|  | Author: Dan Ariely
Publisher: Harper
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Rating:  39 reviews
Sales Rank: 1223
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Roughcut
Edition: Rev Exp
Pages: 400
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Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.2
ISBN: 0061854549
Dewey Decimal Number: 153.83
EAN: 9780061854545
ASIN: 0061854549
Publication Date: June 1, 2009
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Showing reviews 6-10 of 39
 A fun introduction to behavioral economics October 29, 2009
Bojan Tunguz (Greencastle, IN USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Many decisions that we make in our daily lives seem quite irrational when analyzed dispassionately and coolly in terms of whether those decisions make any economic sense or are they beneficial to us in some other way. And yet, those irrational decisions are not completely random, but there is some reason to their madness. The part of psychology that deals with this "irrationality" in marketplace is referred to as behavioral economics, and this research field has had a great impact on our understanding of how markets work and has been the major intellectual and empirical driving force away from the idealized rational agents of classical economic theory.
Behavioral economics is also the main subject of this eminently readable and entertaining book. In it the author, Dan Ariely, takes the reader on a tour of various ingenious and insightful psychological experiments that shed some light on the way we make economic decisions. The sorts of experiments described - from drinking various beers at restaurant, selling and buying tickets for a favorite sports team, to cheating in various situations when money or products are at stake - are all very relevant to everyday life. Ariely is also a very engaging writer and the book has a very strong personal feel. However, this overly personal approach can get to be a bit distracting at times. It would have been helpful if the author used examples from other researchers in the field or at least tried to show how his own research fits within some larger picture or framework. As it is, the reader almost gets the impression that Ariely has single-handedly come up with the ideas and concepts that are presented in this book.
Another problem that I have with this book is that it doesn't seem to have a well defined focus, other than the "irrationality" itself. Too many concepts from psychology (priming, placebo, peer pressure, etc.) are conflated and made to seem to be just manifestations of single overarching "irrational" behavior. I would have also liked if the author tried to provide more explanation for why we do act in this seemingly irrational way. A brief description of evolutionary forces that shaped our thinking would have been useful. Many of these "irrational" behaviors certainly must have had some purpose; otherwise we would have become extinct long time ago.
Overall, this is a very well written and entertaining introduction to behavioral economics. It will make you look at your everyday microeconomic decisions in a whole new light.
 Building the world's first rational mind October 2, 2009
Robert Jones (Emporia, Kansas USA)
0 out of 5 found this review helpful
It has been known for some time that people are not fully rational. The real question isn't can we fix people. I think that we can not. Rather, the question is can we make machines which ARE rational. My Asa H is such an attempt (R. Jones, Trans. Kansas Acad. of Sci. vol. 109, pg 159, 2006). Artificial intelligence can be thought of as the attempt to build the world's first rational mind.
 Phenomenal Book September 29, 2009
O. Eshel
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Probably the best book I've read yet on behavioral economics. Each chapter is well organized around a specific topic and incredibly thought provoking. I highly recommend it.
Interesting book for the lay audience, less so for the scientist September 21, 2009
moose_of_many_waters (Palo Alto, CA United States)
10 out of 12 found this review helpful
A broad survey of how we often make decisions and judgments that ultimately are wrong or not in our best interest, this book is best when it talks about specific issues of economics and rather mundane when it examines general psychological behavior. Mr. Ariely is not a gifted writer, but he is a serviceable one. He also is not shy about citing other people involved in this work. Culturally, he is definitely an Israeli, which means American readers, especially women, may groan when he writes about male/female relationships. The book is front loaded with the interesting material, which focuses on such topics as pricing. Toward the end, the author seems to be out of his depth in his cursory looks at broad topics like dishonesty.
From the standpoint of a scientist, his descriptions of his experiments seem a bit alarming. They seem overly simplistic and more importantly have far too few people surveyed to fully back the conclusions of the work. I can only hope that the author, in trying to make the book more accessible to the lay audience, has left out important information on how his work is done.
Overall, I'd say that there is about 1/2 a book worth of interesting material here. That's probably better than most books today. It tends to have a fairly engaging and humorous style. It's very accessible (although my mother-in-law, a very bright woman, said to me that a couple of the chapters were tough going). I'd recommend reading the first four chapters and skipping the rest.
Brilliant look into behavioral economics September 20, 2009
J. Seidman (Illinois, USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I enjoyed this book in much the same way I enjoyed Freakonomics. Whereas Freakonomics explores real-life examples of economics, Ariely's book discusses experiments that demonstrate principles of behavioral economics.
Ariely shows through a series of experiments that people are not the rational consumers of legend. People predictably overvalue things they already own, go after free things even if there's a better deal available, and do many other things that don't make sense. People's reactions are consistent, thus predictable, even if they're not optimal from a pure economic viewpoint - hence the title of "Predictably Irrational."
Throughout the book, Ariely discusses how the failure of many economists to consider behavioral economics has led companies and governments to bad decisions. Policies that seem appropriate if everyone were to make emotionless decisions fall apart when you consider that people are, well, human.
In Ariely's acknowledgments, he lists several people who helped him figure out how to write in "non-academese." Having read many books written by professors, I'd say he received excellent assistance in this area. His writing style is engaging and easy to follow.
This was one of the best books I read this year.
Showing reviews 6-10 of 39
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