Predictably Irrational Dan Ariely Buying Guide
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Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions [ROUGHCUT] (Hardcover)
by Dan Ariely (Author)
Textbook Details
* Hardcover: 304 pages
* Publisher: HarperCollins (February 19, 2008)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 006135323X
* ISBN-13: 978-0061353239
* Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
* Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
* Rating: 
Textbook Description
Why do our headaches persist after taking a one-cent aspirin but disappear when we take a 50-cent aspirin?
Why does recalling the Ten Commandments reduce our tendency to lie, even when we couldn’t possibly be caught?
Why do we splurge on a lavish meal but cut coupons to save twenty-five cents on a can of soup?
Why do we go back for second helpings at the unlimited buffet, even when our stomachs are already full?
And how did we ever start spending $4.15 on a cup of coffee when, just a few years ago, we used to pay less than a dollar?
When it comes to making decisions in our lives, we think we’re in control. We think we’re making smart, rational choices. But are we?
In a series of illuminating, often surprising experiments, MIT behavioral economist Dan Ariely refutes the common assumption that we behave in fundamentally rational ways. Blending everyday experience with groundbreaking research, Ariely explains how expectations, emotions, social norms, and other invisible, seemingly illogical forces skew our reasoning abilities.
Not only do we make astonishingly simple mistakes every day, but we make the same types of mistakes, Ariely discovers. We consistently overpay, underestimate, and procrastinate. We fail to understand the profound effects of our emotions on what we want, and we overvalue what we already own. Yet these misguided behaviors are neither random nor senseless. They’re systematic and predictable—making us predictably irrational.
From drinking coffee to losing weight, from buying a car to choosing a romantic partner, Ariely explains how to break through these systematic patterns of thought to make better decisions. Predictably Irrational will change the way we interact with the world–one small decision at a time.
Predictably Irrational Review
While it is comforting to know that so many decisions are made on from irrational bases, it is discomforting to be made quite so aware of it. No, I take that back: it is quite reassuring to know that while the principles of logic have their place, people are influenced by other factors.
Professor Ariely explains some of the factors that influence our decisionmaking: from the influence of emotions to the sometimes agonising choice between options; the pitfalls of procrastination and the lure of free offers. And why is it that we are often perfectly willing to do something for nothing, but not if payment is involved? From the discussion of the creation of a market for black pearls through discussion of types of dishonesty, Professor Ariely provides insights into human behaviour, in many cases backed by experiments that have tested his hypotheses.
This book is primarily focussed on behavioural economics, but I would argue that it would be of interest to a far wider group of readers. We are all decisionmakers and our decisions impact on others. I believe that many of us with a specific interest in public policy or management, in marketing, or in human behaviour more generally would find value in reading this book. While many of the concepts are profound, the subject matter is presented in a readable and entertaining way.
This is a very entertaining book. Ariely’s research is turning behavioral economics into a “hard” science or at least an empirical one. The minute he comes up with a new hypothesis he also comes up with a way to test it using his MIT students as a social science lab. Many of his experiments and other ones he studied are already classics in social sciences. The experiments where drugs that are expensive are more effective than cheaper ones (even though the actual drug was identical) and wines that are expensive taste better (even though the wine was the same) are already notorious. You probably read about them in Scientific American or Psychology Today.
Ariely starting point is with our dominant sense: vision. He shows how our eyes can be fooled. Depending on how an image is presented we see objects’ size and colors differently from what they are. At his website, he shows many more intriguing visual traps. So, if our eyes can be fooled, can our abstract reasoning be tricked too? Do we make judgments assuming we are rational when we are not? Are those irrational behaviors predictable? That’s what this book is all about.
Some of his examples are pretty intriguing. People bids for various objects were influenced by the last two digits of their social security number (that they were asked to recall before bidding). This is “price anchoring.” His example of the Duke Basketball tickets is baffling. He becomes a middleman buying tickets from ticket owners to resell to others who did not get tickets. He found no takers as the average asking price from ticket sellers was an amazing $2,400 and the bid price from potential buyers was $175. That’s a huge bid-ask spread that seems truly irrational. The zero effect is interesting too. We often make poor choices because something is thrown in for free. Ariely smartly connects the zero effect to our wired-in strong loss avoidance. If something is free, we can’t possibly loose anything right? We think that way. Ariely uncovers situations where we make bad choices that way. Chapter 8 makes a good case for simplifying our lives and focus on the few things we love and are effective at. Instead, we encumber ourselves by maintaining choices open and reduce our productivity and happiness overall.
This is a wonderfully provocative work. Most of us insist that we are making logical decisions most of the time, and carefully weighing the options before making a choice or coming to a conclusion. Dan Ariely and his colleagues prove us all wrong! We are very susceptible to subtle messages that point us toward a direction which has more to do with how we humans are wired rather than to any logical choice. This is must reading for all of us “rational thinkers”. Would you like a free upgrade with this?
Some books are engaging, easy to read and understand; others contain solid and rigorous empirical thinking. Often the most entertaining books contain dubious content and many with the best content can be deadly dense and boring. But a few books are both engaging and enlightening and Predictably Irrational clearly falls into this category. Ariely skillfully integrates the basics of experimental psychology with warm and personal accounts of the social context and significance of a series of systematic investigations of several intriguing questions. What he finds are things social psychologists might have guessed but it is nice to have the evidence to support our theorizing and speculation. I teach a Senior Research in Psychology at a small liberal arts college and will use many of the studies in the book in my class; I’ve already purchased a few extra copies and given them to students who will be taking the course next year. This is a great book for those interested in psychology and human decision making.
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