Comments on: Predictably Irrational

By: Incentive engineering v. Econ 101 (creativity, crime, etc.)

Incentive engineering v. Econ 101 (creativity, crime, etc.) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 21:13:37 +0000

[...] Predictably Irrational [...]

By: Joseph Hertzlinger

Joseph Hertzlinger — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 07:42:13 +0000

If these theories are made the basis of a set of regulations, should we first check to see how regulators can be predictably irrational?

By: Random Guy

Random Guy — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:12:02 +0000

Good pick!

I read the table of contents on Amazon and was teased into a lather.
There is much more to Ariely than his insightful comments on public radio.

By: John Thompson

John Thompson — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 21:58:49 +0000

People change with the times. So study of human behavior is fascinating.

The “hidden forces” on Madison Avenue have exploited all sorts of psychology with PET scans and Squid arrays of human emotional responses to promote sales.

Hopefully the powers that be will save us with safety nets against irrational herd behaviors like the real estate bubble instead of causing these calamities. A calamity actually is GDP according to the corporate sponsored governments — so everything is relative, (like the un taxed quadrillion? $ world derivatives casino that imperils the world financial system but helps with slowing runaway destructive growth).

Democracy itself is regulated to avoid tyranny of the masses. Leaders use these tools of analysis i suppose to maintain the firewall around power. This is something to study if it would be funded.

By: Brian VanLeeuwen

Brian VanLeeuwen — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 15:32:27 +0000

Sounds like a fascinating book. I generally prefer physical sciences to these lesser sciences like human behavioral science (just kidding!), but I love economic theory. Since our capitalist system is based on assumption that we are all perfectly informed and perfectly rational beings that invariably maximize our own utility function, the deviations of real human behavior from this assumption are always interesting and relevant.

By: Eric Drexler

Eric Drexler — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 20:31:22 +0000

Thank you!

By: Howard Lovy

Howard Lovy — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 10:44:06 +0000

Excellent post, Eric, and I am happy to see you blogging again. I’ll pick up a copy of the book. I have argued endlessly on my blog that actual humans — complete with our superstitions and irrationality — need to be taken into account in all technological progress or scientific advancement. Failure to do that will end badly for science and “consumer” of science. I have no patience for scientists — or, for that matter lawyers or politicians — who fail to take humanity as it exists into account when making decisions for “humanity’s good.” Glad to see that I’m not a voice in the wilderness! — Howard Lovy