Summary and Response to Ariely's Chapter 12

In Chapter 12 of Dan Ariely's "Predictably Irrational", he discusses an experiment that he performed that involved potentially cheating and stealing. His experiment was performed at a college dorm, where in two of the communal fridges, he put a 6-pack of Coke in one and 6-dollar bills in the other. Within about 72 hours all of the Coke was gone, but the dollar bills were still there. By doing this, Ariely was able to prove that people are much more likely to steal non-monetary items as opposed to actual cash. For some reason, Ariely pointed out that a lot of people feel less dishonest for cheating or stealing something other than cash. Ariely also talks about his own personal accounts of dishonesty where his Skype account was hacked into and he had a few hundred dollars charge into his PayPal. Ariely pointed out that he assumed it was a kid because he wouldn't expect a criminal to waste his time hacking into a PayPal account.

According to Ariely, cheating is easier when its one step removed from cash because it offers a much better incentive to the cheater and even gives them more motivation to achieve the task. His experiment was performed at a college dorm, where in two of the communal fridges, he put a 6-pack of Coke in one and 6-dollar bills in the other. He also used the example of stealing a pen as opposed to 10 cents, and how we feel worse about ourselves when we steal money as opposed to a measly pen. When money is removed from the equation, we feel more inclined to possibly take that item.  Ariely talks about the rising rates of identity theft that are seen in our world and how because someone's doing this crime behind a computer, it invokes a sense of dishonesty. We can also see this sense of dishonesty brought into other industries like insurance companies. Insurance companies can also commit fraud by improperly denying a policy holder or health care provider a benefit that is due. Ariely used an example of a friend who racked up frequent flyer miles for a vacation, and when he went to the airline to issue those miles they were blacked out. He was supposed to be given a free trip, but because of this, he now has to spend more money for his trips to rack up those miles again.

Summary and Response to Ariely's Chapter 11

In Chapter 11 of Dan Ariely's "Predictable Irrational", he brings up that there are many different types of theft that takes place in society. He discusses the fact that there are more reported thefts in white collar occupations than there are robbery theft. Ariely brings up the interesting question of why are white collar crimes judged less severely than others? He uses this as a lead in to bring up the two types of dishonesty that we perceive in our world: the people who invoke the idea that they are a crook and those who are seen as being the "honest" men and women of our society (white collar). Ariely brings up a study he did at Harvard, in which he had a group of MBA students take a 50 question multiple choice test, where he wanted to see if anyone would cheat when they were transferring their answers to the bubble sheet. Ariely was able to find that the majority of the students that were able to cheat did, but didn't cheat a lot, and it did not depend on them getting caught either. Ariely goes on to talk about how honesty is something that our society takes pride in, and that we need to have a sense of honesty to be able to get things done in our world.

Ariely places a big emphasis on trust and honesty because of the fact that dishonesty in his studies was only done to a certain extent. He was able to find that those who did in fact cheat on the test, only did it a little bit, not to the point where they were getting a much larger change in their grades. To curb dishonesty in our society, Ariely believes that we need to invoke the moral codes that advance our society into people's minds in an effective manner. By getting this done, it's reminding people that the only way to get far in life and be successful is mainly by focusing on your own personal work to make advancements for yourself. While this may be tough for people to do, I feel that it's crucial to invoke proper morals into people so they can be reminded that cheating isn't the way to make it in life. As a student, I can personally say that I deal with temptation on a daily basis because there are opportunities where I feel that I can cheat on a test or a quiz and get away with it. But I always have to remind myself that I would be lessening my own skills and decreasing my own moral values by doing this. Grades are valued so highly in today's world and at many times, students feel that pressure to do well in order to succeed. This leads to academic dishonesty and to students cheating on exams to try to better themselves.

Response to Ariely's Ted Talk

What mainly surprised me about Ariely's TED Talk was the notion that we are not always in control of our decisions. Ariely talked about how some companies try to add a third option as a means to try to catch the consumers attention when buying their products as well. However, just by adding a third option doesn't make it that enticing because sometimes you're paying extra for that companies product and it's not always the best way to go. He discussed how this tactic used by companies is sometimes a way for them to really just make more money, and they're getting the better end of the bargain. He also discussed the ways in which other countries try to get organ donors, and how some countries put "check this box if you don't want to be a donor" usually gets less checks in the box.

Chapter Two of Dan Ariely’s “Predictability Irrational”

In Chapter Two of Dan Ariely's "Predictability Irrational", the main points that he makes are that most of the time we have no idea about the value of certain products, but the main force that drives us to actually make purchases in the price tag on the item. Ariely's main points made in this chapter refer to the buyers perception of a specific product and not necessarily basing off of similar products prices or the competitions prices. He then goes on to discuss the idea of anchoring and how prices can be imprinted into our minds for various products. When that price is seen by consumers the first time, they believe that it may be the same price for the same product in other areas, therefore they may not have the desire to go search for a cheaper price.  People tend to pay a certain price for a product when they're first exposed to it, and this is the main force that drives anchoring. Ariely says that we shouldn't necessarily believe the first price we see on a product is going to be the same for the same product at a different store. He says that we should question ourselves and can't be so vulnerable to companies charging outrageous prices for their products. The idea of supply and demand is also brought up by Ariely, as he says that the demand for products tend to be more high then the supply, therefore companies can charge whatever price they want for a product and tend to get away with it.

The point this chapter makes is that most of the time we have no idea of the inherent value of a certain product and what we’re willing to pay for it depends on lots of things, but the first price tag associated with that product has a decisive role. - See more at: http://zsoltbabocsai.org/dan-ariely-predictably-irrational/#sthash.tTm5P81x.dpuf

The point this chapter makes is that most of the time we have no idea of the inherent value of a certain product and what we’re willing to pay for it depends on lots of things, but the first price tag associated with that product has a decisive role. - See more at: http://zsoltbabocsai.org/dan-ariely-predictably-irrational/#sthash.tTm5P81x.dpuf

The point this chapter makes is that most of the time we have no idea of the inherent value of a certain product and what we’re willing to pay for it depends on lots of things, but the first price tag associated with that product has a decisive role. - See more at: http://zsoltbabocsai.org/dan-ariely-predictably-irrational/#sthash.tTm5P81x.dpuf

The point this chapter makes is that most of the time we have no idea of the inherent value of a certain product and what we’re willing to pay for it depends on lots of things, but the first price tag associated with that product has a decisive role. - See more at: http://zsoltbabocsai.org/dan-ariely-predictably-irrational/#sthash.tTm5P81x.dpuf

The point this chapter makes is that most of the time we have no idea of the inherent value of a certain product and what we’re willing to pay for it depends on lots of things, but the first price tag associated with that product has a decisive role. - See more at: http://zsoltbabocsai.org/dan-ariely-predictably-irrational/#sthash.tTm5P81x.dpuf

Believing and Doubting Summary

In Peter Elbow’s “Believing and Doubting” the new idea of the doubting and believing games are brought up. Elbow begins by introducing how he came about with the idea of the doubting game, where he defined it as being similar to critical thinking that's the disciplined practice of trying to be as skeptical as possible with every idea we encounter. He stated that is it the opposite of the believing game,where we're disciplined through practice of trying to be as accepting or welcoming to every idea that we encounter. Elbow goes on to say that we honor systematic skepticism or the doubting game as the best form of thinking. It’s easy to doubt what’s perceived, but the whole point of systematic skepticism is to try to doubt what we find most obvious or true or right.

Chapter 2 of The Undercover Economist

In Chapter 2 of "The Undercover Economist," Harford explains that supply and demand isn't the only reason why people pay high prices. Hartford starts off the chapter using the London Eye as an example of scarcity power because it is a unique landmark, but it's also something that's optional. Hartford stated, "Everywhere you look around the Eye you can see vendors with scarce resources, trying to exploit that scarcity. Costa Coffee is the only coffee bar in the immediate area, for instance (page 31)." Hartford says that people can choose to not go to the London Eye, but because it's there and it's so unique, it draws people to pay money to be able to go. Hartford also brings in the idea that supermarkets have bought into the idea of price targeting.  He says that, "Above the main concourse of London’s Liverpool Street station, there’s a Marks and Spencer “Simply Food” store, catering to busy commuters on the way in and out of London (page 40)." This idea is prevalent to his main idea in his writing because he talks a lot about how important it is to have a good location if you're a retailer. Having a market right in this specific area, it can provide the retailers for a much better advantage when consumers come by because there are thousands of people who pass by every single day. 

Chapter 1 of Undercover Economist

In Chapter One of Tim Harford’s book, “The Undercover Economist,” the idea of strength of scarcity and why retailers have the ability to over charger consumers is explored in the chapter. Hartford goes into detail in this chapter by beginning to discuss the daily lives of a commuter and how they're all exposed to retailers along the way. For example, Hartford discusses the step by step process of being a consumer, saying how commuters will get off the train and will go to the local Starbucks because it's right next to the stop. Location is key in this situation, and Hartford goes into detail about why location plays such a pivotal role in making a profit as a retailer. Hartford stated, "Yet commutes also produce common patterns—bottlenecks and rush hours—that are exploited by entrepreneurs the world over (page 5)." Hartford also talks about the role that competition plays when you're a retailer and also the role it plays in over charging consumers. He says how when a resource is tougher to come by, then the competition to get that item will be much tougher. This ultimately allows retailers to overcharge for items and it's tough for the consumers because of the hole it burns in their pockets.  When looking at this idea when it relates to a college degree, I believe that just because you have a college degree, doesn't necessarily mean you'll be able to get a job. For me personally, my goal is to become a sports anchor/reporter for television and the job market is extremely tough. Just because you may have a degree, doesn't mean you'll get a job right out of college.