Summary: “Sure, it would be nice if we were more rational and clear-headed about our “should”s. Unfortunately, we’re not. “ The Upside of Irrationality, page 6 I despise stopping to put gas in my car. Seriously, even after the low fuel light comes on my dash, I will drive around for another 30kms before finally pulling into a gas station, practically running on fumes, and fill up the car. The inconvenience of stopping, paying my hard earned money just to keep the car moving seems like such an interruption in my day that I won’t do it until I absolutely need to. Yes, I realize that’s totally irrational behaviour, that my car obviously won’t move unless it has gas it in and the convenience of having my car to get from A to B is the preferred option but still, I wait until the last possible second. It’s this type of irrational thought process – the obvious ridiculousness in my logic – that Dan Ariely talks about in his newest book, The Upside of Irrationality. Ariely is a researcher of Behavioural Economics, the study of how people behave, and in this book, his research focuses on the decisions we make and why we make them, even if they’re not always in our best interest. It’s important for us to understand why we make the decisions we do so that we can correct the ways in which we fail and find more effective ways to overcome our mistakes. This is the science behind Behavioural Economics, helping us “gain control over our money, relationships, safety, and health, both as individuals and as a society.” (page 9) Golden Egg Perfectly Irrationally Rational “We are often unaware of how these irrationalities influence us, which means that we don’t fully understand what drives our behaviour.” The Upside of Irrationality, page 288 Seeing as it’s just a few weeks after the beginning of the year, let’s talk about New Year's Resolutions. Did you make any? I know I did. And they’re logical ones too – go to the gym at least three times a week, rotate the genre of books I’m reading and incorporate more literature into my selections – things like that. I also made resolutions around work and balance in my life, deciding to focus less on working around the clock and more on time and stress management. All important and worthwhile goals, I’d say. But here’s the thing – I know all these resolutions will make me more well-rounded and make my life healthier and happier in the long run but in my short-term thinking, I have a hard time seeing that long term benefit. Like putting gas in the car, our short-term actions have potential devastating effects on our long-term selves. If we skip one workout at the gym this week, that’s just a small glitch in the fitness plan and won’t make a huge difference in overall health. But if we’re able to rationalize missing one workout this week, we’re likely able to find an excuse to miss maybe two workouts a week in a month, and possibly, a few months from now, we’ll have found something entirely different to do with the time we should be at the gym. And 15 years from now, we’ll all be thicker, jigglier version of our former selves! But today, I can rationalize the missed workout, without much consideration of that girl 15 years from now. It isn’t until we recognize that irrational thinking, understand our motivations behind it and then invent or create new ways to behave, that these changes will be sustainable. GEM #1 The Audacity of Assumption “It is very difficult to make really big, important, life-changing decisions because we are all susceptible to a formidable array of decision biases.” The Upside of Irrationality, page 287 As a researcher, Dan Ariely doesn’t trust his gut or “how things have always been done” – he goes out and proves whether those assumptions are correct using studies and experiments. Ariely believes that doubting our intuition and assumptions is the only way to correct mistakes and stem the flow of wasted time, energy and resources and,
