#20 - Dan Ariely on origins, selective empathy, healthcare economics, suicide (and why Ben gave up), safety nets, ways to think about luck, and taking control of life.

This is the first part of a 4 episode mini-series.

Bio:

Dan Ariely is a professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University and a founding member of the Center for Advanced Hindsight. He is the author of the bestsellers Predictably Irrational, The Upside of Irrationality, The Honest Truth About Dishonesty, Dollars and Sense andAmazing Decisions-- as well as the TED Book Payoff: The Hidden Logic that Shapes Our Motivations. He is also co-creator of the film documentary (Dis)Honesty: The Truth About Lies.

Through his research and his (often amusing and unorthodox) experiments, he questions the forces that influence human behavior and the irrational ways in which we often all behave.

Who is it for:

First and foremost - for Dan Ariely fans (like me!). If you want to get an insight into Dan’s origin story - this episode is probably for you. We go back in history, and invest a lot of time on Dan’s childhood experiences, and specifically the accident that left him badly burned.

Second - for those of you who are looking to dissect successful people stories, in the effort of learning what works and why. We look into why Dan does the things that he does, what are his motivations, and how he translates those motivations to actions.

Stay tuned for the next episode, where we talk about experimentation as a way of life, about getting a date with Dan, and much much more… :)