Dan Ariely has been accused of faking data in his studies. Here's a good video about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bpFuIj8SPU&t=0s

http://pro-libertate.net/20110203/152-upside-irrationality ( )

Simon Jones, who was the voice of Arthur Dent in the Hitchhiker's Guide To the Galaxy radio program, narrates which makes hearing quirky facts about human behavior especially fun. ( )

More explorations of the ways we humans are much from Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational. I liked this book -- more than Predictably Irrational in some ways. It had a bit more of a positive attitude toward all of the ways we humans fail to be rational (even when we think we are). It also was, as Ariely notes, a much more personal book, going into details dealing with near deadly burns he had when he was 18.

I give it 3 stars, instead of the 4 I gave Predictably Irrational just because it's not quite different enough to feel like it was worth reading both (alternately, now that these are both out, you should just read both together as if they're one book). ( )

It pains me to write this review after adding the author on LinkedIn, but I can only hope that he won't suddenly decide to look me up on Goodreads and see how I reviewed his books... right?

As is standard when writing for the layman, Ariely assumes that the reader has no prior knowledge of behavioral science. Unfortunately, he also assumes that the reader has no emotional intelligence, planning skills, self-control, ... his reader basically came out of a pod as a fully-grown adult with no past experiences from which to have learned anything.

For the veteran behavioral scientist, there is nothing new here. Ariely describes some of his research projects, always preceded by the infuriating preamble meant for the layman. Chapters are erratic, not flowing smoothly, and ideas are all over the place. I can summarize the ONE useful thing I learned from this book in one paragraph:

High motivation, such as a large expected financial compensation, works best for tasks that rely on physical ability and do not require creativity. Otherwise, people will be too stressed out or distracted to actually make their best effort! Read this book for specifics.

For the Mindy Kaling fan, you might find something here... I mean, the obsession with dating based on looks alone. But nothing else of interest. Okay, wait, no, Mindy Kaling fans will find nothing for them here. ( )