Recently I finished Dan Ariely's book Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
I have always been interested in the subject of decision theory, and was curious about the hidden forces that shape our decisions. Why do people make the choices that they do? Do they weigh the risks and rewards correctly? We all know that certain people are greater risk takers than others. Some people like to participate in extreme sports while others would never place themselves in harm's way. And some people are generally more adventurous than others. Thus, we know that each of us arrives at our decisions through our own internal vetting process. The book's title captured my attention because I was looking for insights on how we arrive at our decisions.
Ariely begins the book by describing how a horrific injury that, when he was eighteen years old, separated him from society and thus allowed him to become an acute observer of society. This unfortunate event started Ariely on his career and research path.
The book is broken up into thirteen bite sized chapters of about twenty pages each. Each chapter starts with some background information, which then set the stage for an experiment. Ariely then discussed the results of the experiments and how the outcomes differed from what we expected.
Because of the book's title, I knew to expect the unexpected. Thus, I was generally not surprised by the results with two major exceptions. First, in the chapter The Influence of Arousal, Ariely discusses how young males generally react within societal norms when feeling normal, but deviate wildly when feeling aroused. What we do not know from this chapter is whether these behaviors extend to males far beyond college age and to females of various ages. I will leave the specific details for you to discover. And second, I was surprised and dismayed by how dishonest we are. That is not to say that I am perfect and therefore surprised at how flawed everyone else is. I am sure that I am, like you, part of the ninety percent of the population who believes that we are comfortably in the top decile of honesty. Rather, I am surprised by how easily and frequently people cheat. After reading about our dishonesty, I am more able to understand how corporate chieftains backdated their stock options and engaged in other inappropriate activities. I am sure we can all find examples where we are disappointed by the others' actions.
The one series of questions that nagged at me throughout the book was, What about those individuals who did not act predictably irrational? Would those individuals not act predictably irrationally for all experiments? Are they always more honest and more rationale? What do we know about those exceptional individuals?
If you are looking for a book that heavily steeped in mathematics and utility curves, you will be disappointed. Instead, Ariely shows us how we often act in predictably irrational ways, some of which are fascinating and some of which are disturbing. Regardless of your background, you will find at least some portions of—if not the entire—the book interesting. I heartily recommend this book because it will provide a glimpse as to we often make irrational decisions.
My photograph of the Icefields Parkway is hosted at Flickr. If you click on the picture, you will be taken to my Flickr account where you can see more pictures.
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