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 enlarge | Author: Dan Ariely
Publisher: HarperCollins
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
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Rating:  164 reviews
Sales Rank: 120
Format: Roughcut
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.5 x 1.2
ISBN: 006135323X
Dewey Decimal Number: 153.83
EAN: 9780061353239
ASIN: 006135323X
Publication Date: February 19, 2008
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| Customer Reviews:
Popular economics with a twist - people aren't always rational... very interesting. February 25, 2008
7 out of 12 found this review helpful
Dan Ariely has entered into some fascinating space here; the land of the quirky human mind. The book joins the genre of "popular" economics books that seek to apply economic principles to areas of human life outside of finances. These books have been fairly uniformly insightful and, dare I say, even fun. Ariely's book scores on both counts.
What sets Ariely's economic offering apart from others is that it focuses in on "behavioral" economics. Most economic analysis assumes that people are well-informed and rational, Ariely makes the point that in plenty of cases, people are neither. He focuses in specifically on the irrational behaviors we humans are so prone to exhibit.
As Ariely describes various experiments he's conducted, you'll find yourself smiling occasionally at harmless foibles you recognize in yourself or others and shaking your head in wonder at other times about just how strangely we're all wired. It's truly fascinating to read what Ariely has learned about things like the placebo effect in both prescription drugs and surgery.
One nice bonus about the book, is that you can use the book's insights in your daily life. Perhaps you just want to learn to make better decisions on your own behalf, or maybe you'd like to use peoples' overweighting of fear to make more money investing. The insights in the book are truly practical.
One point on which I don't consistently agree with Ariely is what he lables as "rational." For instance, he says it's irrational to literally get more pain relief from a $0.50 aspirin than you do from an otherwise identical $0.10 aspirin. I agree with that (but how cool, huh?) On the other hand, Ariely finishes up with an example of how people ordering food in a restaurant let the orders of others in their group alter their order and consequently end up enjoying their food less. In a country like the US that values individuality, people tend to order different items from the menu. In a country like Hong Kong that values conformity, people tend to order the same thing. Either limits peoples' enjoyment of their food. Ariely argues that's irrational. I don't think so. People are just adding a factor other than food enjoyment to their decision; in this case, social status. Ariely can argue that doesn't make sense, but his diners obviously don't agree.
That's just something to think about as you read this very high quality book. I recommend it highly for anyone who is fascinated by the way people make decisions. As a bonus, it can't help but make you a better decision maker. Not a bad side benefit.
 Outstanding on the most important attribute: Thought-provoking February 25, 2008
9 out of 13 found this review helpful
Reviewers tend to evaluate a book by how much they agree with its premises or conclusions. But the impact of a book is much higher if it makes you think hard. Predictably Irrational is a book that makes you want to think and re-read it over and over and argue with it and be convinced and change your mind and...
You may agree or disagree with Dan's recommendations after the experiments (though I feel inclined to agree with many); you may concoct alternative explanations for his results (until you read the academic papers backing these results and realize that Dan has already considered and shot them down); you may like or dislike Dan's choice of topics, style of writing, or other nitpicks that reviewers will bring up.
But you WILL THINK! And that is the best thing you can get from a book: food for thought. If you want mental pabulum, move along, this is serious steak to chew on.
Disclaimer: I am one of the fortunate people who got to work with Dan.
Real life and economics for the whole family February 23, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
The first thing I did after reading Dan Ariely's book was to give it to my daughter, then to my wife, neither of whom are economists or psychologists. They ate it up. Dan teaches us how to think: About the ways we navigate our economic life, for sure, but far more important, he shows us the principles by which we organize the rest of our life as well, from our personal interactions, to the ways in which we value ourselves. His book is better than an exposition, it is a mirror. It inspires us to think about ourselves in new ways. His examples are compelling, but more important, all readers, no matter what their field or interest, will see through the intriguing specifics and find a resonant chord that is simultaneously deeply informative and deeply personal. His teaching is all joy, and all meaning.
Eye-opening February 22, 2008
5 out of 9 found this review helpful
While more upbeat and not as alarmist or politically/culturally-inclined as Alan Bloom's 1988 bestseller Closing Of The American Mind, John Raulston Saul's 1993 bestseller Voltaire's Bastards or Susan Jacoby's just-published The Age Of American Reason, Ariely's Predictably Irrational makes similar nods by pointing out that people are consistently irrational. He argues that in many cases where we expect to act rationally, we act irrationally, but our irrationality is governed by a system of principles, thereby making it easy to predict (examples: why does a headache not go away after taking a one-cent aspirin, but disappears if the aspirin costs fifty cents? Why does recalling the Ten Commandments reduce people's tendency to lie? Why, after doing careful and extensive research on which car to buy, a random meeting with someone who had an awful experience with that car changes your decision?).
Very interesting and eye-opening.
 Trivial Pursuit! February 22, 2008
22 out of 43 found this review helpful
The goal of "Predictably Irrational" is to help readers fundamentally rethink what makes them (and others tick), help them learn how to avoid some of our repetitive errors. Works for me -
The problem, however, is that it deals with minor issues that Toyota, G.E., Wal-Mart, etc. pricing personnel probably knew upon birth or have no use for. Examples include: "The more we have, the more we want - the only cure is to break the cycle (eg. trade in your Porsche Boxer for a Toyota Prius." A $7 discount on a $25 pen has more influence than the same discount on a $450 suit. "Free" sometimes makes us act overenthusiastic vs. a near-free offering.
I'd suggest something from marketing or economics on pricing instead.
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