We mediators play midwife to decision making. We patiently assist in an arduous and sometimes painful process while parties labor, struggling to make the right choices in difficult circumstances. We strive to ensure that those who weigh those choices are able to reach rational decisions based on accurate and complete information.
But just how rational are the decisions that people make, whether at the mediation table or anywhere else? How much control do any of us really exert over those choices?
A new book has some surprising answers and explains why it is that we are more susceptible than we realize to the vagaries of our own minds and vulnerable to the forces of emotions and social norms. Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions, written by Dan Ariely, a behavioral economist, the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Behavioral Economics at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, and a visiting professor at Duke University.
As much fun as the book (and of course more interactive) is the Predictably Irrational web site. Don’t miss the Demonstrations page with cool optical illusions and games you can test yourself with.
When I read accounts like the one below, I always ask myself, "what trespasses have I suffered that would permit me not to forgive?" As she sat in her boyfriend’s...
By Victoria PynchonThis chapter is from "Online Dispute Resolution Theory and Practice," Mohamed Abdel Wahab, Ethan Katsh & Daniel Rainey ( Eds.), published, sold and distributed by Eleven International Publishing. The Hague,...
By Colin Rule, Harpreet SinghWhen I first began a career in mediation, almost thirty years ago, we often needed to convince others of the benefits of mediation. In those days, it was not uncommon...
By Bruce Edwards
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