Dan Ariely

Dan Ariely embodies an unusual balance of a serious academic, business professional, and engaging storyteller. He leads cutting-edge research in behavioral economics and social science and readily incorporates its application into institutional bottom lines and governments. To date, he has used findings in behavioral economics to help hundreds of companies, several governments, and many NGOs.

Ariely’s immersive introduction to irrationality took place many years ago while he was overcoming injuries sustained in an explosion. The range of treatments in the burn department, and particularly the daily “bath” made him confront a variety of irrational behaviors that were immensely painful and persistent.

Upon leaving the hospital, Ariely wanted to understand how to better deliver painful and unavoidable treatments to patients so he began conducting research in this area. After completing this initial research project, he was hooked and became engrossed with the idea that we repeatedly and predictably make the wrong decisions in many aspects of our lives and that research could help change some of these patterns.

His research, books, and talks are attempts to describe his research findings in non-academic terms so that more people will learn about the main findings regarding the nuances of human nature, discover the excitement of social science, and find ways to use some of the findings to enrich their professional and personal lives.

Ariely enjoys exploring different parts of the world, hiking, and of course, studying the irrational ways we all behave.