Excellent recap of human frailties

by WayneBNorris on February 10, 2011

I want to know how Ariely got his job!!! I want one just like it.

The book is a light skim over the very serious subject of Behavioral Economics, and as such, has stuff of great value to anyone in sales, marketing, or the human race. It is the deeper aspects he did NOT address that I find profound, and surprising for his not having mentioned them.

For example, he shows how humans routinely make miscalculations about economic value, using endearingly simple experiments. Not stated are how such experiments could have been done decades, or even centuries earlier, and how they would have changed the modern [dare we call it] science of economics in profound ways. Also, we are not treated to cross-cultural experimental results - a significant shortcoming, notably since both Dan and at least half his co-researchers are not American by background.

This book should be read along with [at minimum] Fooled By Randomness and The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb and Blink and Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. Dan is on to something here, and needs to flesh out this work with another book.