Paul,

Thanks for the article. I look forward to reading "Second Generation" on my Kindle.

Stanton makes important distinctions about our investment goals, which may be utilitarian, expressive, or emotive. These are MUCH better descriptors than "rational" vs. "irrational," which seem pretentious and condescending to people who express perfectly normal human behaviors.

Stanton mentions the syllabus for his online investment course:

"This course is centered on evidence-based knowledge of investments and investment behavior. It presents side-by-side standard and behavioral investment theory, evidence, and practice."

This sounds like a course I'd like to take.
: )

The following comment is a side note, and does NOT apply to Meir Statman, but rather on the occasional misuse of the phrase "evidence-based."

I have grown suspect when I see an advertisement describing an investor as "evidence-based," a phrase that aptly describes a dedication to historical data and sound financial theory. Unfortunately, "evidence-based" is often used to disparage OTHER approaches to investing, which may be opportunistic, intuitive, or other discretionary approaches (as opposed to systematic investing based on rules).

Sincerely,
Rob