Dan Ariely - Why Do Placebos Work?

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2008/03/04/Dan_Ariely_...

MIT Behavioral Economist Dan Ariely discusses the medical effectiveness of placebos, and outlines how expectations of a given situation will affect our experiences of that situation.

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Dan Airely talks about "Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions."

Why do our headaches persist after taking a one-cent aspirin but disappear when we take a 50-cent aspirin? Why do we splurge on a lavish meal but cut coupons to save twenty-five cents on a can of soup? We think we're making smart, rational choices. But are we?

In a series of illuminating, often surprising experiments, MIT behavioral economist Dan Ariely refutes the common assumption that we behave in fundamentally rational ways. Blending everyday experience with groundbreaking research, Ariely explains how expectations, emotions, social norms, and other invisible, seemingly illogical forces skew our reasoning abilities. Predictably Irrational will change the way we interact with the world - one small decision at a time - Cody's Books

Dan Ariely is the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Behavioral Economics at MIT, where he holds a joint appointment between MIT's Media Laboratory and the Sloan School of Management. His work has been featured in The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, Scientific American, and Science.