Human behavior is often irrational, but Dan Ariely presents his research on how that irrational behavior can be predictable in his book Predictably Irrational. One reason for this is that in the time we take to process the information our senses perceive about the world around us, that world has already changed in some way and we are making decisions based on outdated data. Additionally, our previous experiences and personal worldview affect how we process that world, which introduces a layer of bias our perception of the world. This paper will explore those ideas using examples to explain these irrational human behaviors which often follow a predictable pattern. The information that we comprehend about the world around us is not based purely
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202). Vinegar, typically regarded as unpleasant to taste, caused students in the experiment to stereotype the altered beer as distasteful when they knew about the vinegar before having taken their first sip. However, without knowledge of the addition to the beer, students overwhelmingly preferred the altered beer. They didn’t have the knowledge to form a stereotype or expectation for the taste beyond beer, and so they were able to enjoy the balsamic vinegar beer more than the unaltered beer because the perception that their brain gave them wasn’t altered by the stereotype of distasteful vinegar. The altered beer experiment is one that showcases how true reality can be affected and altered into a distorted reality in our minds by our expectations. By the time the information about the taste of the balsamic beer had been processed by the students whom knew about the vinegar, they had applied the expectation of distastefulness to it and thus disliked the taste. Alternatively, the students who didn’t know about the balsamic vinegar didn’t process the beer through any filters other than their taste buds and therefore found the taste more palatable (Ariely, 2009, p. 203). Perception of the reality of the taste of the altered beer was affected by the knowledge of the beer’s ingredients. The taste of the beer with balsamic vinegar didn’t change by students’ knowing it contained balsamic vinegar, but the students’ opinions of the beer did
202). Vinegar, typically regarded as unpleasant to taste, caused students in the experiment to stereotype the altered beer as distasteful when they knew about the vinegar before having taken their first sip. However, without knowledge of the addition to the beer, students overwhelmingly preferred the altered beer. They didn’t have the knowledge to form a stereotype or expectation for the taste beyond beer, and so they were able to enjoy the balsamic vinegar beer more than the unaltered beer because the perception that their brain gave them wasn’t altered by the stereotype of distasteful vinegar. The altered beer experiment is one that showcases how true reality can be affected and altered into a distorted reality in our minds by our expectations. By the time the information about the taste of the balsamic beer had been processed by the students whom knew about the vinegar, they had applied the expectation of distastefulness to it and thus disliked the taste. Alternatively, the students who didn’t know about the balsamic vinegar didn’t process the beer through any filters other than their taste buds and therefore found the taste more palatable (Ariely, 2009, p. 203). Perception of the reality of the taste of the altered beer was affected by the knowledge of the beer’s ingredients. The taste of the beer with balsamic vinegar didn’t change by students’ knowing it contained balsamic vinegar, but the students’ opinions of the beer did