“Predictably Irrational” by Dan Ariely

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Humans make decisions by relativity
- With three options, we tend to buy the middle options
- We eschew difficult-to-compare options
- For example, comparing a colonial house to a contemporary house is difficult; add a second colonial house that needs some TLC, and we are driven to embrace the better colonial house
When exposed to a new product, the first price is anchored or imprinted on us
Arbitrary Coherence: Once an arbitrary anchor price is established, related prices are effect coherence
- We expect subsequent prices to file in alignment with the price; outliers are scrutinized or discarded
- Anchors are set when we consider buying something at a certain price
Money is a very expense motivator
Highly emotional states dramatically change our reaction to choose
We are bad at predicting how we will react in high-emotion situations
Dictated schedules has better performance than self-imposed schedules which have better performance than no schedule
Higher prices often adjust our experiences
Shifting our focus from price to product, we can counter the perceptional shift
We think of dishonesty in such grand terms that our super ego does not register the small stuff
People tend to cheat, a little, when they can; but recalling honor at the time of temptation, curbs their inclination
The further away from cash you get (tokens, shares, items, etc.), the more dishonest people get
People have a need to be unique, even to the detriment of their pleasure

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