Dan Ariely

Making the Same Mistake Twice; And Why a Smart Buy Probably Isn’t

by Emily Bobrow
Feb. 15th, 2008, 4:47 pm
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An outrageous price tag on a string of black pearls in the window of Harry Winston’s first sparked demand.
c0reyann via flickr.com
An outrageous price tag on a string of black pearls in the window of Harry Winston’s first sparked demand.

PREDICTABLY IRRATIONAL: THE HIDDEN FORCES THAT SHAPE OUR DECISIONS
by Dan Ariely
HarperCollins, 245 pages, $25.95

I missed the deadline with this book review. Although I had plenty of time to work on it (having pitched it in December), I procrastinated and ultimately pulled an all-nighter to get it in. This sacrificed my personal utility—that is, the amount of satisfaction I have derived from this assignment. Clearly, this was not a very rational thing to do.

Why on earth did I do it? According to Predictably Irrational, a fascinating new book of behavioral economics by Dan Ariely, to dither is human. “We have problems with self-control, related to immediate and delayed gratification,” he writes. We’re inclined to put off work, even if this makes little sense in light of our long-term goals.  read more »