Predictably Irrational

The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions

By: Dan Ariely

Narrated by: Simon Jones

Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

Why do our headaches persist after taking a one-cent aspirin but disappear when we take a 50-cent aspirin? Why does recalling the 10 Commandments reduce our tendency to lie, even when we couldn't possibly be caught? Why do we splurge on a lavish meal but cut coupons to save 25 cents on a can of soup? Why do we go back for second helpings at the unlimited buffet, even when our stomachs are already full? And 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?

When it comes to making decisions in our lives, we think we're in control. We think we're making smart, rational choices. But are we? In a series of illuminating, often surprising experiments, MIT behavioral economist Dan Ariely refutes the common assumption that we behave in fundamentally rational ways. Blending everyday experience with groundbreaking research, Ariely explains how expectations, emotions, social norms, and other invisible, seemingly illogical forces skew our reasoning abilities.

Not only do we make astonishingly simple mistakes every day, but we make the same types of mistakes, Ariely discovers. We consistently overpay, underestimate, and procrastinate. We fail to understand the profound effects of our emotions on what we want, and we overvalue what we already own. Yet these misguided behaviors are neither random nor senseless. They're systematic and predictable - making us predictably irrational.

From 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. Predictably Irrational will change the way we interact with the world - one small decision at a time.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2008 Dan Ariely (P)2008 HarperCollins Publishers

Excellent Read

Very good book. I think everyone in the US should read read this book. This will increase your knowledge and make you better prepare and aware of surroundings in this complicated world that is focused on making money and using strategies to manipulate your thinking and decision making.

Useful stuff, told in a amusing manner

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This book will get you to learn not to trust your judgement so blindly. Deepening our understanding of how we tend to make decisions is a tortuous route to self confidence... Eventually it helps to know why things don't come out the way we expected... In any case, this is a well written book with heavy and dense content, the result of serious and extende research, made light by the way it is written and read.

Very good book!

What did you like best about this story?

This category of book is overcrowded. Some are good, many are mediocre. I was very impressed with one. It was entertaining, interesting, and useful. I highly recommend it.

What about Simon Jones’s performance did you like?

Very good performance.

Great information, style a little too stuffy for today's standards

This is a great book. I love that it's supported by scientific studies, most of which are carried by the author himself. The only problem for me is that the book is at an awkward middle ground between a text book and a more high energy handbook. If I was this admirable writer's editor I would have broken this down into 2 books: a short handbook full of big-picture exciting ideas, and a more in-depth second part with more statistics and going more hands-on in regards of the research studies and their methods and insights.

There's great information here, but I might be biased also because I just wasn't a fan of this book's narrator, this being something I can't support with any reasonable argument at this time.

Great factual stories about human irrationality

Small subtraction from performance due to common voice tone changes during chapters. . . . . .

A great discovery

What made the experience of listening to Predictably Irrational the most enjoyable?

Dan Ariely kept me interested from the first to the last chapter. A lot to know and think about coming out of his experiences.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Predictably Irrational?

My favorite moment was when he realized, after a tough accident, he was looking at the world from another angle. His experience showed him to evaluate and appreciate other aspects of life.

Which character – as performed by Simon Jones – was your favorite?

Dan Ariely himself and his life experience

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Starting over again

Any additional comments?

The book is quite helpful to make you think twice about your daily experience as a consumer. It also makes you realize why you repeatedly procrastinate and how to avoid it.

Very interesting.

I'm so glad I listened to this. I learned a lot from it. However, a lot of their experiments were conducted in small groups with minimal control groups so I'm not too sure how accurate the numbers are.

Fascinating

This book covers behavioral economics, or why we make the money decisions we make. It points out the less than rational reasons we do what we do using actual experiments to back up the claims. Those experiments can be pretty entertaining, too. The narrator keeps the pace lively and doesn't let the recitation of numbers become dull or tedious. I was surprised to reach the end because I could have kept listening a lot longer!

Very informative and entertaining

Book talk about day to day irrational behaviour which we follow because that looks rational. Those are predictably irrational.
Book is very entertaining because examples are used from day to day life. It shows us how we get tripped over by something because mind work in certain manner and marketing can use that weakness.

Extremely well supported by controlled studies.

This book shows how relativistic our decision making process is. Not value based but anchored in preconceptions and overweighting of criteria based on social factors. The narration was excellent.