Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
Book Review: Very fascinating
Summary: 4 Stars
this book really is amazing, dan ariely has us summed up, he really does! everything he says is so so true, this book consists of mini experiments to show us how our mind works and ways marketing words things to make us spend more...but do we really need to?
one experiemt he says you go to buy a pen at a store for $24 and its on sale at another store for $18 do you make the 15 minute walk to save $7? most people said they would
then he says he goes to buy a suit for $455 and is on sale for $448 - would you make the 15 minute walk to save $7? most people said they would not!
It really is fascinating how your mindd works and through reading this book, i think it is a must, you begin to realise how you are drawn into offers...but are they really a good deal, or are they just worded that way?
It is an easy read, you can just pick it up and flick through to find soemthing of interest, though i couldnt put it down when i started so did read most of it in one go! it's totally addicted and recommend it to everyone, it really is an eye-opener. the reviews on the back make it sound it's for managers and business people, but it's really not, it's for everyone, we all make these everyday mistakes that we don't realise we're doing!
recommended to all, really great book.
Book Review: Illuminating
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is all about why and how people don't behave like the sensible, rational beings they are supposed to be. It makes an excellent job of showing how conventional economics is plain wrong and how you should expect normally honest people to cheat (just a little) given the right conditions.
It also has a brilliant chapter on social norms - how people mess things up when they mix up market economy and social/friendship types of behaviour. Those 20 pages should be required reading for every male with the slightest autistic tendencies (and certainly made me vow to be more careful in future in social situations involving favours).
The whole book backs up its assertions with entertaining descriptions of behavioural experiments. Some are enlightening, eg what makes people cheat and just how strong the placebo effect can be. Others are hilarious, eg how we can't predict how our own behaviour will change when angry or otherwise aroused.
All in all, an entertaining and educational read. Ideal for adult males who think they're more rational than they really are (ie most). It is very US-focused but I didn't mind that - the parallels with the UK in terms of health care waste and corporate wrongdoing are close enough and I'm sure the behaviour of individuals varies very little across the water.
Book Review: An enjoyable read with FREE! chuckles
Summary: 5 Stars
As there are plenty of reviews here already which should give you a fairly good idea of what to expect in content, I'll try not to repeat here what other reviewers have said (probably in a more cogent manner).
I chose this book primarily because I am a Psychology student (yawn) and I thought that this might be a good addition to the mini library of psych books that I seem to be collecting. I was also, thanks to the blurb on the back, expecting a dryer than dry book on behavioural economics but reckoned it could be good for sleep inducing purposes. I could not be more wrong. Predictably Irrational may not tell you anything that you didn't really know before but it is written in a remarkably witty, interesting and engaging manner. This in itself would make it appealing to a much wider audience than just managers, psych students, economists and other behavioural scientists. Anyone can pick this up and get into it, there is no complicated terminology and the reader is spared (thankfully) from endless SPSS outputs and boring statistical analyses and descriptions (although for those of us that are forced to look at these things, there are furhter reading hints at the end of the book).
If you are looking for an interesting, engaging read which gives you insight into basic human idiosyncracies and behaviour, then this is the book for you. If you are looking for full on, scientific analysis of human behaviour this is definitely not for you. THe experiments are VERY briefly described and the results are even briefer - no p values here. On occasion, this brevity does leave you wanting - there were several chapters that I could easily have read more on but alas I was referred to the further reading instead. Some of the acknowledgements at the back of the book are a bit cringey it has to be said - it seems that almost everyone Dan Ariely has met is now his best buddy!
All in all, this is engaging, entertaining, interesting, informative and witty. Would I fork out real live cash for this book? Yes, I definitely would. Especially if it came with something FREE!
Book Review: A fascinating read- highly recommended
Summary: 5 Stars
We'd all like to think that when it comes down to it, we make our decisions rationally, but Dan Ariely says differently- not only are we irrational, but we are predictably so. Over the course of this book, he explains how this affects us- from the way we jump at the prospect of anything free to how much we cheat when given the opportunity.
With all these different examples of how we behave irrationally (each backed up by real-life experiments), the book makes for fascinating reading; yes, it is sometimes about stating the obvious, but at other times it's a real eye-opener about why we behave the way we do- and how we can use that information to make better decisions in the future.
Overall, the book is a great introduction to the idea of "behavioural economics", and one you'll want to refer back to again and again even after you've finished reading it. Some may complain that it doesn't go into enough detail, but if you want to delve deeper into the subject the appendix does recommend some further reading- on its own, this book is more a primer for anyone to pick up and read. And whether you're interested in the subject matter already or just want to gain some fascinating insights into human nature, this is the one to read.
Book Review: Apparantly we have a tendancy to exaggerate our business expenses (oops!)
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a fascinating book about why we make the decisions we do
(and why we think we're in control of our decision making but in
reality there are far more forces at work that we realise).
The book is broken down into chapters including topics such as why
we feel it's ok to take stationary etc from work, why we pay more
for more expensive pain killers even thought the ingredients of the
cheaper version are the same and why we would pay far less for
something that we really want than we would sell it for if we won it
for free.
The author, Dan Ariely, a Professor of Behavioural Economics, has
carried out many experiments (mainly by the students at his college
it seemed) which I found really interesting and with some unexpected
results. The results, however, were often a little vague but I
suspect that this isn't meant to be an Economics text book and
therefore the average joe reading this won't be interested in graphs
and decimal points all the way through, rather preferring to
understand his findings in a non-economist-friendly way.
I was also pleased to see that our very own Amazon gets a mention.
Apparently, a lot of us will buy and extra book/DVD etc that we
didn't plan on (or even necessarily want) purely to get the free
shipping (guilty as charged!). This chapter was on why we will take
just about anything if it's free and in turn lead me to think about
why I had this book in the first place - the price on the inside
cover was ?16.99 and is something that, although I may have been
mildly curious about, is certainly not something I would have ever
considered buying at that price (or even less if I'm completely
honest). As it happens, it was on Amazon's latest Vine list for
free, so did I take it? Absobloominlutely!
I really enjoyed this book, it takes no time at all to read and
can be dipped in and out of, but more importantly it relates well to
our own lives and there were plenty of "I do that" moments.
I would recommend this book for anyone interested in human
behaviour. It's certainly accessible and requires no prior knowledge.