Predictably Irrational

Why do our headaches persist after we take a one-cent aspirin, but disappear after we take a fifty-cent aspirin? Why do we splurge on a lavish meal but cut coupons to save twenty-five cents on a can of soup? In this book, which has now been revised and expanded, Dan Ariely refutes the common assumption that we behave in fundamentally rational ways. From drinking coffee to losing weight, from buying a car to choosing a romantic partner, we consistently overpay, underestimate, and procrastinate. Yet, these misguided behaviors are neither random nor senseless. They're systematic and predictable—making us predictably irrational.