Synopsis

Why do our headaches persist after we take a one-cent aspirin but disappear when we take a fifty-cent aspirin? Why do we splurge on a lavish meal but cut coupons to save twenty-five cents on a can of soup?

When it comes to making decisions in our lives, we think we're making smart, rational choices. But are we?

In this newly revised and expanded edition of the groundbreaking New York Times best seller, Dan Ariely refutes the common assumption that we behave in fundamentally rational ways. From drinking coffee to losing weight, from buying a car to choosing a romantic partner, we consistently overpay, underestimate, and procrastinate. Yet these misguided behaviors are neither random nor senseless. They're systematic and predictable—making us predictably irrational.

Tom’s Take:              

As a data geek and my background in economics, I’ve always had a jumping off point that people act in a rational manner.  It’s the rational thinker that lead my 4 years of economic training…but it’s all wrong.  With incredible detail, Ariely takes readers through dozens of experiments that show that human beings think they are acting rationally, when really they aren’t.  The good news is that even our irrationality is predictable, and knowing this is a key to understand how we really act.