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The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home Hardcover – Deckle Edge, June 1, 2010

by Dr. Dan Ariely (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 989 ratings
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“Dan Ariely is a genius at understanding human behavior: no economist does a better job of uncovering and explaining the hidden reasons for the weird ways we act.” — James Surowiecki, author of The Wisdom of Crowds

Behavioral economist and New York Times bestselling author of Predictably Irrational Dan Ariely returns to offer a much-needed take on the irrational decisions that influence our dating lives, our workplace experiences, and our temptation to cheat in any and all areas. Fans of Freakonomics, Survival of the Sickest, and Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink and The Tipping Point will find many thought-provoking insights in The Upside of Irrationality.

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  1. Print length
    334 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Harper
  4. Publication date
    June 1, 2010
  5. Dimensions
    1.2 x 6.1 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0061995037
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0061995033
  8. See all details
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IRRATIONALLY YOURS HONEST TRUTH ABOUT DISHONESTY PREDICTABLY IRRATIONAL DOLLARS AND SENSE
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ariely (Predictably Irrational) expands his research on behavioral economics to offer a more positive and personal take on human irrationality's implications for life, business, and public policy. After a youthful accident left him badly scarred and facing grueling physical therapy, Ariely's treatment required him to accept temporary pain for long-term benefit—a trade-off so antithetical to normal human behavior that it sparked the author's fascination with why we consistently fail to act in our own best interest. The author, professor of behavioral economics at Duke, leads us through experiments that reveals such idiosyncrasies as the IKEA effect (if you build something, pride and sentimental attachment are likely to give you an inflated sense of its quality) and the Baby Jessica effect (why we respond to one person's suffering but not to the suffering of many). He concludes with prescriptions for how to make real personal and societal changes, and what behavioral patterns we must identify to improve how we love, live, work, innovate, manage, and govern. Self-deprecating humor, an enthusiasm for human eccentricities, and an affable and snappy style make this read an enriching and eye-opening pleasure. (June)
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From Booklist

In Predictably Irrational (2008), Ariely explored the reasons why human beings frequently put aside common sense and why bad things often happen when they do. Here, in this equally entertaining and clever follow-up, Ariely shows us the other side of the irrationality coin: the beneficial outcomes and pleasant surprises that often arise from irrational behavior. Although pleasant should be taken as a relative term, since the outcomes are not necessarily pleasant for the person who was behaving irrationally. Take, for example, Thomas Edison’s obsession with DC current, and his irrational hatred of AC: trying to prove how dangerous AC was, he inadvertently—with his development of the electric chair—demonstrated to the world how powerful it could be. Ariely is an engaging and efficient writer, amusing us with stories about irrational behavior while staying away from needless technical terminology and bafflegab. Thought-provoking, entertaining, and smart: a winning combination. --David Pitt

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper; 1st edition (June 1, 2010)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 334 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0061995037
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0061995033
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.2 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 1.2 x 6.1 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 989 ratings

About the author

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Dan Ariely

Dan Ariely

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Officially, I am the James B. Duke Professor of Psychology & Behavioral Economics at Duke University.

I founded the Center for Advanced Hindsight, wrote a few books, took part in a few media project and startups.

I co-created of the film documentary (Dis)Honesty: The Truth About Lies, and I wrote three-time New York Times bestsellers: Predictably Irrational, The Upside of irrationality, and The Honest Truth About Dishonesty. I also wrote a few books that did not make it to the New York Times bestsellers list: Irrationally Yours, Payoff, Amazing Decisions and Dollars and Sense.

My new book, MISBELIEF: WHAT MAKES RATIONAL PEOPLE BELIEVE IRRATIONAL THINGS began with my own experience being the target of conspiracy theories, but quickly became about a phenomenon that affects all of us. I will use the term misbelief to describe the phenomenon we’re exploring. Misbelief is a distorted lens through which people begin to view the world, reason about the world, and then describe the world to others.

I derive a lot of satisfaction from seeing my work take shape in the real life and I take part in a few companies / startups. Among them are: Lemonade, Shapa, Irrational Capital, BEWorks, Epilog, Timeful, and Irrational Labs.

I am also part of a team that is working on an NBC TV series that is loosely based on my life and will premiere on NBC in the fall of 2023. The show is called “The Irrational” and officially it is based on my first book, Predictably Irrational.

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D_shrink
5.0 out of 5 stars Well written and easily understood
Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2010
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The author used a very easy-going manner in discussing some important ideas that we often take for granted and on which many of us are often wrong.

One of the first concepts he discusses is the idea of the HEDONISTIC TREADMILL or the idea of keeping up with the Jones philosophy which in large part resulted in our present economic mess. As part of this concept the author discusses HEDONISTIC ADAPTATION in which people perform certain activities to either maximize their pleasure or reduce their pain. Intuitively we might think that if we were trying to study and our partner were running the vacuum, we would want that person to complete part of the cleaning,then quit for a while, do a little more and quit again, but that is not what the experimental results showed. We tend to build up an adaptation to an unpleasurable activity as it progresses and if it is stopped we lose that adaptation and must work harder to build up the adaptation a succeeding time[s] , so that in this case if would be better if the person continued with the unpleasurable activity until completed, another example of that might be completing your income tax return in one sitting rather than spreading it out over several days. The corollary to that is that it is better to break up a pleasurable activity into smaller portions to savor its effects for a longer period of time. An example of that might be sex; for that I can refer you to the Alan Jackson song in which the refrain goes "Nothing left to do after we done it!"

The author also discusses concepts as people with certain levels of attractiveness seek partners of approximately equal levels of attractiveness, although a caveat is made that women are more forgiving on physical levels of partners attractiveness than are men. There are still a lot more men rated a 4 trying to hook up with a female 10 than a woman who is 4 believing she is going to find the 10 male.

Another topic reviewed was can we really act rationally in a fit of anger and, if in such an angry state, how does it affect our ideas of fairness and unfairness [revenge] towards many other people not just the person we think caused us pain. These are just a few of the topics discussed out of many interesting areas.

As others have mentioned and as has the author, he was severely injured as a young soldier due to a bomb blast and suffered some permanent scarring and limited range of motion from it, yet he overcame that and turned his life into a worthwhile endeavor in spite of injuries both physical and psychological and I speak as someone who interned at a VA hospital during the Viet Nam war, so am familiar with such wounds. It is obvious from the ease with which he discusses his various topics that he is learned and intelligent which is also supported by the fact that he was a professor at MIT and now a professor at Duke. As a disclaimer, I have never met nor talked to the author, but simply liked the book and think you will too.
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Ezra Josef
4.0 out of 5 stars Great insights!
Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2018
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-This is an extension of the previous book, Predictable Irrationality, but this book goes one step further and gives guidance with many different areas where we make faulty decisions because of the inherent biases that we have.
-The book is broken down into two sections, one that has more to do with business related issues and the other, with issues that are more of a personal nature. The basic format is to come up with an idea that is being questioned and then to either support that idea or negate it by some sort of experiment. For example, we consider it an automatic and not to be questioned idea that the more pay that you offer someone, the more they could be motivated. Motivation for pay, though, has a limit, and after reaching that limit, increased pay has a negative effect on performance. The rationale is that the person is so fixated on the prize, that the actual job being done suffers.
-Some of the chapters cover ideas that may be related strongly, but the ideas have some sort of twist to them, so that they truly are different. Personal relationships is something that’s of interest to everyone, and new light is shed on certain facets of relationships and dating. For example, he delves into the on line dating world and give criticisms of why it isn’t set up as it should be. The human mind works in a certain way, and relationships are sparked by spontaneity. The dryness of the descriptions of each person in dating sites, inhibit the release of that spark which causes two people to relate to each other. But it’s the detail that he goes into, and recommendations for improvement, that makes this all the more interesting.
-There is also a lot of personal experience that he reveals here, which adds to the interest, and he injects personal tales throughout the book.
-All in all, there are very good and thought provoking ideas presented that can’t all be digested with just one reading. Very good for its presentation as well. Though the ideas it presents are not what you would expect, it’s an easy read, and you’ll find yourself going through the book very quickly while highlighting at least a third of what’s written.
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Joseph Myren
5.0 out of 5 stars AWESOME
Reviewed in Canada on November 12, 2023
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AWESOME
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Vikash Kumar Munda
5.0 out of 5 stars Another Masterpiece after Predictable Irrationality
Reviewed in India on October 26, 2022
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I have bought others dan ariely books and this one too is really good if you want to know more better about human behavior just go for this one.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Ottimo
Reviewed in Italy on March 31, 2019
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Interessante aggiunta alle considerazioni di prevedibilmente irrazionale , con scrittura più personale in merito alla vita dell'autore. Sicuramente da leggere
2 people found this helpful
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Manguart
5.0 out of 5 stars Clasico Ariely
Reviewed in Mexico on August 30, 2017
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Un libro muy parecido al anterior (me ha gustado más) después de leerlo sin problema uno puede aplicar estos descubrimientos a su entorno (aunque debo decir que es más fácil encontrarlos en otras personas que aplicarlos en uno mismo).
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Cliente Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars Genial
Reviewed in Spain on July 9, 2018
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De Dan Arieli no tengo más que buenas palabras. No había leído nunca nada igual. Alucinante, interesante, e incluso muy práctico para tu vida. Además su forma de escribir es tan amena que no te cansa. Merece la pena
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