Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions | Dan Ariely

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions | Dan Ariely | A reasoned impulse

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Predictably Irrati...

	Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions Dan Ariely HarperCollins, 2008 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 85 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Profoundly Depressing

Dan Ariely presents data suggesting that our capacity for decision making is based primarily on our ability to compare things and ideas. Further experiments show that manipulation of one item dramatically changes the comparitive worth of similar items and, specifically, changes how we value those similar items.

If one buys into Ariely's arguments, and his experiments are rather convincing, it suggests most of our decision-making is based on unconscious, arbitrary comparisons formed minutes or years prior. I find that to be a convincing but profoundly depressing view of human nature.

True, Ariely suggests we can and should find our way out of this arbitariness by living Plato's "examined life." Perhaps this is possible in the world of acedmia. The reality for most makes a the examined life an impossibility. People make to many decisions to spend time contemplating the worth of a "number two value meal" compared to the "number three." Our decision making process is largely automatic. Given a list of 100 grocery items and 45 minutes to shop, who could ever have the time to contemplate the value of Prego over Ragu over Newman's own... and still have time to manage the cereal aisle.

In sum, Ariely leads me to view my life as an arbitrary conglomeration of initial anchors. A few times a day I can make an examined decision... the rest of the time I live based upon the fog of the past.

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A reasoned impulse

This is a well-written and well-reasoned analysis of human behaviours, differentiating the social and the economic.

Though Ariely only mentions free/open software once, I fould that the
entire book explained *why* people like Linux, rms, pj, and esr get
the kudos they do.

"The unexamined life is not worth living."

The thesis of Dan Ariely's "Predictably Irrational" is that, to a large extent, subconscious impulses guide our actions. Ariely's field, "behavioral economics," combines psychology and economics to look at why we make certain decisions. The author and his colleagues designed a variety of experiments to explore, among other things, the ways in which people eat, shop, procrastinate, cheat, and react to medications. The results of these studies indicate that human beings are not all that rational. In fact, Ariely contends that we are "predictably irrational," and that we perform the same senseless actions over and over again. If we recognize how and why we behave illogically, perhaps we can learn to make more informed choices.

Here are some of Ariely's key findings: We look at things around us in relation to other things--context is important; although we believe that we have a handle on our preferences, clever marketers can manipulate us with ease; workers are more productive when they are encouraged to value not only their salaries but also loyalty, pride, and a sense of mission; since procrastination is a common weakness, we need extremely strong motivators to force us to act in our own best interests; too many options can ultimately be detrimental to our well-being; preconceived notions and expectations may help us navigate life more easily but they can also lead to stereotyped and faulty thinking; many men and women will cheat not only when the opportunity presents itself, but also when they can rationalize away their misdeeds.

Ariely believes that we should base economics on how people actually behave, not on how they are supposed to behave, and he stresses that his conclusions have wide-ranging implications. "If we all make systematic mistakes in our decisions, then why not develop new strategies, tools, and methods to help us make better decisions and improve our overall well-being?" Although "Predictably Irrational" is thought-provoking and fun, Ariely sometimes gets bogged down in the minutiae of his studies. The book would have been more readable had the author outlined his experiments more succinctly. In addition, his suggestions concerning ways in which we might deal with our irrationality are a bit too facile and impractical. Nevertheless, "Predictably Irrational" is valuable to the extent that it helps us better understand our predilections, quirks, and vulnerabilities. The more we know about ourselves, the better we can deal with the challenges that face us every day.

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A fun, yet educational read

I was also one of Dan Ariely's students this fall, so while I was lucky to have had my reading complemented by lectures and in-class experiments, the book itself was good enough that I read it twice. While the insight here is not that people are irrational--as other reviewers have postulated--that is a well-known fact of life. Otherwise, we would all recycle, eat healthy foods, exercise, and "Deal or No Deal" would never be a supenseful television show. What is interesting is Dan's insights into the common and predictable nature of these quirks of human nature. I actually found this book very inspiring rather than depressing, because Dan shows us that we can actually understand humans' strange behavior and change our collective paradigm so that we work with, not against, these forces. The implications for people in law enforcement, policy, product development, teaching, and nearly any other walk of life are vast and exciting. In short, I highly recommend this book because it is both entertaining and informational. Enjoy!

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