This Hidden Brain Glitch Makes You Choose the More Expensive Option

Hello, friend. Imagine a man whose body was 70% burned in a terrible accident. For three years, he lived in a hospital, and the worst part of his day, every single day, was the removal of his bandages. The process took an hour and was excruciatingly painful. He would beg the nurses to try a different method, to do anything to lessen the pain, but they would always say the same thing: "We know this is the least painful way to do it."

Years later, after recovering and going to university, he decided to research this very topic. He conducted experiments to find the least painful method for such procedures. What he discovered was shocking: the nurses, despite their experience and good intentions, had been using the most painful method possible. Had they started with the most painful area (the head) and worked their way down, the overall experience would have felt far less traumatic.

This story isn't just about pain; it's about a fundamental truth: even experts, with the best intentions, make bad decisions without realizing it. We all do. Our brains are full of hidden glitches and biases that cause us to act irrationally. But what if you could understand these glitches? What if you could predict them?

Let’s explore some of these hidden forces, as uncovered in the brilliant book "Predictably Irrational" by Dan Ariely.

The Decoy Trap: How a Useless Option Controls Your Choices

One day, the author was browsing the internet and came across an advertisement for a magazine subscription with three options:

1. Internet-Only Subscription: $59

2. Print-Only Subscription: $125

3. Print AND Internet Subscription: $125

He was baffled. Who in their right mind would choose the second option? It was completely useless. But he knew the people behind the ad weren't stupid. So he ran an experiment. He showed the ad to 100 students and asked them to choose.

The results?

• Option 1 (Internet-Only): 16 students

• Option 2 (Print-Only): 0 students

• Option 3 (Print + Internet): 84 students

As expected, no one chose the useless option. But its presence had a massive impact. He ran the experiment again, this time removing the useless "decoy" option. The results flipped completely:

• Option 1 (Internet-Only): 68 students

• Option 3 (Print + Internet): 32 students

Without the decoy, most people chose the cheaper option. So what happened? The "useless" Print-Only option had a secret purpose: to make the Print + Internet bundle look like an incredible deal. This is called the Decoy Effect. Our brains love to compare things. We don't know the absolute value of a magazine subscription, but we can easily see that getting print and internet for $125 is a much better deal than getting just print for the same price. The decoy pushed the majority of people to spend more than double what they might have otherwise.

The Two Worlds We Live In: Social vs. Market Rules

Imagine you're walking down the street and see someone struggling to put a heavy box into their car. You offer to help, carry the box, and place it in their trunk. They turn to you, and instead of saying "thank you," they pull out their wallet and offer you a few dollars.

How would you feel? Probably insulted. You might even get angry. Why?

Because that person just shattered an unwritten rule. Our society operates on two separate sets of norms:

• Social Norms: These are the rules of community and kindness. We do things for others out of goodwill, without expecting any payment.

• Market Norms: These are the rules of business and transactions. You provide a service, and you get paid for it.

When you helped the stranger, you were operating under Social Norms. When they offered you money, they dragged you into the world of Market Norms, and the "payment" felt insulting. You can't mix the two.

The author proved this with another experiment. He asked a group of lawyers if they would offer their services to the needy for a very low fee (e.g., $30/hour). The vast majority said no. But when he asked if they would offer their services to the needy for free, the majority said yes.

Mentioning money, even a small amount, triggers Market Norms, and the deal seemed terrible. Asking them to do it for free triggered Social Norms, and they were happy to help as a form of charity. This is a powerful lesson: social motivation is often far stronger than financial motivation.

Conclusion: You Are Less Rational Than You Think

From the way we feel pain to the way we spend money, our decisions are constantly being shaped by hidden forces. We are not the rational creatures we believe ourselves to be. The good news is that our irrationality is predictable. Once you understand these patterns, you can start to recognize them in your own life and make better, more conscious choices.

These insights are from the fascinating book "Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions" by Dan Ariely. If you want to dive deeper into the hidden glitches of your own mind and learn how to make smarter decisions, you can find the book here: Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions