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Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions |  | Author: Dan Ariely
Publisher: HarperCollins
List Price: $25.95
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Rating:  280 reviews
Sales Rank: 8317
Format: Deckle Edge
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Pages: 294
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.4
ISBN: 006135323X
Dewey Decimal Number: 153.83
EAN: 9780061353239
ASIN: 006135323X
Publication Date: February 19, 2008
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Product Description
- Why do our headaches persist after taking a one-cent aspirin but disappear when we take a 50-cent aspirin?
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- 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.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 280
Title Should Be 'Predictably Irresponsible' August 28, 2010
Eric Robert Morse
This book is a thorough survey of various experiments that the author conducted in hopes of finding out more about why people do the seemingly irrational things they do. It is a theme on the very intriguing new science of Behavioral Economics (a mix between economics and social science) and offers the reader a fascinating collection of stories and scenarios that compel thought and encourage further study. It is a lot like the work of Malcolm Gladwell, Daniel Gilbert, and Tim Hartford. And like the work of those noted authors, `Predictably Irrational' is also a victim of the abstractions the author describes and ends up feeling awfully irrational, itself.
To begin, the title is misleading. The author claims that humans are irrational, using all kinds of examples of wacky human decision-making to prove this, but he never really defines what `rational' is or thence what `irrational' is. At the start, we are to assume that `rational' means `based on some sort of easily calculable monetary gain', and when we make decisions that are based on some other criteria, we are supposedly being irrational. For example, in a study explained in chapter 6, the author assumes that saving money is good (saying that the Japanese are "much better" in that department because they save so much more than Americans do). Given that assumption, all Americans would rightly want to save money and the fact that we don't (our savings rate is actually negative) means that we're irrational.
The author then explains why we make the decisions we do make, giving us very useful information on the concepts of the Decoy Effect, Herding, Anchors, Hidden Costs, and Social Influences. By doing this, however, he ends up showing us good reasons for doing the things we do. They might not add up to the goal that he assumes and they might not be good reasons, but they are still based on good rationale.
Many of the ulterior motives, however rational they are, are rather disagreeable and the author is right to disparage them. But the fact that we continually succumb to these motives does not mean that we're irrational, it only means that we're irresponsible or weak-willed. This is a crucial point of distinction because it affects the practical effect of this thesis. While the solution should be more responsibility or stronger will, the author gets diverted and leads the readers in a dangerous direction.
In fact, the author claims throughout the book that responsibility is impossible, that we are helpless in defeating our baser motives and that we should just figure out ways to trick ourselves into doing what is right. When people are irrational, they must be manipulated somehow. As it turns out, Mr. Ariely is a very tricky guy.
In chapter 5, for example, he says that we simply cannot count on young people to do the right thing with respect to sex when in the heat of the moment. So we should make condoms readily available and focus sex ed, not on the physiological aspects of reproduction, but the emotions that accompany arousal so as to give students the impulse to walk away before the temptation strikes. While these suggestions might have merit, they assume that the young people involved in the fooling around ought to have no accountability in the matter.
Many of the solutions suggested in this book tend toward socialism, which is actually the rational answer to a society of irrational people. He attempts to debunk "the fallacy of supply and demand" and encourages government involvement in many cases. The idea is to control the mindless masses by regulations, rules, and safeguards, because it is clear that they cannot take care of themselves.
The conclusion is especially striking coming from someone associated with the field of economics, where libertarian ideals flourish quite naturally. On the other hand, the social sciences beget as much socialist thought as they dare. It is no wonder, then that the combination of the two fields creates such an inconsistent, fascinating, and often self-defeating book. Caveat emptor.
 Confuses MICRO and MACRO August 27, 2010
Jose F Suarez
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Time after time Ariely draws microeconomic results from experiments and then tries to draw MACROeconomic conclusions from his data. The free versus one cent chocolate experiment might work with college students at MIT. Try the same thing downtown Detroit and they will take all the chocolates, destroy the dish and mug the guy who served it. Very LIBERAL bias which is unfortunately confusing to many. A true waste of tiem reading.
Great book! Very easy to read. August 21, 2010
Josep Virgili Llop (Barcelona, CAT SPAIN)
I purchased the book because I saw Dan Ariely on a TED talk ([...]). I was so fascinated with the talk and then I got fascinated with the book.
I recommend this book if you are a little curious about human behavior.
harmfull, July 15, 2010
Mar. (USA)
1 out of 6 found this review helpful
the book contains a lot of stuff that is harmful
like the health advice(which actually increases cancer),
I recommend reading, good calories and bad calories
for rationality blink is in okay book, has some flaws,
i recommend to the book "Predictably Irrational"
I made it July 2, 2010
slowreader
I picked up this book thinking it would be as entertaining as freakonomics. It wasn't but it had it's own merits. I finished the book with a lot of useless knowledge and a new found fascination with behavioral studies. It was worth the read.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 280
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