Why it sometimes pays to be inefficient

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  The Economist.

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  Hi, this is Ethan Wu, co-host of Money Talks, our finance and business podcast.

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  Welcome to Editor's Picks.

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  We've handpicked an article we recommend from the most recent edition of The Economist.

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  I hope you enjoy it.

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  Imagine for a moment that you are not a human with discerning media habits.

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  Instead, you have been turned into a gazelle and have just spotted a predator.

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  Your first instinct would be to quickly get back into the car until you remember that you are a gazelle and cannot drive.

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  Your second instinct would be to run away as fast as possible.

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  You would probably not choose to bounce up and down with all four legs extended,

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  using up energy while making yourself visible to the thing that wants to eat you.

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  And yet, stotting, or even more delightfully, pranking,

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  is a behaviour that gazelles and other prey animals routinely exhibit.

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  Why they do so is a matter of debate among biologists.

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  It may well be a useful signal to the predator,

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  That an animal is sufficiently fit and healthy that it's not going to be easy to catch,

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  or that the source of danger has been seen.

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  It might be for a different audience,

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  a signal that a specimen with this much energy is going to make another gazelle very happy,

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  but it entails risks too.

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