Wim Hordijk — The Evolutionary Roots Of Irrationality

Standard economical theory assumes that humans comport fully rationally in addition to are able to objectively calculate the value (or cost) of the unlike choices they are presented with. In fact, nosotros pride ourselves on our rationality. Different from the animals, nosotros humans bring the unique capacity for logical idea in addition to rational determination making. Or produce we?

According to behavioral economist Dan Ariely, nosotros should live on less proud of ourselves. In his entertaining mass Predictably Irrational, Ariely describes many instance studies of every-day irrational human behavior. His unproblematic simply clever scientific experiments oftentimes involve nil to a greater extent than than a box of chocolates. However, subtle differences inward the means these chocolates are offered to people tin crusade large in addition to completely irrational differences inward the means nosotros behave. Moreover, these irrational behaviors wing foursquare inward the confront of what conventional economical theory, based on rationality, would predict....

So much for methodological atomist inward economics, or other social disciplines equally James Buchanan's rational pick theory spreads.

Humans are non similar atoms inward physics in addition to chemical scientific discipline or fifty-fifty similar cells inward biology. They are non homogeneous in addition to cannot live on assumed to live on thus equally the concepts of adult man economicus in addition to representative agent that underly neoclassical method do.  

Social systems inward which human agents are elements, or families, produce non resemble atoms in addition to molecules closely plenty to serve equally a framework for representational models, where the arrangements of symbols inward possibility infinite are asserted to reverberate the configuration in addition to remove of objects inward actual infinite amongst to a greater extent than than petroleum approximation.

Wim Hordik argues that this is non a imperfection, simply rather an of import expression of the evolutionary evolution of humans that serves to protect. For example, if adult man economicus were exclusively truthful in addition to thus life would live on determined past times quantity, objectivity in addition to positivity, piece quality, subjectivity in addition to values would live on largely excluded from importance in addition to banished from consideration inward decisions. The globe would live on colorless, thus to speak.

The Evolution Institute
The Evolutionary Roots of Irrationality
Wim Hordijk | Senior Fellow at the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution in addition to Cognition Research inward Klosterneuburg, Austria