He models the human decision making process and in particular the irrational decisions that we all make every day.Īriely is the author of the book, Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions, which was published on Februby HarperCollins. His research focuses on discovering and measuring how people make decisions. in cognitive psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Ph.D. He served in the Israeli army and when 18 suffered third-degree burns over 70 percent of his body from an accidental magnesium flare explosion during training.Īriely recovered and went on to graduate from Tel Aviv University and received a Ph.D. Sloan Professor of Behavioral Economics at MIT Sloan School of Management.ĭan Ariely grew up in Israel after birth in New York. He also holds an appointment at the MIT Media Lab where he is the head of the eRationality research group. Duke Professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University. 'Predictably Irrational' will change the way we interact with the world-one small decision at a time.ĭan Ariely is the James B. They're systematic and predictable-making us 'predictably' irrational.įrom drinking coffee to losing weight, from buying a car to choosing a romantic partner, Ariely explains how to break through these systematic patterns of thought to make better decisions. Yet these misguided behaviors are neither random nor senseless. We fail to understand the profound effects of our emotions on what we want, and we overvalue what we already own.

We consistently overpay, underestimate, and procrastinate. Not only do we make astonishingly simple mistakes every day, but we make the same 'types' of mistakes, Ariely discovers. Blending everyday experience with groundbreaking research, Ariely explains how expectations, emotions, social norms, and other invisible, seemingly illogical forces skew our reasoning abilities. In a series of illuminating, often surprising experiments, MIT behavioral economist Dan Ariely refutes the common assumption that we behave in fundamentally rational ways. We think we're making smart, rational choices. When it comes to making decisions in our lives, we think we're in control. Why do we go back for second helpings at the unlimited buffet, even when our stomachs are already full?Īnd how did we ever start spending $4.15 on a cup of coffee when, just a few years ago, we used to pay less than a dollar? Why do we splurge on a lavish meal but cut coupons to save twenty-five cents on a can of soup? Why does recalling the Ten Commandments reduce our tendency to lie, even when we couldn't possibly be caught? Why do our headaches persist after taking a one-cent aspirin but disappear when we take a 50-cent aspirin?

Predictably irrational book