It’s time to start a new section: book reviews.  Today’s book: Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely. 

I took a few Economics courses in high school and university and always felt that classic economics did not work in real life.  Us humans aren’t rational machines after all.  We are emotional beings.  This is why I am very interested in behavioural economics. 

Predictably Irrational is a very easy read that uses about a lot of fun studies to demonstrate how irrational people really are.  It actually goes further and shows how our irrationality is completely predictable.  Reading about paradoxes of human behaviour is fairly entertaining. 

If you have ready other material on the subject then you won’t find the bug extremely thought provoking.  It does not really introduce anything new that other books have not touched already. I enjoyed it for the entertaining factor though.  I do think that most people will find it thought provoking and educational as well. 

I recommend it.  If nothing else then at least it is an entertaining read that will occupy you for a few hours.  that’s always worth it, right?  Amazon.com lets you read the first few pages for free.