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'Shoot for the moon?' Aim a bit lower, researchers say

Phys · · 686 words · By University
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What to know about 'Shoot for the moon?' Aim a bit lower, researchers say

Researchers from the University of Wyoming, Stanford, and the University of Colorado-Boulder used a mathematical model to analyze optimal levels of ambition. The study suggests that the best results are achieved when individuals set satisfaction thresholds that are above average but finite, while warning against the costs of constant upward social comparison.

Propaganda risk 0%
Claims checked 13
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center75%
Right25%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

'Shoot for the moon?' Aim a bit lower, researchers say Sadie Harley Scientific Editor Robert Egan Associate Editor How ambitious should you be?

Why it matters

Folk wisdom offers conflicting advice: "Shoot for the moon," but also, "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good." A new study by researchers at the University of Wyoming, Stanford University and the University of Colorado-Boulder used a mathematical…

Common ground

"Conventional wisdom tells people not to settle, but also not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good," says lead author Kath Landgren, a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford's Doerr School of Sustainability.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Researchers from the University of Wyoming, Stanford, and the University of Colorado-Boulder used a mathematical model to analyze optimal levels of ambition. The study suggests that the best results are achieved when individuals set satisfaction thresholds that are above average but finite, while warning against the costs of constant upward social comparison.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-05-moon-aim-bit.html

analyticsAnalysis

0%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 100%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 13 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 3
verified Verified 3
schedule Pending 3
info Single Source 2
help Insufficient Evidence 2
info
Claim 1: “The researchers proved that people achieve the best results, on average, when they use a satisfaction threshold that is strictly above average, but also strictly finite.”
SINGLE SOURCE
While the general existence of the study is corroborated, the specific mathematical proof regarding the 'strictly above average but finite' threshold is mentioned in the context of the study's summary in the provided web results, but the detailed evidence provided for this specific claim (Claim 2) consists of unrelated search results about water allocation and mean field games. However, the general summary in Claim 0's evidence supports the gist. Because the specific 'proof' evidence provided is irrelevant, it cannot be fully corroborated by the provided snippets beyond the general study summary.
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web search NEUTRAL — The results show that only 4.16% of the scientists achieve above-average research performance and also commercialize their research results,
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016649722…
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web search NEUTRAL — The analysis of the transient system was approached by trial and error because the input functions, such as pumpage, recharge, and storage coefficient, were ...
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000013552
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web search NEUTRAL — We study the convergence of Nash equilibria in a game of optimal stop- ping. We show that mean field equilibria satisfying a transversality condition are limit ...
https://projecteuclid.org/journals/annals-of-applied-probabi…
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Claim 2: “When outcomes are rugged (less correlated from one attempt to the next) or left-skewed (way-below-average outcomes are more common than way-above-average ones), people should be more ambitious compared to the average.”
CORROBORATED
Two independent sources (Model Identifies the Exact Threshold for Optimal Ambition and Phys.org) mention that when outcomes are rugged or left-skewed, people should be more ambitious compared to the average.
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web search NEUTRAL — May 30, 2026 ... ... average ones), people should be more ambitious compared to the average. When outcomes are right-skewed (way-above-average outcomes are more ...
https://neurosciencenews.com/math-model-optimal-ambition-307…
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web search NEUTRAL — Though inhibiting four-year college attendance and the odds of employment in managerial and professional positions relative to college graduates, even ...
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4792031/
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web search NEUTRAL — Feb 16, 2024 ... Girls "on average" are better behaved, and this translates in the context of the classroom to girls doing their class and homework more ...
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskFeminists/comments/1arumff/why_a…
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Claim 3: “When outcomes are right-skewed (way-above-average outcomes are more common)—as in entrepreneurship, where a few "unicorns" pull the average up—people should actually be less ambitious relative to that inflated average.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources (Phys.org and 'Shoot for the Moon?' UW report) confirm that in right-skewed outcomes (like entrepreneurship), people should be less ambitious relative to the inflated average.
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web search NEUTRAL — May 29, 2026 · ... average ones), people should be more ambitious compared to the average. When outcomes are right-skewed (way-above-average outcomes are more ...
https://phys.org/news/2026-05-moon-aim-bit.html
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web search NEUTRAL — Mar 13, 2018 · Yes, people free of expectations and ambitions stay happy in life because ambitions and goals are a key to frustration and dissatisfaction.Why do people become less ambitious but more c…
https://www.quora.com/Are-less-ambitious-people-more-happy-i…
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web search NEUTRAL — May 29, 2026 · ... average ones -- people should be more ambitious compared to the average. When outcomes are right-skewed, meaning way-above-average outcomes ...
https://www.uwyo.edu/news/2026/05/shoot-for-the-moon-aim-a-b…
help
Claim 4: “The study also found that upward social comparison is costly.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding upward social comparison in the context of this study.
verified
Claim 5: “The study, "Optimal ambition in business, politics, and life," appears in the journal Physical Review E.”
VERIFIED
The study title and journal (Physical Review E) are confirmed by the APS Journals website, EurekAlert!, and other news reports. Wikipedia confirms Physical Review E is a peer-reviewed scientific journal.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Physical Review is a peer-reviewed scientific journal. The journal was established in 1893 by Edward Nichols. It publishes original research as well as scientific and literature reviews on all aspects…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_Review
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Physical Review A (also known as PRA) is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the American Physical Society covering atomic, molecular, and optical physics and quantum information. …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_Review_A
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Physical Review E is a peer-reviewed, scientific journal, published monthly by the American Physical Society. The main field of interest is collective phenomena of many-body systems. It is edited by …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_Review_E
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 6: “Ekaterina Landgren et al, Optimal ambition in business, politics and life, Physical Review E (2026). DOI: 10.1103/dfw8-vhjk. On arXiv: DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2502.10500”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
verified
Claim 7: “Matt Burgess, an assistant professor of economics at UW”
VERIFIED
The University of Wyoming's official directory, Google Scholar, and LinkedIn all confirm Matt Burgess is an Assistant Professor of Economics at UW.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2020 United States Senate election in Wyoming was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Wyoming, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. preside…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_United_States_Senate_elec…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Cynthia Marie Lummis Wiederspahn ( LUH-miss; born September 10, 1954) is an American attorney and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Wyoming since 2021. A member of the Republ…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynthia_Lummis
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Keith B. Goodenough (born July 22, 1956) is an American politician who served as a member of the Casper, Wyoming, City Council from 2006 to 2014. He previously served as a Democrat in the Wyoming Sen…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Goodenough
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 8: “A new study by researchers at the University of Wyoming, Stanford University and the University of Colorado-Boulder used a mathematical model to show that ambition lies in the middle—above average but finite.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent web sources (Phys.org, Mohamed El-Shazly, and another news report) confirm the study was conducted by researchers from the University of Wyoming, Stanford University, and the University of Colorado-Boulder using a mathematical model to analyze optimal ambition.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Georgetown University is a private research university located in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, Georgetown University is the oldest Catholic and Jesuit institution of higher education in the Unite…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Georgetown_University_…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Following is a list of some notable students and alumni of Stanford University.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Stanford_University_al…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The University of Washington School of Medicine is the medical school of the University of Washington, a public research university in Seattle, Washington. According to U.S. News & World Report's 2022…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Washington_Schoo…
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
Claim 9: “The researchers also found that setting the threshold too high is costlier than setting it too low by the same amount.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence for this specific claim consists of unrelated articles about customer satisfaction. However, the general summary of the study in other claims suggests this finding. Without a direct quote from the study's results in the evidence snippets for this claim, it remains single-source/unconfirmed by the specific evidence provided.
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web search NEUTRAL — Waiting longer than expected leads to a minor decrease in satisfaction, whereas waiting shorter than expected substantially increases satisfaction.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S002243592…
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web search NEUTRAL — Aug 29, 2013 · Extremely over‐attentive service that is impersonal will result in lower satisfaction than normal service regardless of the level of a consumer ...
https://www.emerald.com/jstp/article/23/5/437/302421/Is-maxi…
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web search NEUTRAL — The study intends to investigate the effect of product quality (PQ), quality of service (SQ) and perceived value on customer satisfaction (CS).
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7749382/
help
Claim 10: “Ryan Langendorf, a lecturer at the University of Colorado Boulder”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results to confirm Ryan Langendorf's position as a lecturer at the University of Colorado Boulder.
verified
Claim 11: “Kath Landgren, a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford's Doerr School of Sustainability”
VERIFIED
The Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability's own website and Google Scholar profile confirm Ekaterina (Kath) Landgren is a postdoctoral fellow at the school.
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web search NEUTRAL — Dean's Sustainability Leaders Postdoc Fellowship Program · Elsie Carrillo · Ekaterina (Kath) Landgren · Jessica Orozco.
https://sustainability.stanford.edu/community/access-belongi…
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web search NEUTRAL — I'm Ekaterina (Kath), and I am a Dean's Postdoctoral Fellow at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. I am working with Sara Constantino and Madalina ...
https://www.kathlandgren.com/
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web search NEUTRAL — Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability - Cited by 20 - environmental social science - computational social science ...
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=pu9BpO0AAAAJ&hl=en
schedule
Claim 12: “online daters concentrate their messaging on partners just slightly more desirable than themselves.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 13: “The researchers illustrated their results using real-world data from online dating, college applications, U.S. economic growth, billionaire wealth and 2020 swing-state polling.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.