The Upside of Irrationality

The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home

By: Dan Ariely

Narrated by: Simon Jones

New York Times Bestseller

“Ariely is a genius at understanding human behavior: no economist does a better job of uncovering and explaining the hidden reasons for the weird ways we act.” — James Surowiecki, author of The Wisdom of Crowds

Behavioral economist and New York Times bestselling author of Predictably Irrational Dan Ariely offers a much-needed take on the irrational decisions that influence our dating lives, our workplace experiences, and our temptation to cheat in any and all areas. Fans of Freakonomics, Survival of the Sickest, and Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink and The Tipping Point will find many thought-provoking insights in The Upside of Irrationality.

How can large bonuses sometimes make CEOs less productive?

Why is revenge so important to us?

How can confusing directions actually help us?

Why is there a difference between what we think will make us happy and what really makes us happy?

In his groundbreaking book, Predictably Irrational, Ariely revealed the multiple biases that lead us to make unwise decisions. Now, in The Upside of Irrationality, he exposes the surprising negative and positive effects irrationality can have on our lives. Focusing on our behaviors at work and in relationships, he offers new insights and eye-opening truths about what really motivates us on the job, how one unwise action can become a long-term bad habit, how we learn to love the ones we’re with, and more. The Upside of Irrationality will change the way we see ourselves at work and at home—and cast our irrational behaviors in a more nuanced light.

Not as good as the first

I gave 5 stars to Predictably Irrational also by this author. This current book is not nearly as good. The title is somewhat misleading, as after listening, I'm not sure what he believes the upside to irrationality is.

This book is shorter in length and seems to jump from one concept to another without much a clear connection or bridge between the chapters. On the plus side, he develops exceptionally clever experiments to test his theories. the difference between the original book and this, is there is lot more room for alternative explanations in this book.

For instance, he sets up experiments where behavior is measured by the amount of money the subjects keep, give away or are influenced by. However, in my mind, I would have reacted differently to the situations based on thee amount of money involved. For instance, my behavior if sharing parts of $5 would be very different from sharing parts of $5000. Also, in some 'games' he set up it would matter to me if knew we were going to play the game more than once. In some of his games, this would greatly influence my behavior. Last, the source of his subjects may influence the outcome. Many of his experiments involve MIT students, who you could argue are not the 'normal' population of people.


He also spends a great deal of the book talking about his own horrific experiences as a teen age burn victim. However, I am unsure of the purpose of providing painful, tortuous details of his suffering to the reader of this book.

The most interesting (to me) chapters deal with how long the consequences of emotional irrational decision making can haunt us. Also, he demonstrates how specific stimulus can increase the likelyhood of irrational decisions. I can't help but wonder if the author wasn't try to put us in a certain state of mind with his personal horror stories - perhaps to buy his next book?

You likely find more to like than dislike about this book but it's not as good as the first.

An enjoyable piece of pop psych.

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

This is a great book. The author gives a lot of really interesting information while managing to keep the book entertaining and readable. It helps give insight into the way we live and make decisions, which I found both interesting and useful.

Very educational and captivating reading<br />Enjoyed.

Excellent narration. Loved to listen to the audio book. The piece where people with past physical injuries compare notes about the pain and their altered perception of it is warm and memorable. I also liked the part about self herding and its different implications

A Reason For Experimentation

Not enough to question

I appreciated the tenacity to test. I understand the difficulty in creating experiments and controlling variables. This program was is seemingly inspirational with insight as to how one could implement their own experiments

Intuition V Experimentation a need for balance

Intriguing!

I found the author's observations of irrational human behavior enlightening. I loved the narrator's accent, too!

Just OK

I might be facing burnout on this type of book but I was not as gripped or stimulated by it as I was Predictably Irrational.

This seemed somewhat like "it worked once, let's put more of the same out there".

I generally like Dan's work but I wouldn't highly recommend this book. Sure, if you can't get enough of this irrational stuff, go for it. I personally think enough has been written on the subject.

Another master piece in human behavior recognition

1) Coming from an academic back ground myself, I extremely enjoy how someone like Dan Ariely looks at even the simplest incidents in real life. Such as "why we can not tickle our right side of the body with right hand and get the sensation" and offer such absolutely profound reasoning based on research and his work... He's one of the noblest people I have ever seen in this field (now I know why I didn't make it to MIT :P ). I have read his other book "predictably irrational" and that one was even more gratifying and as always contained priceless approach to behavioral psychology and information.

2) Simon Jones does an extraordinary job. Let me put it this way: I am an atheist, but if I listened to the Bible read by Simon, %99 I would convert to orthodox Catholic ! His voice is energetic, he makes such vivid narration that rarely have I seen in any other audio book.
Overall, I am ultimately grateful that I won't leave this body without having experienced and learned this work.

Lovely storyteller and fantastic read!

This book is a wonderful reminder of how irrational human behaviors can change decision making. I recommend it to anyone that needs to find ways to influence behaviors of others without demanding and while remaining respectful. A lovely storyteller, Dan has a delightful way of bringing his personal story into his work, which always leaves me inspired and motivated.

Rationally Irrational

I found myself nodding enthusiastically at the points mentioned in this book. I believe it's a must read for everybody who has ever wondered why "rational" approaches fall short, and what to do about that.

Very eye opening

The great useful information were modulated on a lovely sense of humor, makes you never feel bored of reading the book! I couldn't stop wanting more...
I recommend it to everyone who wants to understand the irrationality of his or other people's behaviors, it will make you understand how to make correct decisions in your life.