DAN ARIELY is the James B. Duke Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics at Duke University and a founding member of the Center for Advanced Hindsight. He does research in behavioral economics on the irrational ways people behave, described in plain language.
His immersive introduction to irrationality took place as he overcame injuries sustained in an explosion. During a range of treatments in the burn department he faced a variety of irrational behaviors that were immensely painful and persistent. He began researching ways to better deliver painful and unavoidable treatments to patients.
Ariely became engrossed with the idea that we repeatedly and predictably make the wrong decisions in many aspects of our lives and that research could help change some of these patterns.
After using his knowledge of decision-making and behavioral economics to convince his girlfriend to marry him, Ariely realized that understanding decision-making can help anyone in their daily life.
He is the author of The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone—Especially Ourselves; Irrationally Yours: On Missing Socks, Pickup Lines, and Other Existential Puzzles; The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home; Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions; and co-author (with Jeff Kreisler) of Dollars and Sense: How We Misthink Money and How to Spend Smarter.
