Umbrella Morals

I was in a training programme and one of the topics for discussion was our internal value system- those ideals and beliefs which are important for us and which we hold as special and non negotiable. It is good to have a strong value system. I mean for me fairness is a very important personal value. However the important questions here is -how good are we at deciding what is right and what is wrong? I mean do we have an internal value meter which tells us what is wrong ( in absolute terms ) or do we have some sort of convenient value meter which is more of a relative adjustment-my action compared to something which is more seriously wrong or grave in nature. And is it not true that sometimes we let ourselves off the hook for those small transgressions. Is there something called the absolute value system or do we get our judgement into deciding our right and wrong deeds? Let me explain.

Read Full Post »

Book Review-Predictaby Irrational by Dan Ariely

I picked up the book from Ankita’s place. Ankita is a Brand Manager in a MNC and a lot of the work involves in understanding ‘why people buy what they buy’ and understanding this consumer behavior involves dallying with psychology, sociology and of course behavioral economics. Behavioral economics is a new field and is given lots of importance now days because it differs from classical economics in the way that its treats people not as rational machines but as flesh and blood, whose behavior is fashioned by emotions, confusion, historical baggage and social conditioning. It’s almost like what the philosophers have been saying about reality and perception, that we tend to see the world not so much on what is the reality but through our own tinted glass. Now one of the principal tenets of classical economics is that individuals act in the best of their interest and in the most rational ways.
Now that the context has been set I shall get back to the review of the book ‘Predictably Irrational’ by Dan Ariely. I would say the first example in the book riveted me to the rest of the chapters. The first chapter is ‘The truth about relativity’ and it explains how human beings by nature find it difficult to decide on absolute terms because of what the author describes as ‘ individuals lacking an absolute value meter’. Hence individuals can be made to choose a particular option in a way the option is presented to them. Here the role of the ‘decoy ‘is very important. To give an example from the book-

Read Full Post »