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meaning the fear of looking stupid in

front of one’s peers.

Osborn’s “rules” of brainstorming

were meant to neutralize this anxiety,

but studies show that the fear of public

humiliation is a potent force. During

the 1988–89 basketball season, for example,

two NCAA basketball teams

played eleven games without any spectators,

owing to a measles outbreak

that led their schools to quarantine all

students. Both teams played much better

(higher free-throw percentages, for

example) without any fans, even

adoring home-team fans, to unnerve

them.

The behavioral economist Dan Ariely

noticed a similar phenomenon when he

conducted a study asking thirty-nine

participants to solve anagram puzzles,

either alone at their desks or with others

watching. Ariely predicted that the

268/929

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