Predictably Irrational Beings

So we recently read a book for Consumer Behavior called Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely. If you have never read this book or never heard of it for that matter, I fully recommend it. He talks about how we as human beings like to think that we are rational and able to make good decisions when, in fact, we aren't. Not only are we not rational, we are continuously irrational which makes us predictable. Sure sure, you make be thinking, "of course I make good decisions, I don't fall into this category!" But you do, we ALL do. 

Have you ever been offered something free and thought, "what's the catch?" Have you ever been influenced to order something else at dinner because your friend was going to order the same thing? Have you ever thought something was better because you built it yourself instead of bought it at a store? Of course! We have all experienced these circumstances at least once in our lives and will continue to do so. This is what Ariely talks about in the entirety of Predictably Irrational; we are all susceptible to influencing factors, expectations, self-control, and our own social and economical behaviors. So if you still think you are the exception after reading this book, I commend you. We are not perfect people and do not live in a perfect world. We are just simply predictably irrational.