Predictably Irrational: Our Effort to Understand Human Behavior
The human brain works in mysterious ways, and not always in the ways we think it does. We do strange things for unknown reasons and common things often without thought. As a result, we are often unaware of how impulsive and predictable we can be. In this podcast, students from a Japanese university explore their own understanding of these issues and provide insight into how our brains work and how to be more aware of our own thinking.
Episodes
The "Free" Factor
In this episode, the hosts explore how the word "free" acts as a powerful psychological switch that fundamentally changes human behavior. Drawing on the theories of Dan Ariely, the discussion examines the shift between market norms, where we act out of self-interest, and social norms, where fairness and community take center stage. From the competitive frenzy over Yakult 1000 to the quie
The Trap of the "Future Self"
In this episode, hosts Michael, Emil, and Sota dive into why we consistently make decisions we know are bad for us, focusing specifically on the hot-cold empathy gap. They explore the psychological struggle of procrastination, explaining how our "cold" logical state fails to predict how our "hot" emotional state will behave under the pressure of a deadline. By comparing Dan Ari
The High Price of Ownership
In this episode, student hosts Spencer, Angelo, and Nozomi explore the endowment effect. This is a behavioral bias where we value things we own more than they are objectively worth. They also discuss the IKEA effect, which explains our tendency to overvalue products we have personally put labor into, such as handmade items or assembled furniture. By sharing results from their own multilingual surv
The High Cost of "Zero"
In this episode, student hosts Khin, Hein, and May explore the psychological "zero trap" based on Chapter 3 of the book Predictably Irrational. The discussion centers on how the word "free" fundamentally changes human decision-making, often leading us to make choices that are logically inferior or more expensive in the long run. By combining Dan Ariely’s theories with their own
The Trap of Endless Options
In this episode, student hosts Hasib, Daisuke, and Itsuki explore why humans have a psychological impulse to keep every door open, even when having too many choices becomes counterproductive. Drawing on the theories of Dan Ariely, the hosts discuss how the fear of losing options leads to stress, exhaustion, and a lack of focus in student life. They conclude that closing doors is not a loss of free
The Battle Between Pleasure and Productivity
In this episode, student hosts Adrian, Ryo, and Tomoka explore the universal struggle of procrastination and self-control. By examining why we often choose immediate pleasure over long-term goals, the hosts discuss how human behavior is predictably irrational when it comes to managing time and distractions,. The episode features a breakdown of a famous MIT classroom experiment regarding deadlines,
Why We Overvalue Our Own Effort
In this episode, hosts Karei and Mari explore the psychological tendencies that lead us to make predictably irrational decisions. Drawing on concepts from the book Predictably Irrational, the duo discusses the IKEA effect—the tendency to overvalue products we have built ourselves—and the sunk cost effect, which explains why we struggle to let go of projects or experiences after investing time or m
Logical Fallacies
For our final episode of Season 3, we’re diving into Logical Fallacies—those deceptive thinking traps that can undermine even our most well-reasoned arguments. From slippery slopes to false dilemmas, our student presenters will break down common fallacies and share insights from their research on how these errors affect decision-making and communication. Thanks for joining us this season! We will
Decision Making in Hot and Cold States
In this episode, we’re exploring Emotional Decision-Making in Hot and Cold States, inspired by Dan Ariely’s work in Predictably Irrational. How do our choices shift when we’re calm and rational versus when we’re overwhelmed by emotion? Our student presenters will share findings from their own study, revealing how these contrasting emotional states influence decision-making in everyday life.
Procrastination
In this episode, we’re tackling the all-too-relatable topic of Procrastination, inspired by Dan Ariely’s insights from Predictably Irrational. Why do we often delay important tasks, even when we know better? Our student presenters will share findings from their own study, shedding light on the psychological forces behind procrastination and strategies to overcome it. Stay with us for an insightful
Power of Price
In this episode, we’re exploring the Power of Price, inspired by Dan Ariely’s insights from Predictably Irrational. How does the price of something influence not just our willingness to pay but our perception of its quality and effectiveness? Our student presenters will share findings from their own study, uncovering how pricing impacts behavior and expectations in surprising ways. How much is it
Cost of 0
In this episode, we’re diving into the compelling concept of the Cost of Zero, inspired by Dan Ariely’s work in Predictably Irrational. Why does “free” have such a powerful hold over our choices, even when it’s not the best option? Our student presenters will share findings from their own study, revealing how the allure of zero cost influences decision-making in surprising ways. Stick around for a
Common Biases
In this episode, we’re exploring Common Biases, inspired by Dan Ariely’s insights from Predictably Irrational. From confirmation bias to anchoring, these mental shortcuts often lead us astray without us even realizing it. Our student presenters will share findings from their own study, shedding light on how these biases affect everyday judgments and decisions. Stay with us for a fascinating look a
Our Character: Honesty and Dishonesty
In this episode, we’re tackling the intriguing topic of Our Character: Honesty and Dishonesty, inspired by Dan Ariely’s insights from Predictably Irrational. Why do we sometimes bend the truth—or stay honest even when we could get away with a lie? Our student presenters will share findings from their own study exploring how different situations influence honest and dishonest behavior. Get ready fo
Effect of Expectations
In this episode, we’re diving into the fascinating concept of the Effect of Expectations, inspired by Dan Ariely’s work in Predictably Irrational. Expectations have a powerful impact on how we perceive experiences, from the taste of food to the success of learning outcomes. Today, our student presenters will share their research findings on how expectations shape behavior and perceptions in a prac
Relativity and the Decisions We Make
In today’s episode, we’re exploring Dan Ariely’s concept of relativity, as discussed in his book Predictably Irrational. Relativity helps explain why our decisions are often influenced by comparisons rather than absolute values. To bring this idea to life, our student presenters will share findings from their own study, where they tested how relativity affects decision-making in a real-world conte
Social Norms vs. Market Norms
24Wa students Masaki, Minori, and Akari introduce the idea of Social Norms vs. Market Norms. They also go over the results of a survey that included 100 participants. If you just want the audio version, check out our podcast on Spotify.
Watch the video of this report on YouTube.
Predictably Irrational
In this episode, Riko and Ryota talked about irrationality, social norms and market norms, and logical fallacies. Human beings tend to compare, they use social norms and market norms in different purposes, and they will obey themselves if there are some praises for them. Human beings sometimes use these how to think or behavior by mistake, which may cause some serios problems. However, there are s
Fallacies: Straw Man fallacy/Anecdotal Evidence Fallacy/Burden of Proof Fallacy/Hasty Generalization/
Ryoki, Kanta, and Kairi are talking about Straw-man Fallacy, Hasty Generalization, Anecdotal Evidence Fallacy, and Burden of Proof Fallacy. We will explain each fallacy and explain how to avoid it. We conducted our study in one of the four fallacies: "Have you ever asked your parents to buy something by lying to them, saying that someone else had it too?'' We will explain based on&quo
The irrational characteristics of humans
Daito, Kyoka, Maina and Kohei explain the four human irrationalities: Base Rate Fallacy, Cognitive Dissonance, Commitment Bias, and Correlation/Causation Fallacy. This content is related to the contradictions between behavior and thought, as well as the handling of information. By understanding these, you can comprehend and confront aspects of yourself that you may not have been aware of before. T
Impact of Biases on Decision Making
In this episode, Haruka, Mayu, Shun, and Ibuki explore the captivating biases of the placebo effect, false memory, blind spot bias, and confirmation bias. Delving into Dan Ariely's 'Predictably Irrational,' we dissect these intriguing cognitive quirks, shedding light on their impact on decision-making. A captivating experiment reveals the subtle manifestations of these biases. Join us
Something We Can Learn from Our Irrational Minds
Mona, Mylinh and Moe introduce cognitive biases and logical fallacies in the following sequence, Availability Heuristic, Barnum Effect, Automation Bias, and Groupthink. We start with the introduction of our podcast. For each of them, we talked about definitions, examples, how we can apply in real life and so on. We conduct a questionnaire on psychological phenomenon of bias, Groupthink and we talk
A Calm Way of Life
Masami, Haruto, Yuuta, and Momiji talk about several chapters from Predictably Irrational. The first topic is about anchoring. We will discuss how the information initially presented can influence subsequent judgments and decisions. The next topic is about zero cost. We will talk about people's psychology and situations when they see the words zero = free. Finally, we will discuss how emotions
Cognitive Dissonance and Confirmation Bias
Takayasu, Harue, and Naoto help us understand confirmation bias. The way to counter confirmation bias is to listen to a third party's opinion. That person also has preconceived notions, but hearing an opinion that is different from yours can help you think about things from a different perspective.
What you need to know about cognitive dissonance and confirmation bias is to train your mind.
Options and Keeping Doors Open
Honomi, Wakana, and Naoki talk about their experiences with and surveys about our habits of making choices.
About Our Character
Yuta, Shinnosuke and Koki talk about honesty and the human character.
The High Price of Ownership
Suzuha, Momoka, and Jinichiro talk about the high price ownership. It means feeling the disadvantages of losing what you currently have and changing the environment are greater than the benefits of gaining new things. It related psychology of attachment to one's belongings. We conducted a survey and summarized what we learned from the results. The high price ownership can prevent us from makin
How Free is Free?
Katsuya, Takumi, and Tomoki discuss Chapter 3 of Predictably Irrational: The Cost of 0 Cost.
Biases and Fallacies with Social Influence
Kohaku, Anna, and Honoka discuss four prejudices and fallacies. These four-affect society. Egocentric bias leads individuals to overvalue their own contributions. Gender biases perpetuate stereotypes and unfair expectations. The framing effect influences decision-making based on presentation, and the bandwagon effect fosters conformity. Together, these biases shape societal norms and behaviors, im
Cognitive Biases in Daily LIfe
Do you know that you fall into various biases in your daily life? Ayane, Aina, and Yuzu speak of one effect and fallacy and two biases. Some of them are influenced by much of our everyday personal lives. These are difficult to try to get out of. We will also present some useful information for our lives on how to avoid falling into them. We hope these will help in our daily life.
Don't give in to bias!
This episode talks about the biases that makes humans predictably irrational. Those biases are the Negativity Bias, the Loss Aversion Bias, the Ostrich Effect, and lastly the Self-Serving Bias. With this episode, Allena, Angel, Jennifer, and Wynne hope that the listeners are well informed of these biases and know how to conquer them. These biases are lurking in the shadows, sneaking around and wai
Closing Doors
Thu, Wito, Owen and Rock give a summary of Chapter 8:
Keeping Doors open. After a brief
summary of the contents of the chapter we give our personal opinions on said
chapter. We then go on to give a explantion and analysis of our survey that we
conducted related to us as foreign students coming to Japan, concerning the
decision itself. Finally, we talk about our own
experience, followed by our
Our Faulty Brains
Our brains don't always work the way we think they do. In this episode, Honoka, Koki and Mei explain about the Anchoring Bias, the Availability Heuristic, Cognitive Dissonance, and the Confirmation Bias. In addition to explanations, they also show some examples they made to illustrate these topics.
Are We Really Rational?
With the premier episode of Season 2, Fikri, Gautam, and Williams talk about baises that we often encounter in our life. We might already know the how baises work but sometimes we don't know the name. In this discussion, we will focus on 4 baises: Hallo Effect, Hindsight Bais, Just World Hypothesis, and the last one will be the Ikea Effect.
We hope that this podcast will help you to be a litt
Chapter 10: The Power of Price
In this chapter, "The Power of Price," we discuss how price affects the effects we perceive. We also explain what he says about the placebo effect.
Our episode covers the following points:
・Introduction
・The psychological effect that price has
・Expensive drugs vs Inexpensive drugs
~ Are expensive drugs more effective than cheap drugs? ~
・Manami's Placebo Experience
・What is a pla
Chapter 9: The Effect of Expectations
As an introduction, we talk about a few examples of why there are different opinions about the same scene.Then, a scientist tested whether the predictions would influence subsequent views of the event. Specifically, they asked whether a pub patron's prediction of the taste of a certain beer would affect his or her perception of that beer. Finally, we conducted an experiment to see if and to what e
Chapter 8: Keeping Doors open
Our group's PodCast is about Keeping doors open.
Everyone tends to want to keep the possibility to do anything when people are lost in ways to do anything. Especially, our PodCast uses original experiment data. The experiment is the question "You were invited to play outdoors wearing a costume on a day, but an excellent party may be held by your friends the day. What would you do? ". The result is
Chapter 7: The High Price of Ownership
In this podcast episode, we talk about the contents of the 7th chapter of the book "Predictably Irrational" and our thoughts about it. This chapter explains how we value the things we own more that the things we do not own. To prove this idea, we did a survey that we talked about in this episode. We've also found that we focus on potential loss and not potential gain, think others see things from
Chapter 6: The Problem of Procrastination and Self-Control
Procrastination is the act of delaying or putting off tasks until the last minute, or past their deadline. Procrastination is a common phenomenon that chronically affects around 20% of adults, including lawyers, business executives, and college professors. Furthermore, it’s particularly prevalent among certain populations, such as college students, around 50% of whom procrastinate c
Chapter 4: The Cost of Social Norms
After an introduction into the world of social norms and historical norms, we give examples from the chapter: survey of the National Association of Retired Persons and the example of the daycare center in Israel. We then talk about a survey we conducted related to this issue. Understanding the cost of social norms is an important to understanding our relationships.
Chapter 3: The Cost of Zero
We talked about "The cost of zero cost." Zero makes us happy, but it can also be a problem. That is, something you had no intention of buying at all becomes surprisingly attractive once it is FREE.
We think that what is being provided is very valuable. This may be because people are essentially afraid of losses. If you choose free, you don't have to worry about losing anything in sight. Howev
Chapter 2: The Fallacy of Supply and Demand
After we introduce this chapter, we go over some questions and experiments and talk about:
Anchoring
Price of jewelry
Building a value
Milk and wine
We conclude with a summary.
Chapter 1: The Truth About Relativity
We are three international students living and studying in Japan (Hannah -Vietnam, Uchral - Mongolia, and Stacey -New Zealand). In this episode, we will discuss our thoughts and opinions on relativity and how what we learned from the book relates to our own lives and personal experiences. We discuss the pitfalls of comparison and how in modern times it has become easier to compar
Introduction to Predictably Irrational
This is the premier episode of podcast that looks at critical thinking and the issues discussed in Dan Ariely's book: Predictably Irrational. This podcast is a project for Advanced English 2: Critical Thinking, a class held in the fall of 2022 at a Japanese university. This episode explains our rationale behind the is podcast. In addition to a list of the upcoming episodes, there are a
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