What We Value by Emily Falk: How to rob a bank - be a woman and make a fuss

Jenny Radcliffe is a ‘penetration tester’, paid by companies to challenge the effectiveness of their security systems.

A bank in Germany hired her to access their building and insert a USB into a particular computer. Jenny applied her usual logic: ‘Work on the person behind the security.

It doesn’t matter what they put in place; if someone’s got access, then I can access them and then we’re down to me versus the person.’

Bandaging one of her hands and carrying a large box of files – to increase the chance of people holding doors open for her – Jenny walked into the bank and approached the fingerprint sensor at the entrance doors. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t recognise her.

She swore loudly, attracting the security guard’s attention. Jenny complained the sensor wasn’t working, so the guard asked her to try again. She did, balancing the box on her bandaged hand and continuing to swear.

She dropped the box, scattering papers everywhere. The guard said ‘for God’s sake, go in’ and opened the doors. Jenny knew Germans are highly embarrassed by a scene, and also relied on the guard assuming a woman was less likely to be a threat. In other words, she used his values to achieve her goal.

Neuroscientist Emily Falk is fascinated by values, and this book explores the ways in which different people’s values interact.

In 2009, experts in the Netherlands had women rate other women’s attractiveness. They were then told others’ ratings and invited to re-evaluate their opinions. The participants usually moved towards the group’s average – even though they weren’t real, but random values.

This tendency to be influenced by others (what Falk calls ‘social relevance’) has been used by those trying to alter our behaviour. For instance, to limit electricity consumption in America, many bills show your usage compared to that of people in your area.

How you see yourself can also affect your actions, irrespective of other people’s involvement. Academics at Stanford University gave volunteers a virtual reality version of themselves, aged to look older.

Those volunteers then doubled the amount of money allocated to their pension plans. Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch latched on to this, creating a tool that aged your photograph to encourage more saving.

Falk backs up much of her theory with biology. A lot of this falls into the category of ‘Tell Me Something I Don’t Know’ – such as close friends seeing the same comedy clips. (Their brains show more synchronised responses than with people who aren’t close friends.)

But the occasional fact does stick in the mind, as it were. When you receive positive feedback, your brain releases opioids that make you feel good – the same as when you eat chocolate. This could be a diet tip: next time you’re craving Dairy Milk, get a friend to compliment your hair.