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The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home

5 Ratings: 4.2

A book by Dan Ariely

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 … see full wiki

Tags: Books, Logic, Dan Ariely, Applied Psychology, Behavioral Economics

Author: Dan Ariely

Genre: Health, Mind & Body, Science

Publisher: Harper

5 reviews about The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected...

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review by CharlesAshbacher. June 07, 2010

posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More

Due credit is given to the power of irrationality

The first overall theme of this book is that humans are largely irrational and the second is that there are many beliefs that have been proven wrong and a lot of others that could be proven wrong. Ariely takes on many common beliefs, the one that most people of 2009-2010 will find of interest is his conclusion from experiments that large bonuses paid to executives are counterproductive. Furthermore, substantial bonuses to any employees generally lead to inefficiency rather than increases in productivity. … more

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review by georgepwood. August 27, 2010

Whose Irrationality?

This is a clearly written, well researched book that applies behavioral economics to everyday situations. Most of its arguments are counterintuitive. Did you know, for example, that paying out big bonuses does not always increase on-the-job performance? It may at certain levels of income. But at others, it only increases anxiety, which results in counterproductivity. The Upside of Irrationality is filled with such insights that Dan Ariely and his colleagues tested empirically using very creative … more

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review by gaelstat. July 05, 2010

posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More

This sequel to "Predictably Irrational" is good, but not great.

I had a sufficiently positive impression of Dan Ariely from his first book, "Predictably Irrational", to be willing to give this one a try. My residual impression from the earlier book was of a smart, likable guy, with a knack for designing clever experiments to capture the irrational side of human behavior, particularly when making decisions with economic consequences. This area of investigation has risen to prominence over the past 5 to 10 years, there is now a flood of titles on the market, which … more

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review by KarenTiede. June 25, 2010

OK, so I'm a fan already

Writing as reviewer #31, having written a number of other reviews myself: what is it about this book that virtually all of the reviews thus far, even the negative ones, are multi-paragraph and thoughtful? Usually, by the time a book has 30, we're seeing the "loved it!" "hated it!" "Didn't arrive on time!" filler. Not here. Ariely's work sticks in your mind, and you are inspired to write more than you normally would. That said--it appears that behavioral econ gets really really … more

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review by AlainB. June 22, 2010

Interesting, Entertaining, and Informative!

I really wasn't sure what "The Upside Of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home" by Dan Ariely would be like. I was not familiar with his previous bestselling book, "Predictably Irrational." It sounded like it might be interesting, so I checked it out. I'm very glad I did! It was extremely interesting, and I really enjoyed reading it. The author, Dan Ariely, is a behavioral economist, and in this book, he shares personal experiences along … more

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