Despite our intentions, why do we so often fail to act in our own best interest? Why do we promise to skip the chocolate cake, only to find ourselves drooling our way into temptation when the dessert tray rolls around? Why do we overvalue things that we’ve worked to put together? What are the forces that influence our behavior?

Dan Ariely, James B. Duke Professor of Psychology & Behavioral Economics at Duke University, is dedicated to answering these questions and others in order to help people live more sensible – if not rational – lives. His interests span a wide range of behaviors, and his sometimes unusual experiments are consistently interesting, amusing and informative, demonstrating profound ideas that fly in the face of common wisdom.

Dan has also advised governments in South Africa, the Netherlands, Brazil, United Kingdom, US, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. Among the projects he has been involved with is how to help those in historically excluded populations stay in school, how to help women in these populations find work, and how to encourage more kids—girls especially—to study computer science. He has also worked on finding ways to address traffic congestion, reduce government bureaucracy, reducing prostitution, improve trust between government and citizens and increase motivation among principals, teachers, and students.

He is a founding member of the Center for Advanced Hindsight, co-creator of the film documentary (Dis)Honesty: The Truth About Lies, and a three-time New York Times bestselling author. His books include Predictably Irrational, The Upside of Irrationality, The Honest Truth About Dishonesty, Irrationally Yours, Payoff, Dollars and Sense and Amazing Decisions. His latest book Misbelief will be published in September 2023. Dan can be found at www.danariely.com.