Critical Book Review - Predictably Irrational - Dan Ariely (2008 or Essay

Critical Book Review - Predictably Irrational - Dan Ariely (2008 or 2009 edn) - Essay Example However, this is not always the case. The book discusses that how cognitive psychology influences the ability of an individual to assess the pros and cons of a given economic situation. Behavioural economics being the focus, the book also develops an interdisciplinary approach and topics such as finance, market and management are explored from time to time. The book has been written by Dan Ariely. He is an Israeli – American professor of behavioural economics and psychology. Ariely is currently appointed as a professor in the Duke University, Department of Economics. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Kenan Institute of the same university. (Duke University, 2010) He has a strong grip of psychology and behavioural economics and hence he is better able to analyze people. His background suggests he has intercultural exposure as he has been brought up in Israel and now he works in USA. I think this helps him to develop a deeper insight of the people’s behaviour. Dan Ariely spent his early life in Israel. As a native Israeli, Ariely was engaged in military service when he was eighteen years old. While at service, a magnesium flare explosion left him severely injured. He had 3rd degree burns almost all over his body, and he had to remain in hospital bed for a long time. During this period of his life, Ariely began to reflect on human behaviour. For example, he wondered why the nurses removed his bandages in the way they did. Were they able to behave according to their intention to relieve him? If not, why? He also noted the behaviour of the other patients around him. It is from here Ariely started his research on irrational behaviour of individuals. The book is well structured and planned. It has thirteen chapters. Some chapters have impressive titles like ‘Power of Price (Why a 50-Cent Aspirin Can Do What a Penny Aspirin Can’t?)’ (Ariely, 2009: p. 173) and ‘The Effect of Expectations (Why the Mind Gets What It Expects?)â€℠¢ (Ariely, 2009: p. 155). These sorts of topics are certainly thought provoking. As the reader looks at the outline of the book, his or her curiosity is increased. The sections in each of Ariely’s chapters tell a story, describe it well and conduct an experiment. Finally, at the end of every chapter, Ariely analyzes the inferences and develops postulates on how the results obtained so far can change a person’s economic behaviour. In the book, the writer has not merely criticized classical economics. He has expressed his concern about behavioural irrationalities too. In the context of the books describing anomalies and irrationalities, there is â€Å"a growing fan base within disciplines outside of economics† (McKenzie, 2009: p. 32). Ariely respects the readers from this fan base and he is tireless to continuously explain his economic views so that the readers from non-economics background can also understand the key concepts. The basic idea of the book (as we fi nd in its 2008 ed. too) delivers a strong blow to the very concept that we can operate a system on the basis of the assumptions that people will always act according to the rational calculus. Cognitive inconsistencies are real factors, and they should be analyzed and reflected on by the academia, government, corporations and policy makers. In practice, economic strategies are actually directed to appeal to emotion, not rational calculus (Thomas, 2008). Further, as reviewed by Doctorow (2010), â€Å"