Events

      With his game-changing books Predictably Irrational and The Upside of Irrationality, behavioral economist Dan Ariely established himself as the go-to authority when it comes to understanding how irrational behavior shapes every part of our lives in surprisingly predictable ways.  Ariely has long been fascinated with dishonesty and cheating, and now he explores these timely topics in his latest book, THE (HONEST) TRUTH ABOUT DISHONESTY. With his unique blend of intellectual curiosity, groundbreaking research, and down-to-earth appeal, Ariely investigates why we cheat, what causes our dishonest behavior, and how we can curb and limit it.  As he points out, cheaters are everywhere and constantly in the headlines, whether it’s the politician embroiled in an extramarital affair, the superstar athlete testing positive for banned performance enhancers, or the Ponzi schemer busted for stealing billions. In fact, from rounding up billable hours, recommending unnecessary medical treatments, and charging hidden fees, to defaulting on mortgages, claiming higher losses on insurance, and fudging golf scores, many businesses and individuals will cheat when the opportunity arises. “I was shocked at how prevalent mild cheating was and how much more harmful it can be, cumulatively, compared to outright fraud.This is Dan Ariely’s most interesting and most useful book.” --  Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan  According to Ariely, the rational forces that we think drive our dishonest behavior don’t, and the irrational forces that we think don’t drive our dishonest behavior often do. Drawing from a wide-ranging series of experiments and his own insightful observations, Ariely discovers that, despite popular belief, dishonesty is not often an outcome of a deliberate cost–benefit analysis. Instead, we are likely to be guided away from honesty by hidden influences such as conflicts of interest, depletion, creativity, witnessing the dishonest acts of others, caring about our colleagues, and revenge.  Essentially, dishonesty is a prototypical example of our irrational tendencies: on one hand, we want to view ourselves as honest people; on the other hand, we want to benefit from cheating. So as long as we cheat only a little bit, we can both benefit from our dishonest acts and still look at ourselves in the mirror. New York Times bestselling author Dan Ariely is the James B. Duke Professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University, with appointments at the Fuqua School of Business, the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, The Medical School, and the Department of Economics. Ariely’s work has been featured widely in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and Boston Globe among others. He has also made numerous appearances on CNN, CBS, and NPR. He lives in Durham, North Carolina with his wife and two children. We’re delighted to welcome him back to The Booksmith!