The Upside Of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits Of Defying Logic At Work And At Home (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
Worth a read though it has lots of overlap with its predecessor "Predictably Irrational". Dan Ariely is one of the leading behavioral economics scholars so lots of interesting nuggets. In an effort to be more accessible and less academic, he errs too much on the side of conversational writing - lots of repetition to make obvious points sometimes. He also adds lots of personal experiences from his accident/rehabilitation which although harrowing, take away a bit from the central points made in the book. Still recommended. I read Ariely's first book, Predictably Irrational, a little while back and enjoyed its unique look at the traditional economic assumption that all actors in a market are rational. In this follow up book, Ariely delves even further into the "behavioral" side of his behavioral economics field of study, relying on more personal anecdotes and psycological principles than on actual experiments that he himself (or his co-researchers) actually performed. While I did find the book to be entertaining, I also found that it gave less attention and analysis to actual economic principles than the first book did, setting up "economic" straw men (based on exaggerations of economic theory that very few legitimate economists would espouse) to make the field of economics seem unhelpful and misguided. I liked the book, but I get the feeling that Ariely does not want to give serious thought and analysis to actual economic principles.
What do You think about The Upside Of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits Of Defying Logic At Work And At Home (2010)?
Not as good as the original, but still some fascinating thoughts on why we behave the way we do
—ashra
Standard pop-sci read. The authors personal stories make it a little more memorable than most.
—Lucipurrr
Thought provoking, and set me on a course of reading similar books
—LJCabral
