Dan Ariely Exposes The Flaws In Our Decisions

WUNC | By Will Michaels,

Published January 5, 2015 at 12:00 PM EST

Dan Ariely poses in his 'pain suit,' which he used to test pain and pleasure.

Dan Ariely works in contradictions. He studies behavioral economics and points out that humans are logical but irrational beings.

How do we assign monetary value to a thought or an idea? How do we decide when a lie is more valuable than the truth? Are we really in control of the decisions we make on a daily basis?

At the crossroads of psychology and economics, Ariely has made it his life’s work to study the idea that some of our best intentions can lead to our most irrational behavior.

Host Frank Stasio talks with Ariely, professor at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and leader of Duke's Center for Advanced Hindsight.

Ariely has written three books:Predictably Irrational, The Upside of Irrationality, and The Honest Truth About Dishonesty.

Ariely has given three TED talks, the first of which explored the idea that we are not in total control of our daily decisions:

http://youtu.be/9X68dm92HVI