Predictably Irrational

The author turns our attention to some important things in human behavior which is often irrational and at the same time predictable. The book contains very nice experiments that the author has performed with his student introducing in this way new ideas regarding behavior very simply and in a sticky way. There are many conclusions from these experiments and among them is that people do not always make choices that are in their own interest. Some of these result from people having incorrect theories about the world. For instance, there are various "pop probability theories" that are incorrect and will lead people who follow them to lose lots of money. However, ignorance is not irrationality, and given their incorrect beliefs, these individuals perform exactly as predicted by the rational actor model. The good thing in this material lies in the fact that every few pages you find yourself smiling because you too have behaved in the irrational manner being described, and now that you look back on it, it's hard to remember why. It's a hard book to put down, and it's both entertaining and interesting from start to finish. For those who are curious about the world, this might be the last minute purchase at an airport bookshop ahead of a long flight where limited brain power is required.