Predictably Irrational, by Dan Ariely, is a popular-level look at behavioral economics, the relatively recent field of study that examines how people actually make decisions, instead of assuming, as economics traditionally has, that people act rationally. As numerous behavioral economics experiments have demonstrated, people often act in ways that are, as the title says, both irrational and predictably so. Thus, for instance, people can be shown to buy things they don't actually want just to get something "free," or to pay arbitrary amounts for things related to random numbers like the last digits of their Social Security Numbers.
The book is generally a fun, engaging, and convincing description of the research findings regarding people's irrational tendencies. It is somewhat less successful when it suggests ways to combat those tendencies. The worst of these is when Ariely suggests that to make people keep medical screening appointments, they should be forced to put down $100+ deposits. This strikes me as an incredibly efficient way of making sure that the poor get even worse health care than they currently do, or, put more concisely, my, what astonishing class bias you have.
My annoyance with that particular "suggestion" was probably exacerbated by the reader of the audiobook version, Simon Jones, who is British and whose voice I found just a touch snooty—giving an extra dash of condescension to this American ear. Otherwise, Jones generally gives a smooth and accessible reading, though I probably would have preferred to read this book.
You can find out more about Ariely's research at www.predictablyirrational.com.
- categories: audiobooks ; books » non-fiction
Comments:
#1 :: Dan Blum wrote on March 5, 2009 at 11:44 PM:
#2 :: Kate wrote on March 6, 2009 at 12:43 AM:
I can't imagine there are two British audiobook readers called Simon Jones, so, yes.
And yes, he talks about Tversky and Kahneman's work on relativity.
#3 :: Dan Blum wrote on March 6, 2009 at 10:57 AM:
Excellent. *Goes off to reserve the book at the library.*
#4 :: telophase wrote on March 6, 2009 at 3:42 PM:
Yup, Arthur Dent. So I didn't find him snooty because of my prior associations, but it was really odd to hear Arthur Dent lecturing me on behavioral economics. :)
#5 :: Dan Blum wrote on March 6, 2009 at 3:47 PM:
Hee.
I'm not even sure I'd recognize his voice now... it's been donkey's years since I saw the TV version and even longer since I listened to the records. I should see if I can find the latter.
#6 :: Dan Blum wrote on March 31, 2009 at 11:30 AM:
This was an interesting book - thanks for recommending it.
I agree that Ariely having some class bias issues. Fortunately they do not infect all his ideas (I thought his ideas on credit cards were decent, although I didn't spend a lot of time thinking about them, so might well have missed a major flaw).
#7 :: Kate wrote on March 31, 2009 at 1:21 PM:
Glad you found it interesting, and thanks for reporting back!
#8 :: James Davis Nicoll wrote on April 14, 2009 at 12:19 PM:
I read the Ariely and was struck by the comic potential in the idea of harried senior executives who only skimmed the book trying to put its ideas into practice.
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Is that the Arthur Dent Simon Jones? If so that is almost enough to get me to listen to the audiobook, but not quite (I don't like listening to books as a general rule).
It sounds like something I might want to read, however. Do you recall if he covers work by people such as Kahnemann and Tversky (which is what I am familiar with in this general area)?