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/3muf5qmwouk2fAs a researcher and editor, it seems clear to me that frontier models will radically change how research is peer-reviewed. And I think it will be for the better. In this post, I explain why. https://www.optimallyirrational.com/p/how-ai-will-revolutionise-peer-reviewed31 Aug 2026 14:50 +0000at://did:plc:fof5fmfhqjht6n2hbumevtcc/app.bsky.feed.post/3muf5qmwouk2fhttps://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/3m7tgx5qrqs24