Predictably Irrational

Predictably Irrational is the new book by Dan Ariely whose goal is to help the reader "fundamentally rethink what makes you and the people around you tick" and then shows the reader through chapters full of experiments how systematic mistakes are and suggests ways to help avoid them. To that extent he succeeds.

First up there's relativity and how we make everything relative even when it shouldn't matter, which he proves with experiments with decoys. Then there's how zero -- or calling something FREE! -- actually makes inclined to go with an otherwise wrong decision which is proven with a chocolate experiment with Hersey's Kisses and Lindor Truffles (yum!). He looks at social norms and how the blurring of the marketplace and the social sphere is not a good thing with an experiment involving a mundane task and comparing results when people feel like they are doing a favor to where the participants are compensated. Also he shows with a sexual fetish survey how when we're aroused -- either sexually or emotionally -- we are capable of doing things that we didn't think we were capable of. He also examines how we like to keep our options open even when it's not in our favor and likewise how ownership makes us hold on to things when it's no longer necessary and value them greater than they're worth. He ends with two chapters on honesty and shows on when you get even one step removed from stealing actual money people are more likely to steal -- especially worrisome for a world and country that wants to get ride of physical money.

While a lot of what Ariely shows is significant it is not entirely eye-opening. This book reminds me a lot of Cordeila Fine's A Mind of Its Own, published two years ago in which she looked at numerous studies and neurology research to find out how the brain tricks you and warps your perceptions to make you think you're better than you are in so many ways. The chapter about keeping your options open is very much like Paradox of Choice, and the chapter about social norms is akin to Mistakes Were Made: But Not By Me. But what makes Predictably Irrational different from these books I guess is that Ariely and his colleagues were forming and conducting the experiments. Having an interest in behavior economics some of the results were not that surprising to me, but Ariely's relation of the problems to everyday and life and society are point-on and his suggestions to correct these mistakes are insightful. I like A Mind of Its Own better, maybe because I read it first or maybe because it looks at neurology a bit more, but I think Predictably Irrational is probably more accessible. Regardless the books compliment each other nicely and it's always refreshing to read about how flawed we really are.