Predictably irrational by Dan Ariely

Predictably irrational by Dan Ariely

by Unknown author · first published 2015

39mentions
32recommended by
37HN commenters
2008–2025first – last mentioned

86% recommend14% neutral

Why HN recommends it

Accessible, study-driven tour of cognitive biases like anchoring, the pull of free, and context-dependent pricing; suits product builders, marketers and UI designers wanting practical insight into how people decide.

Summarised by Claude from recommending comments

In today's fast-paced world, it's tough to find the time to read. But with Joosr guides, you can get the key insights from bestselling non-fiction titles in less than 20 minutes. Whether you want to gain knowledge on the go or find the books you'll love, Joosr's brief and accessible eBook summaries fit into your life. Find out more at joosr.com. As logical as we think we are, we've all made completely irrational decisions. Most of us make at least one every day. Discover the predictable patterns behind irrationality and put your rational mind back in charge. Every day, thousands of decisions-b

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Mentions per year

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What Hacker News says

  • yusufp · Dec 26, 2017 · Recommends

    …https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE-kxvSEhkzDEmLQx3RE0...: Taught me about how we've evolved as humans and how we haven't. - Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman: Taught me more about human biases. - Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely: Taught me more about how and why we make decisions and what good decisions are. The thing I've really started to notice is it's not enough to know or read about mental models, you have to ruthlessly…

    on “Ask HN: Any recommended books on developing mental models?” ↗
  • technology · Nov 25, 2011 · Recommends

    …5) Any other similar area in business/life. For example: Peter Bevelin - Seeking Wisdom - From Darwin to Munger The Personal MBA - Josh Kaufman Charlie Munger - The Psychology of Human Misjudgment Predictably Irrational - by Dan Ariely Daniel Kahneman - Thinking, Fast and Slow The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life - Twyla Tharp Michael Michalko - Creative Thinkering Thinking in Systems: A Primer - Donella H. Meadows The…

    on “Ask HN: What books to read on developing mental models and increasing cognition?” ↗
  • coglethorpe · May 16, 2008 · Recommends

    1. "The Wisdom of Crowds" by James Surowiecki 2. "Predictably Irrational" by Dan Ariely 3. "The Search" by John Battelle 4. "Made to Stick" by Chip Heath and Dan Heath 5. "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell That should cover your trip. I've listened to all of them and really liked…

    on “Ask YC: Road trip. Which audio books would you recommend?” ↗
  • kriro · Sep 27, 2012 · Recommends

    …keep a counter and once the money to buy item X is reached the guy being tipped gets that. Developer conferences, hardware and so forth are obvious candidates. [A good pop-book on the topic I liked is "Predictably Irrational" by Dan Ariely...he also has a TED Talk on this iirc]

    on “Why I want to see Gittip succeed” ↗
  • boulos · Apr 26, 2016 · Recommends

    Predictably irrational by Dan Ariely has a good number of case studies that I think illuminate the topic particularly well: http://www.amazon.com/Predictably-Irrational-Revised-Expanded-Decisions/dp/0061353248 Unsurprisingly there's…

    on “Do not talk about pricing” ↗
  • bad_user · Nov 11, 2015 · Recommends

    …experiencing this strategy time and time again in the past from companies like Microsoft. You'd think we should have learned by now. In fact such marketing strategies are exemplified in books such as "Predictably Irrational" by Dan Ariely. That was an interesting read if you're interested. And it never ends up well, either for consumers or for the industry at large. And you've got good options available that I think are better than Google…

    on “FastMail under DDoS Attack” ↗
  • subbu · Sep 23, 2009 · Recommends

    I'm hesitant to add more plans at the risk of creating too many options for users Read 'The Truth about Relativity' in Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely. He explains this problem really well. A quote from that chapter: most people don't know what they want unless they see it in context. We don't know what kind of racing bike we want—until we see a champ…

    on “Ask HN: Review my classroom web tool, Eduset” ↗
  • makmanalp · Mar 29, 2010 · Recommends

    Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely: http://www.predictablyirrational.com/ Interesting book on why people act irrationally.

    on “Ask HN: Interesting (Non software) books?” ↗
  • makmanalp · Dec 6, 2010 · Recommends

    It's a tie between Naked Economics by Charles Wheelan and Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely. Naked Economics was a brilliant overview of economics in that it explains all the concepts behind economics without being utterly boring (like all the other texts I've attempted to read) and has real…

    on “Ask HN: Best book you read in 2010 and briefly why” ↗
  • rst · Jan 31, 2011 · Recommends

    …brasserie in NYC): http://nymag.com/restaurants/features/62498/ CPK: http://www.walletpop.com/2010/01/15/secret-restaurant-menu-t... More on this sort of thing (a lot more) can be found in, e.g., Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely (highly recommended)...

    on “The Power of Comparison: How It Affects Decision Making” ↗
  • nana_gb · Feb 4, 2012 · Recommends

    Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Cialdini is one of my favorites Also Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely he's got a great blog too http://danariely.com/ make sure to check out the videos section

    on “Ask HN: Psychology Books” ↗
  • corry · Jul 6, 2012 · Recommends

    Anyone who enjoys reading about the psychology of pricing should immediately check out Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely if you haven't already. See the outline/overview here: http://bookoutlines.pbworks.com/w/page/14422685/Predictably%... It's all about how people (irrationally) make price comparisons / value judgements…

    on “Pricing psychology - 33% more beats 33% off” ↗
  • blabla_blublu · Jun 2, 2015 · Recommends

    [1] Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely (almost through with this one - highly recommend it) [2] Quantum Enigma by Bruce Rosenblum, et.al

    on “Ask HN: What are you reading?” ↗
  • mildredmorgan · Aug 8, 2015 · Recommends

    I love "Predictably Irrational" by Dan Ariely and "Influence" by Robert Cialdini, both fascinating reads about how the mind works that yield useful insights for UI design and marketing.

    on “Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?” ↗
  • bboygravity · Aug 18, 2019 · Recommends

    …[0]to be totally fair: I have read quite a few business, marketing and sales books. My favorite is probably the classic "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion" by Robert B. Cialdini. Second would be "Predictably irrational" by Dan Ariely. Main take away: influencing / selling and getting hired have surprisingly little to do with knowledge, education and IQ. It is more (all?) about human social dynamics and "predictably irrational" human…

    on “Résumés Are Starting to Look Like Instagram, and Sometimes Even Tinder” ↗

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