Predictably Irrational

Then we get together to talk about what stood out, what challenged us, and how we can apply those lessons in our work, with our clients, and in our everyday lives.

Today's selection is Predictably Irrational, The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely.

The book explores how our decisions are often influenced by forces we don't fully recognize and why our behavior doesn't always follow the logical path we might expect.

This month's selection was chosen by John.

Um, so if, if you think about that for a second, while there's, there, there is some truth to that is that people are irrational.

But you've probably read, um, the works by Dan Ariely and his, his popular book Predictably Irrational, where he ran a lot of thought-- he ran a lot of like actual behavioral economics experiments, um, both, uh, here in MIT and other places.

And what he showed is that people do behave irrationally.

And so this is the difference between behavioral economics and classical economics, where classical economics would say that people behave in their self-interest.

And that one word, your, can completely change what you think something is worth.

Welcome to part two of Dan Ariely's Predictably Irrational.

In the first half of the book, we discovered that human beings aren't nearly as rational as we'd like to believe.

But in the second half, things get even more interesting because Ariely begins exploring how easily our decisions can be manipulated by something as simple as ownership, options, expectations, price, and context.

It becomes a tool because sometimes the best way to improve a decision isn't to give people more information.

It's to understand the invisible forces shaping the decision in the first place.

So let's jump back into Predictably Irrational and see just how predictable the rest of our irrationality really is.

Without further ado, let's get started.

It was shortly after.

The book by Dan Ariely, Predictably Irrational, is the book.

So yeah, if you really want to dig into arbitrary coherence, you can get it for...

I don't know, you can probably buy used for less than $8 anymore, shipped to you for free.

Yeah, I mean, again, sort of in the individual, in the category of like individual, you know, health, whatever, l- lifestyle, health behavior books.

One that's a little bit off the beaten path, but I think is a really great book, is something called "Predictably Irrational," and it's a book by a guy named Dan Ariely, and Dan is a dual PhD in psychology and economics, so he's a behavioral economist.

And what's fascinating about "Predictably Irrational" is it really shows us how we go about making decisions, and it's a fascinating read and a fascinating way to understand how not only we make decisions, but even how we could help influence others to make decisions.

So I think "Predictably Irrational" is, is, is one that I highly recommend.

Um, and then I, I...

You know, God, there's, there, there's so many, there are so many great ones out there.

Learn more at innoguide.net.

In this episode, number 114, we'll be sharing Predictably Irrational, The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely.

We like to believe we make rational decisions.

We compare the options, we weigh the facts, and we choose what makes sense, except when we don't.

And what makes Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely so fascinating is that our irrationality isn't random.

It's surprisingly predictable.

That idea has always intrigued me, because whether you're designing a medical device, pricing a new product, running a business, or simply deciding what to buy, you're constantly trying to understand why people make the choices they make.

Why does putting a ridiculously expensive option next to two reasonable ones suddenly change which one we choose? Why can the first price we see for something influence what we're willing to pay for years afterwards? And strangest of all, why does the word free seem to short-circuit our ability to do basic math? Ariely explores these questions through experiments that are often simple, clever, and occasionally funny.

One is when I was younger, I did, in college, studied behavioral economics.

And so some of the books, like there's a book called Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely.

It's a great

book.