The book explores the unexpected benefits of defying logic in both work and personal life, highlighting how irrationality can lead to greater productivity, happiness, and satisfaction. It delves into various psychological principles, such as the IKEA effect and the Baby Jessica effect, to illustrate these points. The reviewer finds the book engaging and insightful, though some chapters may not fully deliver on the promise of unexpected benefits.
Dan Ariely's 'The Upside of Irrationality' continues his exploration of human behavior, focusing on the benefits of defying logic in various aspects of life. The book covers a range of topics, from why large bonuses can reduce productivity to the psychological principles behind our attachment to things we create. The reviewer appreciates the book's engaging style and the interesting experiments and anecdotes presented. However, they note that while the book is thought-provoking, some chapters may not fully deliver on the promise of unexpected benefits from irrationality. Overall, the book offers valuable insights into human behavior and decision-making, making it a worthwhile read for those interested in psychology and behavioral economics.
Quick quotes
Very high bonuses can create stress because they cause people to over focus on the compensation, while reducing their performance.
Our Experiments demonstrated four principles of human endeavor: The effort that we put into something does not just change the object. It changes us and the way we evaluate that object.
We commonly overvalue what we have and we consider giving it up to be a loss. Losses are psychologically painful, and, accordingly, we need a lot of extra motivation to be willing to give something up.