Honesty is enforced
We lie a lot as humans. Do you give an honest answer when someone asks you “does this dress make me look fat?” Sure, it’s a white lie (or a lie to avoid getting into a fight), but it’s still a lie. Ariely’s research shows that we all lie, just a little bit. Even taking a pen or notepad from work is no problem for many, while stealing the equivalent in money is a bridge too far for many.
The further away it is from us (a pen is a pen, not a 1 euro coin) the easier it is to steal. Research by Ariely shows that when we are made aware of the 'Ten Commandments' or a (non-existent) code of honour in advance, we do not lie or cheat much less. We also have a fairly flexible morality. Many golfers do not manually move the ball if it is in a difficult spot, but have no problem kicking the ball.
Muppets & fools
Joris Luyendijk's story was about bankers - specifically the big banks in the City of London. It was a disturbing list to data story about muppets (reference to the NY Times article ) and 'fools'.
Yes, we are dishonest
The icing on the cake was that an experiment was conducted during the seminar. In the lobby, the books of the speakers were sold. At the beginning of the day, it was announced that only cash could be used for payment and that the books could be purchased at a discount. The experiment resulted in people getting too much change, varying from a 5 euro note to as much as 80 euros. How many people would say something about it?
It turned out that more than 25% of customers walked away with more (80 euros) or less (5 euros). For the low amounts (up to 15 euros0) even 70% of customers kept the money. Turns out Ariely is right!
Answer to my questions
I would have liked to have spoken to Ariely for an interview while he was in Amsterdam. We did speak, but there was no time for an interview. But Ariely did have a solution, he said. I would find out.