Erb Speaker Series: The Irrationality of Sustainability

Free and open to the public.


Are decisions that attempt to balance people, planet and profits made rationally? Our economic models are built on the ideal that people are maximizers of utility and that we have access to all the information and thus can make necessary choices on a rational basis. Rationality is everything, or is it? How can the decision making of individuals and organizations be influenced and improved? Dan Ariely will be talking about self-control, lack of self-control and how an understanding of human weaknesses can help make the world a better place. Ariely is a professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke. He authored the best sellers Predictably Irrational, and The Upside of Irrationality.

His research has addressed such issues as why people cheat, the tragedy of the commons, why big bonuses do not work, market failure and the use of intuition in the boardroom.