Dan Ariely: Are we in control of our own decisions
Dan Ariely, a behavioral economist and author of his bestselling book, Predictably Irrational, show us how our mind makes decisions in this TED Talks video. Despite our best efforts, bad or inexplicable decisions are as inevitable as death and taxes and the grocery store running out of your favorite flavor of ice cream. They’re also just as predictable. Why, for instance, are we convinced that “sizing up” at our favorite burger joint is a good idea, even when we’re not that hungry? Why are our phone lists cluttered with numbers we never call?
Ariely has long been fascinated with how emotional states, moral codes and peer pressure affect our ability to make rational and often extremely important decisions in our daily lives — across a spectrum of our interests, from economic choices (how should I invest?) to personal (who should I marry?). At Duke, he’s aligned with three departments (business, economics and cognitive neuroscience); he’s also a visiting professor in MIT’s Program in Media Arts and Sciences and a founding member of the Center for Advanced Hindsight. His hope that studying and understanding the decision-making process can help people lead better, more sensible daily lives.
At the very end he says as humans we are aware of our physical limitations but not aware of our cognitive limitations and that if we could be more aware of our cognitive limitations we would create better designs.
It is a powerful conclusion because it helped me understand something very important. It is a wise decision to study how your mind works. It is a wise decision to get into observer status about your mind and your life.
Many people struggle with thinking positively and keeping the vision of what they want in the forefront of their lives. How about if we approached that differently? Accept that our minds jump all over the place. Accept that the world is trying to make decisions for us. Be amused by it and become a detective so you can be more adept at focusing on what you do want and just keep pointing back to what it is that we want.
Think of life like a very fun obstacle course and enjoy the ride.
What struck you in this video?
