Predictably Irrational, me too.

Dan Ariely looks at our behavior in a quite different way. And not just look, but he did a lot of research about it. And the best part, he wrote a book about it. I really enjoyed reading it. What I call a page turner. I tried to hold myself back, and not read the book in one go. What makes this book special? I am the main character in this book. You too, actually. I am pretty sure I was not in one of the setups he used to for the basic research. But, if I was in it, I guess I am as irrational as everybody else.

I just finished the book for the first time (yes, I gonna read it many more times), and it already gave me a new way of looking at behavior of humans. And not in the last place my own behavior. I need a new pair of shoes. I'm looking for a nice pair of black shoes, not to fancy, business like but not the boring kind. I went to the local shopping center. The first shoe shop I entered had two nice pairs, just what I wanted. Maybe the price tag was a little at the upside. I decided not to try these on, yet. Instead I went out to check out the other shoe shops. There are about ten shoe shop. I went to all of them. When I was almost at the last, the book sprang into my mind. I was not looking for just any shoe, but for shoes I had seen in the first shop. And I can tell you, none of the other shoe shops had anything alike. I went back to the first shop. I asked if I could try them on. Bad luck, my size was sold out. So, what had this shopping story to do with the book? Well, before I went shopping, I had no specific wish for the model, except for the color. After the first shop, my mind was "programmed", I wanted that pair. I wonder, what would have happened if I had started at a different shop. I guess the same would have happened, but with a different kind of model.

Anyway, the book also covers serious issues about (lack of) honesty. Pretty scary stuff, but very well written.

This blog exist also partly because of the book. The chapter about the "power of the price" motivated me to start this blog. I try to enjoy the nice things in life, despite the price. I'll explain. It is easy to spend a lot of money and get the best. It is much more difficult to get the best things for less money. The funny thing is, and Dan also recognized this behavior, the more we spent on something, the more we felt we got. A higher price for a certain article does rise the expectation of enjoying. I'll try to emphasize reasonable priced things are as enjoyable as the high priced alternatives. Again, from my own experience. A couple of weeks ago I went to a Scotch whisky tasting. We received all kind of information about each of the whiskys. The procedure of tasting was easy enough: a sample of whisky 1, then some bread and water, then taste number 2, and so on. The order of the tasting was predefined, all information was supplies, including the names. It was not a blind test. The first was not bad, the second even better, the third was nice but not my taste, the fourth was great and number 5 was very tasteful. I am a little used to wine tasting: the best and most expensive one is the final in the tasting. I was prepared. I heard from one of the other participants the price of the third whisky, he had bought that one not too long ago. I already did the math. I made up my mind, I'll take two bottles of that last whisky. Until the very end, no price was mentioned or asked. To my surprise, and of some others, the last whisky was not the most expensive! Just the opposite! I had the lowest price! How hard to believe. Anyway, I kept my plan and bought two bottles. And I can assure you, every time, I enjoy this whishy in two ways: the taste and the most reasonable price. I know for sure, the result would have been completely different if the prices were known upfront.

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Wow, that's great, more people should know about this! That's what this blog is all about. It is about things that makes me feel great. That is what I want to talk about.

Do I have specific areas in mind? The only restriction is that I only write about things I personally experienced and that left me with a positive feeling. I'll only publish positive stories.

Is everything I experience positive? Of cause not, but there are plenty of sites with complaints, for negative stories. Am I really from this planet? Nothing is just positive? True enough. Therefor I'll inject some critical notes when necessary. On the other hand, when it is only a bad story to tell, forget it ...

What do I want to write about?

• Magnapan speakers
• Pueblo Espagnol
• "The Fist Of God" from Fredrick Forsyth
• Aga cooker
• and more to come

As you can see, lots of different issues. All have at least one thing in common: I feel positive about these.