--- product_id: 50436883 title: "Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions" price: "€ 18.97" currency: EUR in_stock: true reviews_count: 8 url: https://www.desertcart.be/products/50436883-predictably-irrational-the-hidden-forces-that-shape-our-decisions store_origin: BE region: Belgium --- # Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions **Price:** € 18.97 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions - **How much does it cost?** € 18.97 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.be](https://www.desertcart.be/products/50436883-predictably-irrational-the-hidden-forces-that-shape-our-decisions) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Buy Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions 1 by Ariely, Dan (ISBN: 9780062796417) from desertcart's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Review: An incredibly engaging and thought-provoking read. - I know nothing about economics or business and usually waste my time on various volumes of chicklit but I saw a few videos of the author Dan Ariely talking about cognitive illusions and was immediately drawn to this book. It's fascinating and written in such an engaging way. Reviewers of this book are right - it's not an academic paper and there is some generalisation. However, I think as a pop psychology book, it is necessary to be more general and a lot less specific than one would be in a research-led paper. I read a similar book called "Freakonomics" recently too but it really pales in comparison to this mainly because Ariely conducts his own experiments which give us first hand insight into his frankly ingeniously inventive methods of researching human behaviour without it being obvious to the participant. It's also written in a very humourous and self-deprecating way. The structure and language is so accessible and clear which can't be said for academic writing. I think he puts a personal perspecitve on the conclusions of all his experiments and rather than presenting this self-righteously, he gives some great, humourous examples of how he has also been susceptible to irrationality. I'm trying to write a balanced review but I can't really think of anything negative to say about this book so that's why I'm givng it five stars. Review: Good, with caveats - As others have mentioned, this book does suffer in comparison somewhat to Dubner and Levitt's wonderful Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything . For me at least the foremost reason is that this is one of those books that would benefit from having a European edition. Much of the cultural context and the examples are highly US-centric. Indeed, I suspect some of the behavioural experiments performed might elicit different results in Europe, but this doesn't seem to have pervaded this work. and this is odd, considering the author is not a native of the US [Note: any European behavioural economists or research students might care to reflect on this for a moment and wonder if there is any research mileage here]. Many of the experiments are interesting in a limited way, but manage to have rather localised results extrapolated to reach some questionable conclusions. And he does sometimes have a tendency to be rather unsubtle and repetitious in hammering home a point, as if he's writing for a particularly dim first-year undergraduate: the first chapter is a case in point. If all this sounds like a litany of whinges, please don't let it put you off, because this is actually a very interesting book. Ariely generally writes in an engaging, crisp and sometimes witty style. His explanations are concise and mostly work pretty well in a non-academic context. While you may not agree with everything you read here (in fact, some of it I vehemently disagreed with) you might at least begin to ask yourself questions that you may not have stopped to consider. You may even start to notice some of the things Ariely talks about a little more closely. That can't be a bad thing. [I wanted to give this 3 and a half stars, but have rounded up to four because 3 sounds rather harsher than it deserves] ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | ASIN | 0007256531 | | Best Sellers Rank | 10,067 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) 114 in Philosophy (Books) 125 in Professional Finance 134 in Psychological Schools of Thought | | Customer reviews | 4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars (10,961) | | Dimensions | 13 x 2.54 x 19.71 cm | | Edition | 1st | | ISBN-10 | 0062796410 | | ISBN-13 | 978-0062796417 | | Item weight | 1.05 kg | | Language | English | | Print length | 353 pages | | Publication date | 1 Jun. 2009 | | Publisher | Harper | ## Images ![Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71wSpLcBzeL.jpg) ![Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/710kTRp0K-S.jpg) ![Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions - Image 3](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51DJpEs1U+S.jpg) ![Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions - Image 4](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41uCAIjxT8L.jpg) ![Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions - Image 5](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61WZVdh9IlL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ An incredibly engaging and thought-provoking read. *by U***S on 23 September 2010* I know nothing about economics or business and usually waste my time on various volumes of chicklit but I saw a few videos of the author Dan Ariely talking about cognitive illusions and was immediately drawn to this book. It's fascinating and written in such an engaging way. Reviewers of this book are right - it's not an academic paper and there is some generalisation. However, I think as a pop psychology book, it is necessary to be more general and a lot less specific than one would be in a research-led paper. I read a similar book called "Freakonomics" recently too but it really pales in comparison to this mainly because Ariely conducts his own experiments which give us first hand insight into his frankly ingeniously inventive methods of researching human behaviour without it being obvious to the participant. It's also written in a very humourous and self-deprecating way. The structure and language is so accessible and clear which can't be said for academic writing. I think he puts a personal perspecitve on the conclusions of all his experiments and rather than presenting this self-righteously, he gives some great, humourous examples of how he has also been susceptible to irrationality. I'm trying to write a balanced review but I can't really think of anything negative to say about this book so that's why I'm givng it five stars. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Good, with caveats *by D***S on 18 March 2008* As others have mentioned, this book does suffer in comparison somewhat to Dubner and Levitt's wonderful Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything . For me at least the foremost reason is that this is one of those books that would benefit from having a European edition. Much of the cultural context and the examples are highly US-centric. Indeed, I suspect some of the behavioural experiments performed might elicit different results in Europe, but this doesn't seem to have pervaded this work. and this is odd, considering the author is not a native of the US [Note: any European behavioural economists or research students might care to reflect on this for a moment and wonder if there is any research mileage here]. Many of the experiments are interesting in a limited way, but manage to have rather localised results extrapolated to reach some questionable conclusions. And he does sometimes have a tendency to be rather unsubtle and repetitious in hammering home a point, as if he's writing for a particularly dim first-year undergraduate: the first chapter is a case in point. If all this sounds like a litany of whinges, please don't let it put you off, because this is actually a very interesting book. Ariely generally writes in an engaging, crisp and sometimes witty style. His explanations are concise and mostly work pretty well in a non-academic context. While you may not agree with everything you read here (in fact, some of it I vehemently disagreed with) you might at least begin to ask yourself questions that you may not have stopped to consider. You may even start to notice some of the things Ariely talks about a little more closely. That can't be a bad thing. [I wanted to give this 3 and a half stars, but have rounded up to four because 3 sounds rather harsher than it deserves] ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Very readable and Interesting *by S***F on 14 June 2009* I found this book very interesting. Irrationality. Why we just do stuff sometimes without thinking. Where did that decision come from? The author and his team did several studies of pre-designed experiments to obtain a result that is sometimes predictable even though those participating are unaware of the experiment. Take the obsession with Free things. I loved this one. They set up a stand, displayed two chocolate brands, the expensive one was Lindt Chocolate. They charged 15 cents for the Lindt and 1 cent for the less expensive one. Most people chose to pay 15 cents for the Lindt chocolate. They then reduced it by 1 cent each thereby making the less popular, cheaper brand, Free. They displayed the chocolates 14 cents for 1 piece of Lindt and Free for the cheaper brand. The response was overwhelming. A huge increase chose the Free one over the Lindt. Totally irrational at face value considering a drop of 1 cent in price. There are chapters about, honesty(a particular favourite of the author), possessions, relationships and many others. Another personal favourite of mine was the amusing chapter on heightened emotional states and then answering a questionaire in that state. The obvious and easily created state was to arouse the young mail students and have them try answer the same questions in a heated emotional state. 'Will you now continue without any protection?' .... erh .... yes. Oh but you said 'no' in your cold rational state of mind before. Fortunately, the laptop was given protection, 'just in case'. What endeared me to the book and author, was the fact that the author spend many years recovering from third degree burns all over his body. Being wrapped in bandages and suits for many years he felt detached from society in many ways. He thus became an observer of human behaviour. Like an alien visitor. Thereby turning a very painful process into something extremely interesting and positive. He has a section about pain and his personal thoughts on quick removal of bandages over slower less painful removal of bandages. I could almost touch that horrific ordeal he went through. What I will take from this book is to recognise irrational behaviour more easily in myself and others. Also to know when I might be manipulated by different forces in one way or another. Finally be wary of making some decisions in a heightened emotional state:) ## Frequently Bought Together - Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions - Thinking, Fast and Slow: Daniel Kahneman - Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.be/products/50436883-predictably-irrational-the-hidden-forces-that-shape-our-decisions](https://www.desertcart.be/products/50436883-predictably-irrational-the-hidden-forces-that-shape-our-decisions) --- *Product available on Desertcart Belgium* *Store origin: BE* *Last updated: 2026-05-03*