Dan Ariely

Predictably Irrational

Nelson Zagalo

Dan Ariely is one of the most known academics in the domain of Behavioral Economics thanks to his TED talks, and also in part to his life story. In "Predictably Irrational" he presents a choice of psychological experiments conducted by himself and his colleagues from the Ivy League and build his case from them. Ariely follows in the line of Gladwell when it comes to write and communicate, being cheerful and engaging, even if he demonstrates more profound knowledge of the subjects than him. However the trap behind this kind of writing is that in the end we feel more like we've read a book of recipes, or even a self-help book, instead of a structured, aligned and comprehensive argument. 

Ariely argument is focused on presenting evidence about humans being irrational, however he never builds on the implications of this problem for the society and humanity, giving just some hints and centring almost exclusively in presenting the most surprising experiments he designed and tested.

Predictably Irrational don't add much new to the domain, it is an interesting and quick read, but if you really want to delve in, look instead for "Thinking, Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman.

Adam

A look into what motivates us and how our hidden desires contribute to our behavior.

Vahe Taamazyan

Great book! The author has done an outstanding job!

Cams Campbell

I literally just finished this yesterday. It came recommended by a good friend of mine.

It's all about how we are all not only irrational, but predictably so. A good example is seen in his example of the advert for a subscription to the Economist. The web-only subscription is $59, the print-only subscription is $125 and the print AND web subscription is $125. Most of his students picked the print and web subscription. But when the print-only subscription was removed, most students went for the web only. Nobody in either case picked the print-only subscription. 

He explains that none of this has anything to do with rationality, but that the print-only subscription is placed deliberately as a decoy. 

He looks at why we behave irrationaly when offered anything free, why a cheap asprin doesn't cure a headache quite so well as an expensive one, and so on. It was an enjoyable read, however I did find it to be a little repetitive and over long.

Predictably Irrational

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