I have read his previous book "Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions" by Dan before and I have always admired how Dan goes about researching a theme or an aspect and the variations he puts in to measure the influence of related variables. Also what makes his writing interesting is a hidden humor (may it's his inherent quality). This is my second book of his that I am reading and I have listened to his few speeches and on all of them he touches upon the accident that resulted in sever fire-burns and I assume every one who knows Dan knows that he survived a fire accident.
Now my interest on the topic comes from my quest in life to become more honest and sincere not only within myself but also with others. My notes below reflect my learning and ideas that I would still want to ponder upon further.
Learning about SMORC - Simple Model of Rational Crime surprised me that there is science behind our intentional acts of dishonesty. SMORC rationalizes our mind's considerations while cheating based on these three elements 1) Benefit 2) risk of getting caught 3) potential punishment. Dan reminds us that we all cheat but just that each of us differ in terms where we draw the line by quoting Oscar Wilde "Morality, like art, means drawing a line somewhere".
As his experiments reveal that the degree of cheating goes up when the benefits are not real money or the benefits are distanced from money. As he was, I was also worried as in countries like India, "cashless economy" is seen as a measure to curb dishonest acts like tax evasion. The findings make me wonder if cheating will go up when the transactions are cashless. I think in the age of Cypto currencies digital money would still be considered as money/cash and thus doesn't apply to this theory.
He brings about the nature of "impulsive" Vs "rationale" selves and educates us on the concept of "Ego depletion". Ego Depletion reminds as that "our will power is like a muscle and it gets tired and gets depleted" which I think is a very important revelation. When it comes to dishonesty and when we are tired, our will power to resist dishonest act depletes. At this context, Dan introduces us to the "theory of rational self-indulgence" by the economist Dan Silverman, which simply suggests that if you are tempted on little things (that cause not much of a damage e.g. tempted to grab a burger on the long day back from work) succumb to these temptations, otherwise all your will power to resist temptations will be depleted and you will end up succumbing to the worse temptations. My real life experience of this theory being put to use is that almost seven years ago I was on diet routine which barely had any Carbs and the results were phenomenal that I lost close to 16 Kgs at my peak but at the end of "ego depletion", I gave up on the whole diet program and regained all the weight back. However for the past 6 months I am on a diet that allows some temptation driven cheating now and then and I think I am still sticking on to the routine :) Dan also brings in some science into this behavior and it's potential pitfall as " What the hell effect", which is all about once we succumb to our temptations, we just don't stop but keep succumbing and finally give up. So whenever we succumb to avoid ego depletion, we should very quickly go back to the regime and hold on to the resistance to avoid ourselves the "what the hell mindset".
If you are one of them who wonder, who created these dress codes and why should a Lawyer wear this weird black coat, Dan reminds us of the Sumptuary laws from the medieval times :) I always wonder why I am a so-called "brand-conscious" person or why my daugther is after the brand names, I got an answer when Dan brings up the "self-signaling" concept which is about our tendency to proclaim who we are even though internally we are very different.
There is a bulk-load of information around why we indulge in self-deception where we can find answers on "why we don't look at the traffic lights while crossing the yellow light" and why the project managers report green (ie. "all is well") status even when the project is not really green. Atleast for me, he reveals concepts like "white-lie" - lies we make for others. It's not myth that we always act/choose/decide on something without knowing why and we come up with logical reasons for them. Dan reiterates that and blames it on the innate ability of our left brain.
The picture above and the 3 questions presented are part of the Cognitive Reflection Testing and I have to admit that I got only Question 3 right. This is supposed to test one's reliance on logic vs intuition. It was very very interesting as this is one of areas that I want to improve on. There are some interesting findings about the correlation of Creativity, Intellect and cheating. Dan tables finding around why cheating spreads like an infection and I cannot appreciate this more as still evident from India's bureaucracy which is so openly corrupt.
I really like the Medieval theory Memento mori (Latin: "remember that you have to die") and I think all of us have to remind ourselves of "Memento Mori. There are very interesting discussions around various forms of repentance after dishonest behavior including "Prayaschitta" of Hinduism. I have always wondered why there are self-hurting religious practices like self -flagellation and walking on a firepit, holding a pot of fire and Dan argues they could be the endeavors towards self-cleansing. Overall another super-interesting book from Dan and am really looking forward to his next book "Dollars and Sense"
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