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sdiaz's review
2.0
Really disappointing, how can you write a book about how there are surprising aspects of behavior that require rigorous experimentation to understand and then fill it with page upon page of pure anecdotal evidence? Even worse it was his own anecdotes, making it even less likely that he had actual perspective on the real effects. At least the book reads quickly and brings up some interesting points, in fact when he does focus on experiments it was pretty decent.
bobareann's review
4.0
Standard pop-sci read. The authors personal stories make it a little more memorable than most.
davidsteinsaltz's review
4.0
One of the great raconteurs of science, Ariely provides here another of his idiosyncratic blends of psychology, economics, and autobiography. While some of the experimental results seem oversold in the reach of their implications, they are ingenious and well explained. This book is not as different from his earlier books as the title would suggest. Clearly he got a contract for a boffo idea, the positive side of irrationality, but he only occasionally remembers that that's what he's supposed to be talking about.
dav's review
2.0
I really enjoyed his previous book, and this has been recommended to me by two friends recently. There were good parts to this, but it spent too much time on anecdotes for my tastes and I also believe it suffered in the inevitable comparison to The Black Swan, the book I had just finished. I actually listened to his last book as an audio book, and I think this format heavy with personal anecdotes style comes across better in that format.
The science is there though, and while this sort of social science experimentation is difficult to lead to convincing hard conclusions, I think overall Ariely is on the right track and makes some astute observations.
The science is there though, and while this sort of social science experimentation is difficult to lead to convincing hard conclusions, I think overall Ariely is on the right track and makes some astute observations.
maiko's review
3.0
Bastante más flojo que Predictably Irrational. Me ha parecido que acaba de forma abrupta sin llegar a grandes conclusiones, y que está lleno de experimentos sin mucho contexto que resultan más anecdóticos que informativos. Hay algunos conceptos interesantes, pero en general... meh.
krithix's review
3.0
Ariely provides a descriptive narrative of his major research studies and their findings in this surprisingly personable book. Though at times a bit dry, the narrative carries through with a deeply personal story, and interesting observations on the practical applications of his studies (not something a professor usually conveys in a classroom or research setting).
halfmanhalfbook's review
4.0
Not quite as as good as predictable irrational but interesting reading none the less
karend's review
3.0
The one thing that stuck with me from this book was that from a happiness-maximization perspective, it makes sense to take more breaks during pleasant experiences than during unpleasant tasks. The subtitle of this book is "The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic", but these benefits were never enumerated that I could see.
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