Dan Ariely recently gave an interview for Bloomberg called “Porn, Beer, and the Bible.” The title doesn’t refer to his preferences, as you might think at first, but to a series of studies he’s done as a behavioral economist. In these studies, Ariely looks at our behavior under certain circumstances. And it turns out that both porn and the Bible influence our behavior when we have to make a choice.
Dan Ariely is a professor of behavioral economics at Duke University in North Carolina and the author list to data of no less than three NY Times bestsellers: 'Predictably Irrational', 'The Upside of Irrationality' and recently his new book was published: 'The (honest) truth about dishonesty'. Because, how honest are we really? That question is central during the seminar 'You choose exactly what I want', which Ariely gave at the end of November in Tuschinsky.
A day of scientists In between the four lectures of Ariely , Prof. Margriet Sitskoorn , Professor Victor Lamme , Jos Burgers and Joris Luyendijk also gave presentations. Our behavior was the common thread in their stories. Viewed from the outside by Ariely, Burgers and Luyendijk and from the 'inside' (by means of an MRI) by Lamme and Sitskoorn. Everything was linked by Lars Sorensen , who also tried to let the people in the room get in touch with each other.
Influencing decisions: how it works
Ariely discussed many studies from his books in his first lecture. A very famous example is his time in the hospital where he learned a lot. A bomb exploded near him and his body was largely burned. He spent years in the hospital where he was treated for these burns. Through his treatment he learned a lot about the human mind, for example that you can keep something going longer if you know exactly when it will stop.