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Behavioural Economics: Common Mistakes in Daily Decisions
Talk given by Professor Dan Ariely at the London School of Economics on his research in the field of behavioural economics and his new book “Predictably Irrational”. The talk was given on the 18th March 2008.
Dan Ariely is the James B. Duke Professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University. He also holds an appointment at the MIT Media Lab where he is the head of the eRationality research group. He has a website here.
Ariely’s thesis is that we are not entirely rational, but are subject to ‘decision illusions’ just as we are to optical illusions. There are several kinds of decision illusion, which he demonstrates by way of many examples and research results, however these illusions are never considered in the design of ‘cognitive products’, such as insurance policies, financial regulations, laws, etc. Ariely’s view is that awareness of the illusions empowers us to address this problem.
