https://www.optimallyirrational.com/p/is-morality-relative06 Jan 2026 14:04 +0000at://did:plc:fof5fmfhqjht6n2hbumevtcc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mbr4oa2pc22bhttps://bsky.app/profile/lionelpage.bsky.social/post/3mblwa2e3es2o04 Jan 2026 12:26 +0000at://did:plc:fof5fmfhqjht6n2hbumevtcc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mblwa2e3es2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/lionelpage.bsky.social/post/3malexr4nj226A defence of morality as respect for a social contract. Moral, legal and ethical systems are conventions, but they are not arbitrary: they are constrained by the structure of conflict and cooperation in society. https://www.optimallyirrational.com/p/a-defence-of-morality-as-respect?r=7eiyw22 Dec 2025 13:52 +0000at://did:plc:fof5fmfhqjht6n2hbumevtcc/app.bsky.feed.post/3malexr4nj226https://bsky.app/profile/lionelpage.bsky.social/post/3m7tgx5qrqs24Universities worldwide are increasingly shaped by corporate, profit-driven logic. Australia is sadly ahead of the curve. The Parliamentary inquiry report just released rightly points to the core problem: academics have been marginalised in governance. https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Education_and_Employment/UniversityGovernance48/Final_report13 Dec 2025 01:23 +0000at://did:plc:fof5fmfhqjht6n2hbumevtcc/app.bsky.feed.post/3m7tgx5qrqs24https://bsky.app/profile/lionelpage.bsky.social/post/3m7kskowses24Can morality still make sense if there are no absolute moral truths? Almost 300 years ago, Hume said yes: moral systems are conventions that foster social cooperation, and our moral emotions are designed to help us navigate these conventions. https://www.optimallyirrational.com/p/morality-works-without-absolute-moral09 Dec 2025 14:57 +0000at://did:plc:fof5fmfhqjht6n2hbumevtcc/app.bsky.feed.post/3m7kskowses24https://bsky.app/profile/lionelpage.bsky.social/post/3m7e5bx4hss2zWould it occur to Elon Musk that Russia would also cheer for the US to break up into 50 “sovereign” independent states, while at the same time trying to forcibly reintegrate former states from the USSR which are now independent?06 Dec 2025 23:20 +0000at://did:plc:fof5fmfhqjht6n2hbumevtcc/app.bsky.feed.post/3m7e5bx4hss2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/lionelpage.bsky.social/post/3m6p66mmi2k2eMany secular philosophers still want “moral laws” to be objectively true. But to get there they have to smuggle an unconditional ought out of pure is. In spite of its appeal, the idea that there are objective moral truths "out there" is misguided. https://www.optimallyirrational.com/p/there-are-no-moral-laws-out-there28 Nov 2025 15:10 +0000at://did:plc:fof5fmfhqjht6n2hbumevtcc/app.bsky.feed.post/3m6p66mmi2k2e