Are we in control of our decisions? | Dan Ariely

Are we in control of our decisions? | Dan Ariely

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http://www.ted.com Behavioral economist Dan Ariely, the author of Predictably Irrational, uses classic visual illusions and his own counterintuitive (and sometimes shocking) research findings to show how we’re not as rational as we think when we make decisions.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world’s leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at http://www.ted.com/translate. Watch a highlight reel of the Top 10 TEDTalks at http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/top10

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40 Comments

  1. 3:06 no it is totally wrong, and I expect that any mathematician would agree with me because we can not measure the length of a table with a vertical line so it has to be parallel

  2. The sense of free will seems to be a very specific programming by evolution. As such, the purpose of free will must relate

    to nature's two mandates of survival and reproduction. Since it seems to be a very specific programming, how specifically is it useful as it relates to survival and reproduction?

  3. Did anyone after watching all these great Dan's videos understand what was actually the practical way to use this anecdotal theory? I mean we all like these wow moments about unexpected research results and we think "wow, these guys must know some OTHER way to make people do this and not that and probably have a magic pill". But in reality Dan Ariely does two things: 1) he tries to prove his main statement that people more often behave irrationally 2)Tells success stories when somebody did something not obvious to those irrational people and it worked miracles. Cool, right? But, in fact, here and there Dan says that they, whoever they it was, did this or that based solely on research, which means testing several ideas, approaches etc. I suspect that this means these researchers didn't know in advance what results they would get – Dan admits it himself. I personally quite like this entertaining look at things Dan is preaching, but eventually it comes to one thing: does he or anyone from his team has any other weaponry than constant testing different ideas? What does this brilliant theory adds to the testing process that has been on the marked for ages? I honestly don't see any "meat" behind all this or the reason I should hire this guys opposed to hiring any other good marketing team doing research and testing. Could anyone prove me wrong? I would be only glad. P.S. Pls don't try to "talk me into it" – just show me a practical 1-2-3-benefit method, if there's one.

  4. The whole Nudge fad is insidious. Yes you can elicit responses the technocrats/subscription department want, but that's pretty evil. Instead of a form at the DMV with a default, people could be asked verbally when they hand the form in, a little more time required, but a lot more justice. The lesson of that example for me was how technocracy can create a triumph of convenience over freedom. The subscription case is not so bad, buyer beware principle, it is an IQ test. It would be evil in other contexts (public services for instance). Ariely should say it is not just about knowing our limits, the greater story is knowing each other and acting more ethically overall, not taking unfair advantage of another's limitations or falling prey to our own.

  5. I personally think that our subcunsious mind is our real self and while we are on earth we work strongly together with our physicall bodies and let them do most of the thinking for us its been proven that curtain gut bacteria can influance the mind and in animals even controlled them. Our mental health can turn horribly bad because of many defects. Our hormones, our gut bacteria, our drug intake etc. Those i mentioned can turn the nicest person into a very bad person if not threated. This shows me that we are controlled my many bodily functions. And our subconcious mind is just living an expierience. Why? Because one thing that always remain the same as long as a person is still somewhat sane, that is the subconcious mind. Ever done something and than imediatly have something pop up in your head that makes you feel like hey what i did was wrong. This is the real you trying to guide the physicall you. But in order to feel like we have a free will it allows the physicall body to have full control. Its the rule of nature for some reason and we often wonder why would nature allow such evil things to happen than? I think that is because when you die all your neurons and physicall things that made shaped your character and kept it intact dies as well. So now that is left is only your subconcious being you won’t even be able to feel any pain from your physicall self because its dead. You will now only be your real true good self or if you are a bad person your bad self because everything in the universe has 2 sides.

  6. I Would LIke To Go With The 80/20 rule with this one,
    i believe that 80 percent of our decisions are at our own free will and 20 percent may be predetermined or be influenced by external factors.

  7. I heard Dan speak at a User Experience/Interaction conference run by Epic Games. The best line I took away from his talk was "Never underestimate people's desire to do nothing." He's has an amazing mind and is a joy to listen to.

  8. How exactly are the lines of same length, pls? Even after accounting for visual skew, the line on the left is not the complete length of the table. Length of the table is the hypotenuse which is longer than the red line in the middle (which itself is not the middle of the length cross section).

  9. People don't like to make decisions, nor are they very rational at making them in crucial situations (e.g. ibuprofen vs piroxicam vs hip replacement).
    We don't know our preferences well so we rely on the context that has been set by others (e.g. $59 for online subscription vs $125 for printed subscription vs $125 for online + printed subscription).
    "If you ever go barhopping, who would you like to take with you?"

  10. Wow

    I could not read until ms elliot in 4th grade (I wish I had his understanding)

    Amazing how he can talk and make science work for people like me because I have never read a book

  11. Department of motor vehicles (DMV) = The Netherlands Vehicle Authority in the mobility chain (RDW). Population Affairs Department = Burgerzaken. Driving license renewal = Population Affairs Department