This is a good time to reflect a bit on the Olympics

What do you think? Who is likely to experience more regret? Someone who won the silver medal in the Olympics, or someone who won the bronze medal in the Olympics? (more…)

Dan:
I heard a portion of your interview on CBC radio (near Toronto, Canada) and was instantly inspired to buy your book, a behavior most uncommon for me. I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it and have shared stories from it with many friends and colleagues. I look forward to its sequel.

So here’s a question you may wish to explore although the irrational behavior may be harder to test since it’s not an immediate response like cheating or making a purchase. (more…)

Can divorce be good for a relationship? I think that in some cases only a serious failure can help us better understand our actions and their consequences.

The odd thing about relativity is that we judge almost everything in terms of how it is relative to other things, and not relative to everything, only relative to a few things—mostly to the things that are close by and easily comparable….

This video was produced by Spark Creative and Diamond Consultants — thanks

Joe Windish just wrote an interesting post about Microsoft’s Mojave Experiment

In this post, Joe describes a study carried out by Microsoft on people who hated Windows Vista. The company recruited 140 Mac and PC users who thought Microsoft’s latest operating system was slow, that it crashed constantly, that it was incompatible with various devices, and that installing it would be a pain. None of these people had ever used Vista; they’d only heard from others that it sucked. When they were asked to watch a short demonstration of a brand-new Microsoft operating system called Windows Mojave, the Vista-haters were blown away. (more…)

Would you drink from this toilet?

What if I told you that this is a perfectly new toilet? Would it make a difference?

If you feel uncomfortable, it is because the meaning of the word toilet “sticks” to it. It turns out that this feeling is not just about toilets, and there are many words whose meanings sticks to them. Think about chocolate that looks like a cockroach…….

This picture was taken in the Exploratorium in SF, and it was part of their exhibit on discussing things.

Keeping doors open in dating and beyond

This video was produced by Spark Creative and Diamond Consultants — thanks

One of the positive side effects of writing Predictably Irrational is that sometimes people try their own versions of these experiments. Here is one email describing an experiment on cheating and toilet paper – demonstrating the wide range of application of behavioral economics….

Dear Professor Ariely,

I am a fan of your research. I particularly liked your experiments on cheating (i.e. the non-existent “MIT honor code” and 10 Commandments example) and thought that I could apply your hypothesis in an experiment of my own.

I live in a house near the U.C. Berkeley campus (where I just graduated last semester). The house is shared with many housemates, and most of us do not know each other before moving in. Moreover, this summer a bunch of foreign exchange students are also living in the house. This living arrangement has led to a number of problems– namely the stealing of toilet paper. (more…)