Your mind plays tricks when fortune is at stake. A guaranteed gain feels safe. A guaranteed loss feels unbearable. But are you truly rational — or is your brain's ancient wiring making the choice for you? Kahneman and Tversky discovered the answer.
Risk & Reward Explorer
Explore how your brain evaluates gains and losses — and discover the hidden biases that shape every risky decision you make.
Prospect Theory (Kahneman & Tversky, 1979) shows that people don't evaluate outcomes rationally. We feel losses roughly twice as strongly as equivalent gains. We also flip our risk preferences depending on whether a choice is framed as a gain or a loss. Over 8 rounds, you'll see this in action — in yourself and in three AI opponents.
Your AI Opponents
Sanjay
Loss-Averse
Always takes the safe option, especially when there's something to gain. Hates uncertainty.
Pooja
Risk-Seeker
Goes for the gamble every time. Loves the thrill and believes luck favors the bold.
Arun
Framing-Sensitive
Classic prospect theory: risk-averse for gains, risk-seeking for losses. The textbook human.
Tokens: 500
Round 1 / 8
GAIN SCENARIO
Safe Option
Certain outcome
Risky Option
?
Your Risk Profile
Risk-AverseNeutralRisk-Seeking
Experiment Complete
Final Standings
The Prospect Theory Value Function
This S-shaped curve shows how we perceive value. The curve is steeper for losses than for gains — meaning losing 50 tokens feels worse than gaining 50 feels good. The curve is also concave for gains (risk-averse) and convex for losses (risk-seeking). This explains why most people take the safe bet when gaining but gamble when losing.
