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A Taste of Irrationality: Sample chapters from Predictably Irrational and Upside of Irrationality
by
Sample chapters from Predictably Irrational and Upside of Irrationality.
Predictably Irrational
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
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Kindle Edition, 71 pages
Published
(first published July 26th 2010)
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Start your review of A Taste of Irrationality: Sample chapters from Predictably Irrational and Upside of Irrationality

This isnt really a book, it's a sample of chapters from another book by the same author called the upside of irrationality.
It talks of really interesting facts regarding our society and it's most important factors and what roles they play in our lives and how severely they shape them.. Social and economical norms.
It's very fascinating. When he talked about money and selfishness. We think that by paying for something we own it and everything else related to it so we seldom think of other people ...more
It talks of really interesting facts regarding our society and it's most important factors and what roles they play in our lives and how severely they shape them.. Social and economical norms.
It's very fascinating. When he talked about money and selfishness. We think that by paying for something we own it and everything else related to it so we seldom think of other people ...more

Good Read. Some insights really throw "aha" movement
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Some people may be familiar with Dan Ariely's academic work, as it was famously cited in the bestseller "Drive" by Daniel Pink. in this book, Ariely explores the counter-intuitive behaviors of human beings in a wide variety of situations. The experiment referred to in "Drive", where people were tested to see what the impact of tying large bonuses to their work is fascinating since it clearly shows that the pay practices of CEO's and Wall Street are fundamentally counter-productive. This type of
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Fast Read, But Still Too Long!
This is a short book, perhaps drawn out beyond the length it should be. There are some interesting and thought-provoking ideas here worth considering, some of which might change your perspectives on life, people, and yourself.
Many of the concepts discussed are counterintuitive and nontraditional, something for which we should be skeptical. Still, the author shares a compelling series of arguments that might make you more suspicious those motives behind good and poo ...more
This is a short book, perhaps drawn out beyond the length it should be. There are some interesting and thought-provoking ideas here worth considering, some of which might change your perspectives on life, people, and yourself.
Many of the concepts discussed are counterintuitive and nontraditional, something for which we should be skeptical. Still, the author shares a compelling series of arguments that might make you more suspicious those motives behind good and poo ...more

Ariely's book is a collection of experiments that he and his peers conducted at Harvard and MIT. While these experiments do show that irrationality is predictable, it does so in a somewhat uninteresting way. Given the title, I was expecting more dialogue and conceptual thinking. Ariely does make prescriptions as to what we could do (as a society) to battle the plague of predictable irrationality that is so ubiquitous in most societies, but these prescriptions take second-seat to the descriptive
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I was bored and I downloaded this book from iTunes' free section, and it was worth the shot.
It's a book about modern economy, discussing principles such as the supply/demand concept throughout experiments and presents the outcomes of the experiments in an interesting way.
It also discusses motivation at work, the role social and economical norms take when taking purchasing decisions. An interesting book, indeed. ...more
It's a book about modern economy, discussing principles such as the supply/demand concept throughout experiments and presents the outcomes of the experiments in an interesting way.
It also discusses motivation at work, the role social and economical norms take when taking purchasing decisions. An interesting book, indeed. ...more

While looking for a book that will help me improve myself I found "A TASTE OF IRRAIONALITY", tis book shows us all of the irrational, logical, human things that happen in our society and that sometimes we dont even notice them unless we really stop and think "what are we doing?". It is an interesting book that will not only help you understand a little more of what we do as a society but will also help you understand irrationalities that are not always necessary.
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I reserve my 5 star ratings for books that I think everyone should read. Books that I enjoyed and with useful information that I have not (yet) found elsewhere.
Much of human behavior that you read about in the book is familiar to all of us. Ariely goes into a little of the why of it - and a lot of how we are exploited by it or could make use of the knowledge. Basically, not everything we do makes sense, and this book identifies a number of the common strange decisions we make. Great stuff.
Much of human behavior that you read about in the book is familiar to all of us. Ariely goes into a little of the why of it - and a lot of how we are exploited by it or could make use of the knowledge. Basically, not everything we do makes sense, and this book identifies a number of the common strange decisions we make. Great stuff.

Really I would recommend anyone at all interested in human behaviour and behavioural economics to read Dan Ariely's longer works, but this taster book presents self standing extracts from the bigger works and should serve to entice new readers. Dan Ariely writes well and on incredibly interesting original research. If anyone is tempted to think that humans are rational actors, then try this taster at least - and then think again.
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Jan 22, 2014
Ichetuckneee
marked it as to-read
Read 3 of his books so far, so I know what is in this one, but it should be on my bookshelf anyway. Watch him on TED videos and then read his books. You'll have a much better understanding, I promise.
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Through his books and Ted Talks, Dan Ariely single-handedly fueled my interest in economics. His experiments are about subject matter that I actually care about and want to know the outcome of. He is a genius and I can't wait to learn more from him!
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This book made me miss studying Economics. Blog post about it is on the Epilogger blog: http://epilo.gr/Wb45T.
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This free ebook is a bundling of sample chapters from Dan Ariely's books about behavioral economics. I was fascinated by what I read and plan to check out the full volumes.
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Apr 29, 2012
Krishy
added it
very cool concepts

I thought it might change the way I think, but it didn't. It was fun though, and I learned a lot -- especially that the author likes to conduct psychological experiments!
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From Wikipedia:
Dan Ariely is the James B. Duke Professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University. He also holds an appointment at the MIT Media Lab where he is the head of the eRationality research group. He was formerly the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Behavioral Economics at MIT Sloan School of Management.
Dan Ariely grew up in Israel after birth in New York. He served in the Israeli army and ...more
Dan Ariely is the James B. Duke Professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University. He also holds an appointment at the MIT Media Lab where he is the head of the eRationality research group. He was formerly the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Behavioral Economics at MIT Sloan School of Management.
Dan Ariely grew up in Israel after birth in New York. He served in the Israeli army and ...more
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