DAN ARIELY
Any concept or any talk eccentric to our Rationale is how we define Irrationality, but how many of us wonder whether defying logic (which again is a matter of perception and is not common to any 2 people) can be actually beneficial.
Every valuable “Eureka” is neither an act of sheer serendipity nor is it an amalgam of Sugar, spice and everything nice. I would rather say that most of the beautiful inventions or discoveries involve twice as much of irrational (Not quite prevalent/accepted) thinking in comparison to its highly acclaimed counterpart.
The reason I got gravitated to this book is the fact that The Title simply dovetailed with my basic ideology. Not regretting the choice I made, I simply couldn’t help appreciating the author’s emblematic style of writing. His writing was unique because of the personal touch it had and how amazingly Rational his Justification of Upside of Irrationality was.
This work of Dan Ariely is a sequel to “Predictably Irrational” wherein he has talked about how most of the ideology widely accepted does not comply with the actual experimental results. This book has a similar structure but as the author claims is pretty close to his heart. This book makes a brilliant connect with the readers, thanks to the beautifully personalized contexts.
A quintessence of books meant for a smooth read, this book is simply “un-putdown-able”. Most interesting feature of this work is the use a You-tube links and presentations to reiterate the point he is trying to make.
This book essentially comprises of two major sections dealing with Irrationalities at workplace and at home. In the first section there are a wide range of concepts dealing with everything from Sufficiency of pay to revenge at workplace.
Mr. Ariely says that though a higher pay might guarantee a higher “driving force” to perform this is not necessarily true. A person who is paid less, as expected, would never have enough inspiration to perform well but what about those employees who are paid very high? The answer is that even they aren’t inspired enough to work. So who is the culprit? Is it money? It is just a factor which when present in excess invokes two distinct reactions is us, either complacency or an excess pressure to perform (as if the whole world is at our mercy). This double trouble is the reason why no one should be paid too high (this statement is surely not meant for my employer:P). Nevertheless, a high pay for someone at the management level is a strong inspiration for those who wish to achieve all those comforts and privileges which the big shots are having right now.
Next he talks about how it is essential to find meaning at work. Any person whose efforts are not recognized or who does not understand what he is working for will lack definite interest to perform well or even work.
My take on this issue is that every employee should have a clear vision of his contribution to the organization and a clear picture of how his performance can make a difference to the Company’s functioning. If a person feels that any official task he performs might just make a meager difference then it is essential to let him know that it however small it maybe, it is important and meaningful.
His portrayal of an increased acceptance to an idea if it is projected in a manner that the audience believes that it is their own was commendable. A simple way anyone can do that is by wording their ideas in such a manner that the audience feels they contributed the Missing piece in the Jigsaw puzzle that the orator was struggling to finish for a very long time.
Most engaging topic of all was Revenge at work place. It says that just for the sake of revenge, people might actually go to an extent of resorting to any means just to get the satisfaction of getting back at people. A higher percentage of people avenge others at the expense of their personal losses. The remedy which is simple and always works is a simple “Sorry” with a smile. If a person gets to know that his peer/ colleague are at fault but at the same time is apologetic about it, it surely helps the temper levels go down.
Another interesting aspect of this book is something inherent to human nature-Adaptability. Though the time taken by each individual may vary but ultimately everyone adapts to the situation. Our anxieties and anticipation of possible outcomes if we are to face the worst possible situation is much worse than what it actually ends up in .Imagine if a day comes when your right hand has to be amputated. What do you think will be the consequences? You will be permanently impaired and will have to depend on others for all your work. But guess what? Even if something like that happens, adaptability helps you cope up with the situation quite well. You might start using your left hand for writing, typing or playing. As a popular saying goes “Time is a healer” is a perfect justification of that.
The seed to this beautiful script was born when the author’s life took an interesting twist (pretty much like any of our daily soaps, except that it was real) .He unfortunately happened to be standing next to a vapour explosion which resulted in around 80 % severe burns in his body. This was the time when his mind was at a spin and he started thinking a lot of things simultaneously. This is the time he had to take decisions which would affect him for a lifetime. He had to learn how to cope up with the various difficulties he’ll have to face in future. His recuperation ability depended on his mental and physical strength simultaneously. He knew that he might not be as capable as his peers to do any kind of physical work and also be categorized as “aesthetically challenged” (a low level in the dating hierarchy).
This is the experience that drove him towards finding a deeper meaning for his actions. Those crucial moments made him see both the upside and downside of irrationality.
He was asked to make a life changing decision- an option to either amputate his hand or live with one which would never be fully functional and be accompanied by a constant pain. Despite knowing the consequences of his decisions his irrational side got the better of him. He began to live a life of false hope. He believed that a day would come when his hand would be perfectly fine again. So many years down the lane he still feels that if he really had the courage to overcome his irrationality, he would have surely made the right decision.
This brings him to a point where he talks about two types of decision making- Impulsive and long term based. The impulsive decisions are generally driven by a momentary strong drive or desire. These actions may not show deviations real huge but their consequences might haunt you forever. These impulsive actions generally have motivations arising from some event which occurred recently. The motive behind the impulsive decisions is misunderstood or perceived wrongly and is just like smoking. It impacts not only you but also the person who is with you – damage might be permanent. He uses beautifully framed situations to illustrate his views.
This book is brilliant- from the cover page to the conclusion. It forms a definite connect with the audience vis-à-vis Prori Incatem of the Harry Potter fame. His ability to pull out feathers from his own life experience and quote them is what makes the book unique.
If you really want to believe being eccentric has its own upside – Then tune into Upside of irrationality by Dan Ariely !
